Sometimes I Wonder?

For most of the websites I have built, the customer has come to me, either directly after seeing my link on another website or by referral from an existing customer. I very seldom make cold calls on a business. When I do it is for one of the following reasons:

  • A new small business is starting locally, and I wonder if they would like to consider a website.
  • I have happened to look at an existing website, and it is frankly so poor that I wonder if they would consider a more professional effort.

In some cases the response is positive, and whether or not I get the business I am glad to see that they are trying to grow by improving their web presence. In other cases the response baffles me! Here are two of the most common responses.

My (pick a relative) built my site and I don’t want to hurt their feelings.

Well, what can you say to that, except “Thanks for talking with me and good luck”? After discussing the potential loss of customers due to the likelihood of poor search engine results, I leave them with some web links showing them well designed sites competing for their business.

My business is on Facebook.

Really good marketing by Facebook to make them believe that you can really grow a business that way! The simple fact is that updates on Facebook will only be seen by those that have “liked” you, meaning they already know about your business.

Others will find search engine links to your Facebook page (maybe) and when clicking on the link they will be nagged mercilessly to log in or sign up! That might almost be acceptable if the person is a Facebook user and is willing to log in to see your listing. But if the person has no interest in Facebook, the continual nagging becomes so ridiculous that they will give up and go elsewhere.

My advice to businesses is that a real website should be the public-facing view or their business, and Facebook should be a socially-oriented discourse targeted at their Facebook “friends”.