4 Ways People Waste Money on Their Websites
I love what I do. I meet awesome clients, help their businesses, and feel good enough to give myself an occasional pat on the back. But, I also learn a lot of weird things. I work with very smart people, but sometimes, they just don't know where to put their money. Companies here and there proclaim that their services are the absolute best. Well, they usually aren't.
Mmm, drains love money!
Here are some of the most unnecessary ways people waste money on their websites that I've seen:
1. Mediocre Themes
I have seen some fantastic, gorgeous, jaw-dropping themes out there, but I've also seen some really crummy ones. People try to cut corners with less expensive versions than some of the big boys, but it's never cheaper to spend $20, $40, and then, finally, $60 on a decent theme. Include all of the hours it takes to fiddle around with special options and the frustration failing technology always evokes, and you've really dropped a big one.
2. Pointless Submission Services
Whether you're dreaming of endless backlinks, overnight traffic spikes, or articles featured on big name blogs, the way to achieve those dreams is not by paying a service to shoot out links or words merely to feed the search engines. For one, it isn't always a very good idea to pay for those services since search engines really prefer natural, human content. When they see suspicious activity, they do not give it the benefit of the doubt and assume it's just some nice guy out of Raleigh trying to get his HVAC company off the ground.
You can add hugely unnecessary quantities to your monthly expenses when you use services like these, and they do you no good. Instead, spend time creating great content, engaging with clients, and reading other blogs and writing comments to create backlinks naturally.
3. Pre-Fabricated Business Sites
There are tons of website building programs out there where, if you pay $X a month, you'll get a fancy website with all of the social media integration you could ever want. Plus, they throw in some keyword campaigns to draw in more views, and it looks kind of like a good deal.
Except...the websites I've seen are overly simplistic, poorly cobbled together, and offer little other of value besides the keyword campaigns (which sometimes don't even draw in traffic for the right keywords). Really, I haven't seen any of these do much more than a standard, free WordPress.com site could offer.
Even if these programs seem worth it for $45 a month or whatever they charge, there's no way to make sure you're taking advantage of those funds without learning the complete details about what they're actually doing. At that point, you're better off hiring individuals or a company to get you going right.
4. Bad Help
Of course, it's always easier said than done to hire people to help out. Even good freelancers aren't always right for your job. People try to cut corners by hiring cheap help and requesting that they do very specific things with very specific programs that they want done, but don't really know how to do. Then, you're putting someone underpaid and often unskilled (in those very specific tasks) in a job that you really wish you could do yourself. Bickering ensues, the freelancer feels really bad because they can't offer the help you need, and you've wasted money.
Note to self: don't hire the kid next door to do your social media or web design (unless they have experience).
There are countless other ways to throw even more money down the drain. When did you waste money, and why did you think the expense was worth it at first?