No excuse…there is simply no excuse in this day and age for a software company to have a bad website.
Now wait just a minute. Nobody’s calling your baby ugly. By bad website, I’m referring to its ability to generate leads for your business. That’s the main goal of your website, right?Image may be NSFW.
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If your website isn’t converting your traffic into leads, you have to do something about it…right now.
DIY website building tools make it extremely easy and affordable to create professional websites that can start generating leads for you. No programming knowledge required. No webmaster expertise needed. We’re talking clean, easy-to-use interfaces, WYSIWYG editors and drag-n-drop. I’ve worked with a number of B2B software vendors that have created their own websites, and I’ve put together a short list of the services I’ve seen used with great results. I won’t get into an exhaustive feature list here; consider this a launching point to start your research.
4 tools to create a professional lead generation website on a budget
Wix
Founded: 2006
Hosting: Wix only
Cost: $8-$20/mo. (yearly discounts)
Get a feel for the tools and user interface by creating a free website. Hosting is through Wix and they retain all source files so once you create a site here, it’s going to stay here. This is a growing company with lots of new functionality.
Site2You
Founded: 2004
Hosting: Site2You or choose your own
Cost: $15-$50/mo. (yearly discounts)
Start a 7 day free trial, with no credit card required, to check out their functionality and interface. In addition to your website, Site2You also offers a Facebook page customization package. They provide hosting, or you can host and manage the site yourself.
Squarespace
Founded: 2004
Hosting: Squarespace or choose your own
Cost: $10-$30/mo. (yearly discounts)
You have full control over your code so you have the option of a more customized look rather than relying on the WYSIWYG editor. Their feature list is impressive, as is their website.
WordPress
Founded: 2003
Hosting: WordPress or choose your own
Cost: $0-$25/mo.
WordPress is currently the most popular CMS in use on the Internet. The main difference here is that you’ll be buying a template from 3rd party sites and applying it yourself. You have full control over the code and design so this option can be for anyone from novices to seasoned webmasters.
Each one of these services has its pros and cons, which will differ widely based on your circumstances. But any of these options can quickly and easily provide you with the tools you need to build a professional looking website with the right lead generation capabilities to help your business grow. Take a look and see which one has the features you need, the pricing you want, and the ability to accommodate your projected growth. And as I mentioned, this isn’t an exhaustive list. If you still can’t bring yourself to pull the trigger, at least consider a landing page creation service, like Unbounce (similar to the website services above). Customized landing pages will help you get more leads from your paid traffic sources, like AdWords, Bing, Capterra, etc.
Are there any great DIY options that I missed? Let me know in the comments section below.