Your Small Business Doesn’t Need a Custom Website

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I’m a designer with 30+ years experience and I don’t think your small business needs a custom website.

For 15 years, I’ve designed and coded dozens of custom websites for small- and medium-sized companies all the way up to gigantic Fortune 500 enterprises, so why on earth would I say that?

One simple reason: custom websites are a ripoff for small businesses

Custom websites:

  1. take 3+ months to build
  2. need support specialists on retainer
  3. cost way more than they’re worth

That’s why, after years of learning and working with small businesses, I have one single solution I recommend: WordPress with the Enfold theme. You can get started for $60 and in a matter of hours, you can have a new, fully responsive website up and running and you don’t have to rely on an IT specialist to keep your small business site up and running.

Generic Websites? Really?

Now hold on a sec. I’m not saying everyone should have the same, plain vanilla looking website.

I’m all for customizing the look and feel of a website to match a small business’s brand. Rushminute actually customizes the look and feel of each and every website we design because no two clients are alike.

But designing a custom website isn’t the same developing a custom website.

And I betcha didn’t know there was a difference. ;P

I’m here to tell you the biggest ripoff I see is web agencies roping small businesses into coughing up $20+K for totally unnecessary custom developed websites. Most small businesses just need a simple, straightforward brand storytelling platform.

That’s why I recommend spending $3K-$5K for a website makeover and folding the rest of your money into online marketing to will help grow your business.

If it Ain’t Easy, Buh-Bye!

Small business owners don’t need a complex, hard-to-update website.

The problem with custom developed websites is they approach site maintenance from a coder’s perspective: build it so it’s future-proof.

The problem is, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s easy to manage, especially if you ever want to change webmasters.

With WordPress and Enfold, the average DIY small business owner can keep their website up-to-date.

That said, it’s always a good idea to keep a webmaster in your back pocket – for those times when you accidentally venture into deep water. But there’s really no need to be obligated to exorbitant maintenance fees – provided your on a great hosting platform like SiteGround (see my article on SiteGround) – because the most you’ll have to do is update plugins a few times a month.

You Need Versatility

The combination of WordPress and Enfold offers 95% of the coding and development any small business website needs, plus infinite flexibility when it comes to design.

It includes baked-in elements like a slider, social share buttons, tabs, testimonials and more.

In addition, it has a very simple to use page builder that allows you to customize the look-and-feel of any page on your website –simply by dragging and dropping.

It’s simple and intuitive to use, especially if you’ve ever used a page layout program like Adobe InDesign. And if you have zero experience in page layout, there are lots of free video tutorials on YouTube to help you out.

Plus, it’s Fast!

As a matter of fact, with Enfold and WordPress, I can redesign a typical small business website in a week and have it up and running and fully tested, too!

So why doesn’t everyone use WordPress and Enfold?

Good question.

I think there are a couple of answers.

First, the average small business owner just isn’t aware that WordPress and Enfold are game changers. I wouldn’t expect them to know it. They don’t live and breathe websites.

Second, I think many web designers aren’t aware of the power of Enfold. They’re used to making custom web site with the same old process. Like the old saying goes: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Conclusion

Take it from me, if you’re a small business looking to redo your website, please use WordPress and Enfold. Together they allow you to build a site in weeks instead of months, can be maintained with a few clicks a month and offer a massive savings over a custom-developed website.

And with all the money you save, you can invest in driving traffic to your new website with blogs, social media and email marketing.

Cheers! 🙂

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robbie Moore is the founder of Rushminute, a digital marketing agency in Lincoln, Nebraska. With 20+ years of experience in digital marketing, Robbie has worked with dozens of companies and organizations, large and small, around the globe. He also writes extensively about design, development, and business in general.

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