What Do I Need

Industry Web Host realizes there is never a single solution that fits everyone's needs. The only silver bullet is in movies.

“What do I need?” is a question we get all the time. The question typically goes along with, “I don’t want to spend much.” or “How much is it going to cost me?” But that’s not unique to web sites.

To choose the right solution, you need to know what you are trying to solve. The needs of someone who wants customers knocking at their door is different from someone that only wants to have a web page out there. By understanding what you want to do, you can select what you need.

If you’re only looking to put a shingle out, you won’t need much.


The next two questions that we might need to answer is,

   1. “What is your competition doing?” and
   2. “How can we improve the customer experience?”

Here are a few typical scenarios to get you started, and there is a good chance that more than one of these situations fits your goals.  Of course, these are only suggestions based on what generally occurs.

Your Need	DIY	Template	Semi Custom	Custom	Notes
Your own domain
Professional email
To say you have a site
To get new customers					Does require SEO
To stand out from the competition
To educate customers					Possible with any solution, but DIY template solutions do not typically include enough pages and control to get the job done
Provide on-line services to customers
Cost					DIY - costs time & your time is money; Templates - you get what you pay for Semi Custom - big bang for the buck Custom - you get what you pay for

Your industry may demand specialized functionality, like the ability to search property listings.  If this is the case, a custom solution might be your only option.  An alternative is to buy a canned package where you can choose from a dozen templates.  Choosing from a set of templates will not likely cost much, but you will look just like your competition.  When customers google for you and your competition, they will likely choose the company that stands out (and who will probably occur earlier in the search results - using SEO).

Another good place to look for ideas and insights is in the Top 10 List area.