What’s Your Plan for Finding Small Business Website Design & Marketing Services?
With more small businesses opening in 2022 comes the need for affordable small business website design and marketingoptions. If you’re new to setting up and managing a small business which includes managing your company’s website, you may not know where to begin. Choosing a Florida website designer or web design company can be an easy decision OR… it can be a painstaking process. We’re here to help small business owners make intelligent, informed decisions. This begins with taking the time to communicate with you.
We cannot stress enough the importance of being able to communicate with your website designer. Asking questions shouldn’t be off putting, nor should you be rushed through a website design process. Equally as important, your website designer should also be asking you a variety of questions. Not doing so should signal problems or their lack of desire for communication which can lend to poor results.
Looking for a Florida Website Designer? Cost Isn’t Everything.
Don’t Forget to Ask Questions.
Whether you need a new website developed, website redesign services or you’re looking for a website marketing & SEO company in Tampa Bay who will provide website maintenance and search engine optimization, you will want them all to be good communicators. It makes perfect sense to ask questions of the person you will be entrusting your company’s website and website security to. Here are a few recommended questions to begin with:
Do you sell hosting and templates or do you actually design my website?
Do I have to host my website with your company?
Does it really matter who I host my website with?
How long have you been designing websites?
Do you have any professional references or reviews?
Do you build my website ‘live’ or do you provide me with a “mock-up” first?
How long will it take for my website to be developed and launched?
Who will be responsible for optimizing my website content and data?
What is the process in which you optimize my website and do you include image meta data?
Are you a content provider or do I have to provide the content?
Can I manage and maintain my own website once it’s launched?
What if I need help with learning how to manage my website?
Do you offer website maintenance and marketing services? If so, what is the cost of website maintenance or WordPress website maintenance and SEO ? Will I have to sign a contract or is it mandatory recurring monthly charges?
Can you provide us with ranking results or reviews of other customers’ websites that you have designed and maintained?
Can I take my business elsewhere? Meaning, can I move my website and content to another hosting company or website design firm?
When I need website support or if I have questions, do I have to submit a form and wait for a response– or can I call or email someone directly?There are so many more questions that you could ask and we hope you will! When inquiring about website design services in Florida, the obvious questions such as the cost of website design packages and the value of the site that will be developed for you– is usually insufficient, so dig in!
What Questions Should Your Tampa Website Designer Ask You?
We take pride in being quite straightforward, but we’re friendly and patient too! We take the time to get to know what your needs are and ask our clients and potential clients A LOT of questions. Perhaps that’s why we enjoy that 5 star rating! Wondering what those questions are? Just give us a call and ASK US!
Tampa Website Design, SEO, Marketing – Focusing on Simplicity
At Bay Area Graphics & Marketing, we’ve always had a simplistic approach to website design, Search Engine Optimization and small business services. Our focus? Customer satisfaction. As small business owners since the 90’s we first considered what we needed and wanted. Then, we asked small business owners what they wanted once their needs were fulfilled. Their needs boiled down to being able to obtain affordable website services, loyalty and dependability. In short, they wanted simplicity. Small business owners didn’t need the cheapest web design services in Tampa, they needed quality web design and SEO services that they could easily afford. They wanted a website design company who was dependable one that would help to make their business run a little smoother. Affordable website, marketing and design services with an emphasis on transparency and simplicity. We began by taking a minimalist approach to our own needs which helped to reduce costs that would otherwise be transferred to our customers. Why does any of this matter?
The Trend Towards Simplicity and Minimalism in 2018
While researching online trends in 2018, what we discovered was that consumers searched for and were being drawn towards more simplistic approaches to just about everything. From minimizing space, to clothing to becoming more self sufficient. The trends also were towards learning how to relax, which often meant finding time to relax. In a nutshell, we couldn’t help but notice that people are clearly reaching out to cure and reduce the stresses of managing their business and personal lives. But, we also realized, this wasn’t a “new” trend. We knew this to be true decades ago when we asked consumers what they wanted and needed from a web design and marketing agency. Although we were building our Tampa web design and SEO business in the late 90’s, by asking consumers we understood that small business owners were already stressed about the complexities of what the internet meant for the future of their small business. We felt the need to reduce that stress while using our talents. Back then, the cost of a small business website was astronomical and many small business owners were being left behind. We truly couldn’t understand or justify the high prices that web design firms were charging. We deduced it to “because they could.” Website design firms were different then, and they had a need to cover the cost of impressive office spaces, staff and their own massive advertising costs. Initially, people who could afford it were willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars for s simple website. We took a different approach, a simplistic approach. So how did simplifying things work out? Well, we’re still here decades later and some of those top agencies that were around then, are long since gone.
Quality in Simplicity
There is quality to be found in simplicity, and less is very often, more. What does it have to do with our services? Well, these are services most small business owners need on a frequent basis. Many business owners are hard wired to deal with complex situations and some often create difficulties where it they don’t yet exist. I think we have all heard the old phrase “keep it simple stupid” or “less is more.” Let’s go with the both of these. People have a tendency to complicate matters that are not complicated. Or, they complicate things they may not understand. Simply put, that’s not wise or in the case to follow, decent. Frequently, small business owners in our industry and others, will complicate and confuse matters –on purpose. Example: We’ve heard many stories of other firms convincing the consumer that the sky is falling. If the sky is falling, the person complicating matters was surely the only one who can stop it from falling and their fee to stop it will be comparable to the task, right? After all, it’s the sky, and it’s falling. What’s worse, is finding out that the company you trusted actually caused the sky to fall, only to charge you to fix it. See how that works? Sadly, it works for falling skies, a fall in website ranking, a broken website– or just about anything. In this situation less of that way of doing business is surely more. We keep things simple by being honest, fixing what needs to be fixed, and by keeping troubles at bay so our customers can focus on other matters –like having time to relax.
IF the Sky Actually Falls, You Won’t Need Our Services
Look, as small business owners we know that when things become too complicated, it eventually takes a toll on everyone. We also understand having worked closely with small business owners for decades, that the daily grind of operating a business can be complicated. It is the nature of the beast. Our goal when working on our client’s website design projects or their search engine optimization and marketing is to keep focused on what is important and true. Give our clients what they need and want and work methodically towards solutions to problems that may arise. We keep the necessary website services affordable while keeping the process easy for customers to understand. We do not insist on contracts because we do not need to. If an SEO or web design firm makes you sign a contract that locks you in to services for months or years, you most likely need to start looking for the hidden fees or reasons behind it. (Usually it’s in small print in the form of “price per keyword or phrase” or location or hosting or other additional services.) We offer affordable website design packages and Pay as You Go SEO services which keeps the process of search engine optimization and website marketing simple. If you need to focus on ranking for multiple keywords, we’re already on it. We also combine our services into one, so for instance, if you have a WordPress website, and you need WordPress maintenance or updates, we’ll take care of those for you as part of our SEO service. We won’t make it complex, up-sell our services or create problems (like falling skies). Because let’s face it, if the sky actually does fall, you surely won’t need our services.
Saving Time, Money, Energy in 2019
Moving into 2019, we believe the trend towards simplicity will remain as it did in the 90’s and in 2018. We believe more small business owners will continue to search for ways to simplify their own lives which means making changes in their business relationships. This may include making some changes that will result in saving money, time and energy. These are all good and positive things to aspire to. We will continue to keep our process of developing small business websites that rank well, easy and affordable. Our SEO service and web maintenance services will continue to be straightforward, without complicated rules, price structures or questionable short-cuts that can actually cause problems, rather than positive results. Trusting that your website services are in the hands of focused, experienced professionals will allow our customers to spend more time to search for additional ways to create harmony, simplicity and success in their business.
“Simple can be harder than complex, you have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end, because once you get there, you can move mountains.” Steve Jobs
Let us help you simplify things, so together, we can move mountains!
Florida Small Business Owners Ask, How Long does it Take to Get Results from SEO?
As SEO experts serving Tampa bay and Florida since 2001, one of the first questions small business owners in Florida will ask (or want to ask) is “How long will it take to get results from search engine optimization?” If you do a search on Google and look at the average of what most (honest) Florida SEO firms are saying, improved ranking and results can take four to six months. Sure, you may find a few SEO firms making unrealistic promises. Avoid those firms. Many who promise miracles use black hat SEO. Google warns against these techniques. Although they may initially result in something that looks like progress, suddenly, those results will take a turn. That about-face could in fact have an end result of Google penalizing your website.
Answer: How Long does it take to Grow a Garden. What?
Unsavory SEO company’s unrealistic projections aside, in general, I can agree that four to six months is a fair estimate. However, in theory, the results of SEO on your website’s ranking will depend on quite a few variables. Much like growing a garden, variables such as your marketing budget, competition, state of your website when SEO begins and current algorithms or “conditions” coupled with how much work you put into your site, all effect results. We have websites that take just weeks to show improvement and some that take several months. If you’re growing what thousands of others are growing (industry competition) you must be realistic in your expectations. Being prepared to out-grow your competition means being committed to your SEO. Out-producing the other growers is a wonderful goal, but simply put, you will get out your garden, what you put into it. Expecting anything more is being unrealistic. Does this mean you shouldn’t try? Keep reading.
Investing in SEO – Cost of Search Engine Optimization
Investing in your online presence through affordable search engine optimization services to increase your organic ranking is a must. If you have a website, you must invest in it if you want it to work for you. If you need website design services and you are just starting out, you MUST consider optimization when you build it. Back to the garden analogy. You can plant the seed, and spend thousands of dollars or hard work on website development, but if it is not tended to properly, and consistently, it will not produce. Like a garden, your website needs certain things to grow. The costs of SEO can discourage some business owners. Some will end up doing nothing because they fear they cannot afford it. Competitors with more money or time to invest in their websites count on that way of thinking. But we fixed that. Since 2001 our goal has been to help small business owners compete by offering affordable SEO services that help put them small on the map.
SEO Techniques That Produce Results for Florida Business Owners
Water. Sunlight. Nutrients. A little Luck from the Weather Gods.
Watering your website? Sure. Flowing a steady stream of content into your website, is like pouring water into dry ground. Google still loves water (content). Adding fresh, well written content that is perfectly optimized is just one step towards a website that will rank higher and produce results.
Sunlight? Sure. You think we’re getting crazy right, but, keep reading! Shining a light on your website, particularly the new content you add to it is crucial to its growth. Picture your website sitting in a dark corner. Until you add some sunlight to it, it will just sit in the dark corner. Some may pull out a flashlight in hopes that will work. But it won’t. Eventually the batteries will die and the light will fade out. And flashlights don’t have what the sun’s rays do. Each ray from the sun adds to the particular growing stage of a plant. How is this applicable at all to your website’s ranking? Adding some artificial sunlight in the way of backlinking, adding proper anchor text, image optimization and sharing on social media sites are just a couple of ways we can introduce sunshine to your website. There are many more SEO techniques and tasks that we utilize– but let’s move on. See there? Our garden analogy is looking less silly already– Read on.
Nutrients. If you’ve ever grown a garden you know that sunlight and water are simply not adequate enough to produce fruit–(revenue.) You must enrich your soil by adding nutrients. Enriching your website through building proper directory listings, digital footprints plus a variety of other enhancements that SEO experts use, is a must. Without these crucial steps, you will not grow organically. “Grow organically?” you ask. Yes. We should have addressed this early on. Organic ranking of a website simply means that your website ranks well on the search engines without paying for advertising. Good organic ranking should be what every website owner strives for. Just like food produced in an organic garden is better for you, so is a website that ranks well organically for the business owner.
The Weather Gods. (Google) Let’s face it, when it’s fair weather we have a tendency to forget about storms. Google can change their mind just like the wind can suddenly change direction. But, the good news is, is that we can count on Google for some basic weather patterns. In other words, some weather patterns are fairly predictable. Weathering changes in Google however, can be as simple as sticking to Google’s best practices. These are the things that they suggest every website owner must do to please them. Most of these best practices haven’t changed with time. When there is drought or heavy downpours, your Florida SEO expert is prepared to take these on without flinching.
Don’t forget the Weeds. Being choked out from weeds? Well, it may sound harsh but weeds are your competition. When your site is planted and tended to properly, weeds won’t overtake your crop. Think this is crazy? Maybe, but it’s true. You can never get rid of weeds (competitors) but you CAN keep them from overtaking your garden by improving the conditions in which your own website grows. Healthy, well maintained websites are less prone to pests (viruses, attacks, etc.) particularly with WordPress websites so you must consider how this effects ranking. Then there are weeds (competitors). If you are an industry with many local competitors, a realistic approach will result in production, an unrealistic approach will result in disappointment. We help our customers address both issues by keeping your website up to date (maintenance) while improving the overall health of your website through search engine optimization services.
So How Long does it Take Again to Rank Higher with Search Engine Optimization?
We tell our customers that it can take weeks to many months to see results from search engine optimization. The more you put into it, the better off you are and doing nothing at all is asking for failure. Again, compare good ranking to good gardening. Adding all of the above and expecting to produce fruit the next day is unrealistic but adding none of the above will result in a dead garden.
Tampa Florida SEO Experts – No Contracts, Affordable Small Business SEO
Do you have a new website that needs tending to? Perhaps your old website needs a boost or even a website re-design. Give us a call. Let us help you diagnose what problems you have, and give you an honest analysis on how to fix those problems. Most of the time, it’s not as bad as clients might think. Remember, we offer affordable SEO, website maintenance and website design services. Our no contracts policy help small business owners in Florida overcome the fear of obtaining SEO services. Affordable SEO services make it possible for every Florida business owner remain competitive. We are SEO experts in Tampa Bay with super green thumbs. We’ve been helping small business owners produce fruit (revenue) since 2001 and would welcome the opportunity to help you too!
Florida Small Business Owners Avoid Costly Mistakes
Small businesses are always looking for affordable website design options and who can blame them? With the cost of running a business, we know that every penny saved counts. But, when it comes to areas where you should cut costs, you shouldn’t neglect asking yourself what the return on your investment, or lack thereof will be.
“Affordable” Web Builder Services
Cutting costs by using the various web builders or “all in one” website design and hosting service options has proven disastrous for the majority of clients who have come to us for help after having chosen this route. We have countless stories of wasted time, money and effort by small business owners. Imagine, spending a year or more trying to get your site built and RANKING on the web, only to realize you made a huge mistake. Sure, some of these templates these companies offer look nice, but the functionality and capabilities do not. This is where the “up-sell” comes in, and where you will realize your necessity for other web design solutions.
One big issue with many of these DIY web builders, is that if you decide to host your website elsewhere, you simply cannot do so. Sure, you can copy and paste your content (text) into your new website on a new platform, but for the most part, what clients are being sold with free websites or web builders is hosting with some website templates thrown in to entice the user. We always recommend keeping your hosting and your web designer separate as by doing so, they will avoid many problems that come along with combining the two.
Is WordPress a Web Builder?
WordPress is a content management platform that is free to use. WordPress uses themes, but it is not a web builder. You can host a WordPress website with any host of your choice, although we do recommend some hosts over others. A WordPress website is very different from the web builders such as what you get with WIX or Godaddy and are far superior depending on your designer. DIY website design using WordPress can be difficult at best for most, however, once we design a WordPress website for our clients, providing they have the time and willingness to learn, we can teach you how to make simple edits and even manage the basic aspects of your website. If you need help after we’ve launched your site, we have affordable pay as you go options to help you to maintain, update and market your new website.
Are WordPress Websites More Affordable?
Because we charge a one time fee for a WordPress Website Design, once this fee is paid and your site is launched, you pay only for your hosting. This cost will vary depending on the host that you choose. Our minimum website design package is a 6 Page website design package, which start for as little as under $1000.
Bay Area Graphics & Marketing has Florida small business budgets in our focus and have since 2001. Providing small business owners with affordable website design and SEO and marketing services while maintaining quality and customer service is what we continuously strive for. We do this by extending special offers and discounts off small business website design services, SEO services and graphic design services. (YES, we do that too!)
Coupons Small Business Web Design Services, Tampa, St. Pete, Clearwater, Land O Lakes, New Port Richey
Below is just an example of how we keep your budget in mind. Our website design packages are already priced right for any Florida business. We know that every dollar counts thus, we find ways to save you money on design and marketing services that are necessary to the success of every small business. For example, every Wednesday is Web Design Wednesday at Bay Area Graphics & Marketing! Every Wednesday we have a special offer for website design services which can include:
$100 OFF WEBSITE DESIGN PACKAGES & E-COMMERCE WEBSITE DESIGN SERVICES
Below you will find our current special offer that takes $100 off any of our website design or e-commerce website design packages. Remember, Bay Area Graphics & Marketing provides “full-service” website development services. We aren’t selling hosting and throwing in templates for “DIY” websites. In fact, many of our clients previously used these types of web builders, and aside from not passing the website optimization or search engine ranking test, these sites are restrictive and generally lead to more expensive plans. Just mention “100OFF” when you purchase any of our website design packages.
Web Design Wednesday, Tampa Bay
#WhatsupWednesday – Every Wednesday, we offer discounts and special offers on any website service. Contact us for our current discounts on website design and website services.
If you’re interested in our special offers, or you would like a custom quote for services, please reach out to us. Call 813-778-9548 or simply email us. We’re confident that you will be pleasantly surprised at our “truly” affordable small business website design and marketing services!
few variables. Much like growing a garden, variables such as your marketing budget, competition, state of your website when 
Is WordPress a Web Builder?
