When is it time to pay a professional? Well, since my company would be considered the professionals, my answer may seem biased, but it is my honest opinion.
You should pay a professional as soon as you are ready to start selling or promoting your business.
Why? Because it really is a cornerstone of business success, especially in today's market. Lets talk more in depth about this.
1.
First, its a matter of numbers. The web provides a unique opportunity to *thoroughly* reach more people in a single moment than any other method available. You could have a store front with 100 people walking by in a day - your website could have 100 visit in 30 seconds.
We have some small business clients that get thousands of visitors per day - few store fronts or sales people can reach that in a month.
2.
Second, appearance matters. Right off the bat, having a website gives you an existence to all those people you meet out there that check up on you. I am sure you look at the website of most people you meet or company's you want to learn about. So, just having a site makes you look real, but it isn't enough.
Next, is about how it looks and this is a complicated matter. Your site has a business goal - that may be to get a sale, get a contact, convince someone to call you or just convince them to come back to the site. How do we accomplish these things? Well first we have to get them to stay. Study after study say people make their opinion in the first few seconds of reaching a site. Here are the elements of getting a profesional design:
- Someone to bring business sense to the process and help you develop goals and a strategy to acheive them.
- A good graphic designer to create something visually appealing and develop a sensible layout that is focused towards your goals and ease-of-use.
- A marketing person to understand who you are reaching and what will effect them.
- A content writer that helps deliver the message clearly, yet simple and fast. Good text leads people to your goals.
- A programmer that can create good code that works in all browsers and meets the level of standards compliance and accessibility for the handicapped needed for your business. Sometimes a programmer that can develop functionality for purchasing or customer support.
That is just the tip of the ice-burg because many other factors like SEO, but typically a firm employees people with various talents that can bring a project together correctly.
3.
Functionality can make the difference. Today's sites are not static. They provide an interactive experience for potential customers and customers. Each business is unique and could benefit from advanced features - even if you don't think there is anything you could do in your business, a professional might have ideas that could skyrocket you.
The web is not only a way to create a level playing field - a small business can reach just as many people as a large business - but it can do more for you in an instant than many other areas or investments of your business.
With a professional, you may reach 1000 people tomorrow instead of 100. With the right professional, you could convert 25% into sales or contacts instead of 2%.
Do it by the numbers, if you invest X in the right person and they can increase traffic and conversion by X and that means $$$ more money over time - do it.
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As far as your second question, maybe you could tell us a little more about what you do. I think key features are different for each unique business.
Hope I helped a little.
