Frequently Asked Questions

• Do you need a website?

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  • If you’re a locally-focused business that gets most business through world of mouth rather than google searches, you can potentially thrive just with social media.
  • Benefits of a website:
  • • ◦ Better SEO: (You show up higher in google search results).
    • ◦ Business is not hidden behind “sign in to view” banners by social media.
    • ◦ Finding menu, store hours or addresses is easier for clients.
    • ◦ Not worrying about social media suspending your main business page.
    • ◦ Looks more professional and signals your business is still open.

  For a more detailed answer I have a longer article here:

  https://janetspellman.com/blog/need-a-website

• When should you hire a developer?

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  • 1. You don’t have the time or energy to build a website yourself.
  • • ◦ You’ll work with a developer to figure out what your site should look like to achieve your goals. They’ll take care of the technical aspects to turn your vision into a layout, design, and fully working site.
    • ◦ They can build it on a website builder (so you can easily update it later) or code something custom if you need more flexibility.
  • 2. You want to improve your chances of ranking higher on Google and other search engines.
  • • ◦ Website builders work great for most small businesses, but they do come with extra code. That usually isn’t a problem unless the site gets very complex or overloaded with plugins, heavy images, or fancy animations.
    • ◦ A website builder will usually be fine if:
    • • ⁃ Your business is small or medium-sized.
      • ⁃ You keep things lean. This means only using a small amount of apps/plugins, or limiting heavy visual effects. (Or you bring in a developer later to help optimize things.)
    • ◦ The webpage mainly just needs to:
    • • ⁃ To load within 2 seconds so the website can rank higher on search results and potential customers won't get frusterated and click off the webpage.
      • ⁃ Have clean enough code that google can easily read it to rank for SEO.
      • ⁃ Allow you to customize to the level that you need.
    • ◦ A quick way to think about it:
    • • ⁃ A website builder = a reliable sedan. (Gets you where you need to go, works for most people, and is low-maintenance.)
    • • ⁃ Custom-coded site (or advanced platforms) = a high-performance vehicle. (Built for heavier loads, more speed, more customization, and tougher competition.)
      • ⁃ Most people can happily drive a sedan for years. But if your business grows or competition becomes tougher, the “performance car” starts to matter.
  • 3. You need help switching platforms or hosts.
  • • ◦ Moving from Wix → WordPress?
    • ◦ Squarespace → Shopify?
    • ◦ Self-hosted WordPress → a faster host?
    • • ⁃ A developer can rebuild or migrate the site, and make sure nothing breaks in the process.
  • 4. You’re a larger business and need more advanced features or customization

• Why is there no filter for price?

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  • Although the base version of a web page builder can be cheaper than others, most of the cost of a website comes from plugins/apps that you use to extend the functionality. Or extra add-ons that you buy from the website builder itself.
  • At some point, sometimes the more expensive web page builder with more built in features can become cheaper than a cheap web page builder that needs more adds ons.
  • So it would of been misleading to add a price filter.

• What is a plugin, extension or app?

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  • These are “apps” you can install to give extra features to your website.
  • It acts the same way as a mobile phone, where you would access an app store to extend its “features”. Some apps are free, others have monthly costs.

• What is a domain name?

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  • Every website has an IP address ex: 192..168.1.1 In human terms, this would be someone’s full legal name like: Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.
  • A domain name is a human readable name, so it would be a nickname like: Professor Dumbledore. Buying a domain name means you’re buying a unique nickname that people can use to find your website.
  • Domain names can be inexpensive $10-20 a year. But if its a high demand domain name, it can be significantly more expensive.

• What is SEO?

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  • High SEO (Search Engine Optimization) means getting Google to rank your website higher so more customers can find you through Google Search results.
  • Site owners (you) will control most of SEO. However website builders do have a part in:
  • • ◦ Directly affecting SEO through code quality or the the quality of its server OR
    • ◦ They can limit your ability to adjust your SEO ranking.

  Longer explaination here:

  https://janetspellman.com/blog/seo

• Should built-in POS integration be a top priority?

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  • Native POS means your in-store system and your online store speak the same language automatically.
  • But not every business needs this.
  • If you run a bakery with a few items, or a service business with limited in-person sales then two seperate systems would likely work fine for your business.
  • You only need native POS if you handle a lot of in-person sales AND online sales.

  Need more information to decide if you need built-in POS integration? I have a blog article about it here:

  https://janetspellman.com/blog/poso