Are you considering a new website for your small business? Before you delve into creating your website, you should take a step back and think about what type of website will work best for your business. The majority of small businesses create a brochure or a lead generation website. In this article, I will discuss the pros and cons of each, and how to determine which one is the best fit for you.
What is a Brochure Website?
It’s the online version of a printed brochure – do you remember those? The website showcases your company’s information, your history, your products and services, and how to get in touch with you. This was common in the late 1990s to early 2000s. Just by having a website for your business, it doesn’t matter what was on it; you were ahead of your competition. You had no choice but to hire a website designer, and you paid a premium price for it. DIY websites, like Wix or Go Daddy Site Builder, didn’t exist back then.
Fast forward to today, and 99% of all businesses have a website. Brochure websites are still alive and work well for some types of small businesses and nonprofits. The website design price has come down dramatically from the dot com area. You have a lot more website designers to pick from, and you can save some money if you are willing to spend the time and build the website yourself with the assistance of a website builder.
Pros of a Brochure Website
Less Expensive
The price is less because there is less content and functionality. Our brochure websites start at $495.
Less Time To Build
Whether you do it yourself or hire a pro, you can get your website up and running in very little time.
Online Presence
Your website can be indexed by Google, and people will find you if they are searching for the name of your business.
Attractive Designs
There are many designs to pick either through the DIY companies or if you pick a WordPress theme.
Cons of a Brochure Website
Limited Search Engine Presence
Since the number of pages and the content is limited to a few pages, search engines won’t rate you very high for the services or products you sell because you have very little content about them.
No Plan For Growth
There is no plan for adding content regularly, and consequentially you put a ceiling on keyword rankings, organic traffic, and the ability to generate links naturally.
It’s All About Your Company
It’s great you have information about your small business, but most people are looking for answers to solve problems. You’re missing out on a lot of potential customers.
Tends to Be Generic
Most of these websites are limited to who the business is and what they do. They are not detail-oriented or give a reason for the viewer to dig deeper into your website.
A brochure website is a good option, especially for new and small businesses. It gives you an online presence for little cost. It can be maintained and updated either by you or your website designer. When you have very little or no competition, a brochure website will meet your needs. However, you do run the risk of missing out on potential sales.
What Is a Lead Generation Website?
This type of website is designed to answer common questions people have about your services or products. By answering questions, you build trust and establish your business as the authority in your field. Viewers tend to stay on your website for a longer period of time, referred to as dwell time, which in turn helps improve your search engine ranking. These types of websites are more effective than brochure websites because they engage the viewer and provide direction through the website.
A lead generation website is a level up from a brochure website. There are many strategies and tools to capture information about your visitor. For example, a single landing page to target a specific group of people.
Pros of a Lead Generation Website
Engages the Visitor
There is a lot of relevant information on your website for visitors to look at.
Better search engine ranking
With all the content on your website, you will rank on the search engines for a larger number of keywords. As you provide more relevant content on your website, you will be rewarded by ranking higher over time.
Refer customers to relevant articles
When communicating with customers, you can refer to articles to help them with their buying decision.
Better qualified leads
By weeding out people who decide your services or products aren’t what they are looking for, only those who are interested will contact you.
Cons of a Lead Generation Website
Start-up costs are higher
You have the cost of a brochure website plus the add ons for a landing page, blog section, and or a learning center, and a lead capture strategy.
Requires more time
Since there are more pages and functions, you or your website designer will spend more time developing your website.
Still not sure if you should have a brochure website or a lead generation website? Let’s compare the two types. If you were looking for a company to remodel your kitchen, you might search on the internet for local kitchen designers. Company A has a nice website with pictures of their projects, shows their awards, their company history, and how to contact them to get a price. Then you look at Company B’s website. They provide all the information as Company A, AND they include a bunch of pages about tips for remodeling your kitchen, how to pick a kitchen designer, advice on how to stay on budget, some downloadable guides, and useful checklists. Which kitchen remodeling company are you going to contact?
There you have it – the difference between a brochure website and a lead generation website. Which is the better type of website for your business? It depends on your budget, how much time you can invest, and how much business you want your website to generate for your business.
Acorn Digital Marketing provides both types of websites for small business owners in Cape Cod. Perhaps we are the right fit for you. You can learn about our pricing here or, you can contact us here for a customized quote for your small business.
