Search for web design in Florence, Alabama, and some of what comes back is automatically generated pages from out-of-state agencies, with the city’s name dropped into a template. A Florence business owner comparing options should know what the real difference is between a site somebody builds and maintains for them and a template sold from a distance. It comes down to a few things.
It changes when the business changes
A business changes all the time: new hours, a new service, a staff change, a festival weekend. A maintained website gets those changes the week they happen. A template that nobody looks after keeps saying whatever was true on the day it went live.
Somebody answers the phone
When a form stops sending or a page breaks, the question is who fixes it and how fast. With a site built and maintained by one person who knows it, the answer is a phone call to that person. With a template from a distance, it is often a support ticket.
It is written about Florence
A site written by somebody who works in Florence can say true, specific things about where the business is and who it serves: the University of North Alabama student population that turns over every year, the visitors who come for the W. C. Handy Music Festival or the Alabama Renaissance Faire, the downtown. A template can only swap the city name in.
It is kept up to date underneath
Every website needs WordPress, plugin and security updates, with a backup taken before they run. On a maintained site that happens every month without the owner having to think about it. On a site nobody maintains, it does not happen, and the first sign may be a broken page or a browser warning. More on that in An Out-of-Date Theme Is Not a Cosmetic Problem.
What to ask before choosing
Whoever a Florence business picks, it is worth asking who will update the site and how often, who to call when something breaks, and what happens to the site and the domain name if the business ever moves to somebody else.
JM Marketing builds, hosts and maintains websites for businesses in Florence and across the Shoals. See website design in Florence, AL, or call Jeff McDaniel at 662-422-1809.