I met a business owner the other day and got his card. The card had a website on it, so naturally I went out to take a look.
Does this look like a home page to you?
When I got out to the site, here’s what I saw:
The danger of leaving your website design in the hands of a buddy. There is no excuse for having this as the home page.
Some business owners figure they can save a few bucks by letting their cousin or friend create a website for them. But before you hand over the keys of your online domain to that buddy, here are a few questions to ask yourself.
For the sake of readability, I’m going to assume your web-design buddy is a guy, but of course all of this can apply to the tech-savvy ladies out there too:
1. Does he know what he’s doing?
There are multiple ways to achieve the same visual effect on a web page. But while the different methods will all make the page look the same to a human, they may cause your site content to be practically invisible to search engines.
Just because your buddy can make a pretty website, doesn’t mean he understands the rules of SEO. A pretty website that doesn’t get found isn’t of much value.
2. Does he have the time?
The problem with people doing favors for friends or relatives is that the favor doesn’t always get to the top of the priority list. What else is going on in your buddy’s life? Is he already working 80 hours a week? Does he have kids on three different sports teams? Is he in the middle of some personal drama?
You may have a business to run, but your buddy has a life outside of yours, and it probably doesn’t involve your business. While he’s busy living his life, you remain with no web presence.
3. Will he support you after the site is built?
So let’s say your buddy actually gets around to putting up your site. What if you want to make a change? Will you be able to do it yourself or will you be at the mercy of the buddy? See #2 above regarding your buddy’s available time.
4. Are you really saving money?
What’s the cost to your reputation of having a non-functioning or half-baked website? It’s hard to quantify an online reputation, especially when your site is first coming up. But if people visit your website and all they see is a directory of files, whose image is getting hurt? Certainly not your buddy’s.
