If you needed to make a change with your business’ website, could you make it this second?
Do you ever find yourself frustrated that you have to run everything through your webmaster just to add the simplest of ideas?
It ain't gotta be this way.....
I pose these questions because they relate to a small business owner I was speaking with yesterday on the phone. This gentleman understood what so many of his fellow business owners do not—the utter importance of being able to control your own website. The only problem was that he had no idea how to accomplish such a task.
While talking with this man, it brought me back to the days of ‘no control’. As I’ve mentioned in other posts, over the past couple of years I’ve been on a quest to go from a ‘Tech Dummy’ to ‘Tech Master’. And although I’m certainly not at the ‘Master’ level yet, I have been in complete control of my company’s website for over 6 months now. Every one of the roughly 200 pages were created by me. But such was clearly not always the case.
It became pretty obvious to me about 2 years ago that all the future marketing success of my business would be contingent on our website. There were days when I’d go to the office and look at the site and say, ‘Gosh, I can’t stand the wording on this page, I wish I could change it right now.’ Or ‘Oh my goodness, I can’t believe I have a typo on such an important page, I hope my webmaster can get to it soon to change it.’ Or ‘If only I knew how to add pictures to this page….then I could really create something visually awesome for our visitors.’
I literally had thousands of such thoughts. But I was handcuffed by my own lack of knowledge, limited by an invisible monster (web site design) that bothered me each and every day. If I only had the knowledge of my webmaster……
Wikipedia defines a webmaster as follows:
A webmaster (portmanteau of web and postmaster), also called a web architect, web developer, site author, website administrator, or (informally) webmeister, is a person responsible for maintaining a website(s). The duties of the webmaster may include ensuring that the web servers, hardware and software are operating accurately, designing the website, generating and revising web pages, replying to user comments, and examining traffic through the site.
Sound daunting? It need not be.
A little over a year ago, I spent quite a bit of time trying to learn Dreamweaver. I got to the point of doing the very basics, but I was still incredibly hampered and frustrated, constantly handing off responsibilities to my webmaster.
But as I’ve talked about heavily in other posts, CMS entered my life through an awesome company called Hubspot. CMS stands for Content Management System and this technology(provided by many companies) now allows small business owners just like me to finally ‘take the wheel’ and drive their company’s marketing into the homes of the 21st century consumer without bonds and limitations. CMS will change small business marketing as we know it and for that, I couldn’t be any more grateful.
But let’s get to the point of the article– Why should you, as a small business owner, fire your webmaster and move to a CMS system?
1. Let Your Imagination Run Wild
It’s one thing to look at your company’s website and say, “I think we should change this, let’s see what my webmaster says.” versus “ Wow, this page really is dull. It’s time I give it a change. Here we go…..”
Do you see the difference between the two? It’s hard to put into words just how much the ‘creative juices’ get pumping when you know you’re the man. You’re the designer. You’re the artist behind the paint and the architect behind the edifice. Once this change occurs and you are able to experience creativity by letting your mind freely dictate the image your business portrays, you’ll never want to release the reins again.
2. Money, Money, Money
I had an unusual case with my business’ webmaster. Not only was he a great guy but he was very inexpensive. Such cases are rare because webmasters normally charge by the hour, and often times the hourly rate is $100 or more. As you can imagine, such financial burdens can greatly hinder a business owner’s desire to send for changes to the web master. Although the initial move of converting over to a CMS may cost a little bit of money, the financial savings are immeasurable. In fact, since taking the reins myself, I’ve probably logged about 200 hours of changes and programming to my company’s website. I’ll let you do the math on that one…
3. Real Time Change
Every business owner needs to be able to change his/her website at the drop of a hat. Whether it’s to correct a typo, make an announcement, or upload a brand new video; real-time change is a must in this highly technical and information driven world. The last thing any business owner wants is the inability to add something of major importance to their website ‘until their web guy gets back from vacation.’
4. Personal Touch
No matter how much input a business owner has with his webmaster, the website will likely not have his ‘stamp’ and personal touch. It’s essentially impossible, which really stinks, because that ‘touch’ is what customers and prospects need to feel when they’re on the site. Why business owners create a business ground up, shaping its every move, only to let it all go with their website is baffling to me. Without a doubt, I can now say that my company’s website is absolutely symbolic of me and my two business partners.
5. SEO
This particular topic would require a few blogs to give it proper justice, but let me just say this—A large portion of web masters and website designers for small businesses do not understand SEO. Yes, I know this statement will make a lot of web guys upset but it’s just the reality. Webmasters are often times much too artistic and ‘flash’ oriented. This means that although they may be able to design ‘pretty websites’, Google thinks they’re ‘pretty ugly’. In other words, the search engines don’t like them and therefore the website gets no SEO love. And as I’ve mentioned many times before, it’s imperative that your small business website is on board the SEO train. This is why remarkable, quality content should always supersede web page pomp and circumstance.
So there are 5 reasons(out of about 100) why you should take the helm of your company’s website. And will you ever need the services again of a webmaster? Yes, you very well may. In fact, I suggest that you utilize a ‘mentor’ until you’re off and running. Most CMS companies have such mentors to help lay the initial foundation. But the beauty of a mentor vs. a webmaster, in many cases, is that mentors want to create independency whereas a webmaster will often times create dependency. In other words, mentors want you to move on. It can be tough love but that’s exactly what all business owners need when it comes to understanding the basics of web design.
Questions about web design, CMS, or how to start the process? Need a mentor? Or do you think I’m nuts and all wrong? Well don’t hesitate to put your thoughts below as I always enjoy hearing from readers and your feedback is much appreciated.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Marcus, this is a great post and I can relate to it 100%. I also have had a similar experience with a client recently who is paying a webdesigner to re-do his website. I am NOT a webdesigner but was helping him out with the content. When I saw the “draft” I was flabbergasted!. The design is bland, the way the content was put in makes it look like a word document and the entire sight is missing the “wow” factor. The only thing it does have on it that a non-designer person couldn’t do – like me – is some rotating flash on the home page. To me – whatever he paid for that flash is not worth the poor design elements on the rest of the site and the loss of the ability to manage his own website. You bring up some very helpful, relevant points and it is very refreshing to hear about your personal experiences – who would know better than someone who actually has gone through it right? I look forward to reading more of your posts. BTW- your site looks great
Julie, you’re too kind
…But thanks so much for coming by the site and sharing your story– one that is valid and happening to businesses all over the world. Continue your great work and I hope to see you around these parts more often 
Hey Marc. Another great article! Did you buy a CMS template or did Hubspot build the template for you or how did you get started?
Todd my friend, so great to see you here
…..Hubspot comes with a CMS. When you start with them, they convert your old website on their CMS, and they have someone mentor you at the beginning. Then, once you’ve got your legs under you, you’re off to the races. Once our old website was transferred over and I had learned the system, I realized what we had before was very flawed, and so I essentially scrapped the whole thing and re-did it. You’ll likely do the same thing with time. Once you enter the world of SEO, the way you see every page on your site changes. Call me with any questions at all my friend.
A awesome article Marc! Yes, it is so GREAT to be in control of your site, and thank so much for your help on mine. ‘Tech Master’, yes you are pretty closes!!!
You’re very welcome my friend…your business is just starting to sniff its potential.
Wow. This article spoke to me. About 2 years ago I had the same experience at my hotel. We had some changes to make that were important (new booking engine link which meant my old one was broke and customers couldnt make reservations anymore). It took almost 2 weeks to contact the guy and get it changed. I have no idea how much money we lost during those two weeks, and I don’t think I want to know either. This was after a bad experience with them a few months before when i asked for a website redesign and got an ugly mis-shappen customer repeller and had to tell him give me the old design back.
I took things into my own hands and found CMS that let me drag and drop what I needed where I wanted, as well as make the site so much better. The quality of our site improved so much just being able to make small changes at will whenever a coworker (or even customers) would suggest something or comment about an annoyance.
I was so impressed that I signed up to be a reseller of the very services I was using. I support them 100% and use them to manage the 10 sites I have now. It is so cost effective too you can have a template based website with domain name and email for less than $100 a year, total.
I just found your blog today, but already I am a fan. I look forward to browsing your other posts soon!
Ninja, wow man, thanks for your kind words and I appreciate your input here. Tell me, what CMS are you using?