← Branded Bull Podcast
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- [00:02]
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This is the Branded Bull Podcast, a show dedicated to helping take your business to the next level with winning marketing and branding tips and strategies built for today's competitive world, ready for your business to make its mark and stand out from the competition. Let's get into it.
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Hey guys, Adam Fullerton here. This is another episode of the Brand Bull podcast and today we're talking about something we get asked all the time. And that question is, should I go with a custom website or should I go with a templated website? Is that okay, given where I'm at, what my goals are, and what I'm trying to do in terms of growth? And before we jump into that, guys, if you're new here, just remember this is the podcast built for green industry business owners who want to stand out, get found, and win more work. So we talk about marketing, advertising and other tips and tactics and topics that help you guys grow your lawn care or landscaping business. So let's get back into it, right? So a lot of times the question really is coming from this assumption that custom websites automatically means that they are better. That if you want to look legit or stand out or grow your business, you need something fully custom. We get asked this all the time, but the reality is that that's not always true. And in a lot of cases, it's actually the wrong move depending on where your business is at. So today, again, I'm going to break down this whole topic a little bit more in a really practical way. We'll talk about the pros and cons of both templated and custom websites, and more importantly, when each one actually makes sense for you and your business. So let's start with what most businesses get wrong. A lot of lawn care and landscaping companies think their website needs to impress other business owners or look super unique or have all these custom bells and whistles and custom features. And honestly, your customers don't care much about that. They're not comparing your site to 10 others looking for creativity awards. They're really asking simple questions like does this company look legit? Can I trust them? Do they do what I need them to do? Where do they actually offer or service their work, and ultimately how do I contact them? And that's it for the most part. So if your website is clean, it's easy to navigate, and it clearly communicates what you do, you're already ahead of the, you know, a huge percentage of your competitors in your area. And I've seen simple, well structured websites outperform expensive cost of websites all day long because they're at the end of the day, simple. They're easier to use and easier to understand. So let's talk about that. Let's talk about templated websites. Kind of like what we do at brandable.com, we have a few different packages. Of course we also to offer custom websites. But let's talk more about this. A lot of people hear the term template and immediately think that it's cheap, it's generic, it's cookie cutter. But that's not really what a good template is about. A strong template is about proven results and proven structure. It's designed based on what actually works when someone lands on your website. So things like having a strong hero section that immediately tells people what it is that you do or where you do it, a clear call to action like getting a free quote or call now, or a simple breakdown of your services, reviews placed in the right spots to build trust. And ultimately you definitely need a clean, mobile, friendly design. You need your template to be SEO optimized. And of course the list goes on and on. We've talked about that ad nauseam on this podcast. And again at random, that's exactly how our websites are built. The structure is dialed in. We're not guessing. Like a lot of others out there, you're not paying for experimentation. You're stepping into something that's already designed to convert. Because we've done this for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of others in the industry and that's a huge advantage, especially early on when your business is starting out and budgets are tight. So let's talk about the pros of a templated site. Right? First, they're usually faster to launch. You can get it online quickly, which is critical if you're trying to start generating leads sooner than later. Usually it's more affordable. We absolutely believe in that. And if you want to see what our pricing structure looks like, go to brainable.com go to our pricing page. But they're typically much more affordable. You're not spending 5, 10, $20,000 upfront on a website, right? That's expensive when you're first getting into the business. And third, they're built on proven layouts, right? You're not reinventing the wheel. You're using what already works. Fourth, and arguably just as important as the other, is that they're easier to maintain. Right? Updates are simpler and you're not dealing with over complex designs that need a bunch of revisions and back and forth. And that all means that there's more money to be spent when you have to Spend more time on updating a website. Now, there are definitely downsides, right? I'm not going to act like it's the perfect solution. I mean, at the end of the day, there are downsides, right? You're not going to have unlimited design flexibility. It's not going to be 100% unique in terms of the structure. And you're not going to have as many advanced custom features and bells and whistles like I talked about built into the website. But for most, most, most businesses, especially you guys listening that do between zero and to a million in terms of revenue, those things aren't going to move the needle as much as you probably think. Now that said, let's talk about custom websites for a minute. A custom website is built from scratch, right? Every layout decision, every design element, every feature, it's all created specifically for your business. And that gives you a lot of flexibility. You can create a completely unique look to your business. You can build in advanced features like custom booking systems and interactive tools or again, more complex functionality that you might not get out of a standard template. And at that, at a certain level, like that actually does matter. And if you're a larger company trying to position yourself as a premium provider or differentiate yourself heavily in your market, obviously custom experience can help support that, without a doubt. But there are absolutely trade offs. And custom websites are still very, very expensive. And most are going to fall somewhere between five grand for something simple and 10 to 15 to $20,000 or more for something much more complex and something much more unique. They also take a lot longer to build. They go through a much more rigorous process with content and design and wireframing and they require more ongoing support and management. And honestly, one of the biggest risks is just overcomplicating things. We've seen custom sites that look impressive, but sometimes they can be confusing, they can be slow, hard to navigate, and they can actually hurt conversions if they're not done right. So again, it's not about custom versus template being better or worse. It's about using the right tool at whichever stage you are at in your business. And that leads into probably the most important part of this episode. What actually drives growth from your website. Because it's not whether your site is custom or templated. It comes down to a few key things, right? Clear messaging. People should immediately understand what you do. Strong calls to action, tell them exactly what it is that you want them to do. Next, trust signals like reviews, photos, things that proof prove that you are legit. Local SEO for sure. So people can actually find you in the first place. And if you get those things right, your website will perform. And if you get those things wrong, it doesn't really matter how much custom work your website is or how has gone, how much has gone into it. I should say you're going to struggle. Doesn't matter. It's like having, you know, a really nice paint job on a broken down car. Doesn't matter how flashy the paint job is, it's just going to struggle. It's not going to perform whatsoever. Especially in the green industry. Most of your customers are looking for cool websites, quote unquote cool websites. They just want fast answers, they want reliability, they want credibility, they want to find someone they can trust to show up and do the job. It's really simple in this day and age. So really quick, I want to break this down to you by business stage for us. We put this right on our pricing page as well. If you're in that 0 to 250k range in terms of revenue, we don't think you need a custom website. What you need is to establish an online presence. You need to show up on Google, you need to look professional and make it easy for someone to actually find you and contact you. And that's really it. And a templated site is exactly what you should be using in our opinion. And that would be something like our starter website. If you're more than that 250 to 500k range, right now you're growing, you're getting more consistent work, you might be hiring some people, you've got a few crews running around offering more services. Maybe you're dabbling into commercial work as well. At this stage, your focus should be on strengthening your branding, improving your messaging, and building your local SEO presence. Again, that's why we have our growth package, which is still a templated layout and design. And at that point you just need a better version of, of a proven structure, right? Something that can still take you to the next level, but without that custom price tag. Now we start going to half a million to a million or more. That's when your reputation really starts to matter more than anything else. And you may want to, you know, have more content on your website, you may want to refine your positioning in the market. You might want to start thinking about standing out even more than you already are because you're, you're trying to now differentiate yourself in so many different ways, not just have a fully functional business like you are when you first are starting out, but you need to now start to Differentiate yourself, like I said. But even here, most businesses still don't truly need a custom built website. You can go very, very far with a well executed, structured and templated website, just like our growth package. Once you get into that million dollar or more range, that's where custom starts to make more, more sense. And again, this is kind of to bring things full circle. We get asked this all the time, when should I have a custom website or people asking if they should start with a custom website when they're just brand new and starting out. When you're doing a million plus, you typically have the budget, right, you've got the systems in place and you've spent time refining your processes and getting all that infrastructure set up, so to speak. And you may actually need something like a more unique brand experience. You need advanced functionality, you need a higher end presentation. And at that point a custom website can support your growth instead of slowing it down, without a doubt. And that makes brings me to one of the biggest mistakes we see, which is businesses spending $10,000 on a custom website way too early in the process or way too early in the life of the business. That money could be going towards things that actually drive growth typically way more effectively, like SEO and Google Ads and better branding, better hiring practices or hiring more people, better equipment. The list goes on and on. And so your website should support your business, not drain your resources before you're ready. So all that saying kind of wrap this up. I know I'm going longer than I typically do, but to wrap this up, custom isn't better, it's just different. And most of you guys listening, in the lawn care landscaping business, you don't really need more complexity, you need more clarity, right? For you and for your customers, you need a website that looks professional, it's easy to use, and it builds trust quickly. And if you focus on that, you'll most likely generate leads while saving a few bucks to invest in other parts of your business. So think of it like this $10,000 website with no support behind it in terms of running your business or marketing means your website is going to really, really have a difficult time trying to drive growth for you. And you've got a less expensive website that's templated, but you have a bunch of extra resources that can go into other things like advertising, marketing, hiring, Equ. Then your website's going to definitely help support your growth because more people are going to be driven to see it, to find it, to interact with it, and to actually interact with your company. So if you've been going back and forth on a template versus a custom solution. Hopefully this gives you kind of a clear answer and I guess more information in terms of how to think about the two options there or the three options that we have at Brand New Bull. But you're not sure which stage you're in or what makes the most sense for you. That's exactly why we're here to help. At Renable, you can always check out our pricing and our structure and again, what we recommend for each stage of the business right on our pricing page. So that's what we got for you guys. I hope that helps differentiate the difference. Differentiate the difference. Differentiate between the different packages and where you should be focusing your time, your effort, your energy and of course your marketing dollars to help you grow the ways you want to grow. So that's what I've got for you on this episode. As always, new episodes every single Tuesday. If you like what you hear, consider leaving that five star review wherever you are listening or hit that subscribe button. And like I said, new episodes every single Tuesday. So thank you as always guys. And hey, catch you on the next episode. Take care.
- [13:55]
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Thanks for listening to this episode of the Branded Bull Podcast. The podcast dedicated to giving you expert advice and actionable ideas so that your business can make its mark and stand out from the competition like what you heard in today's show. Visit brandedbull.com to see how we can help you achieve your marketing and branding goals. Also, please consider leaving a five star review. And again, thanks for listening.