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Advertising and site redesign and SEO's, oh my!

SadisticPeppers

Business Member
I pulled the trigger today on getting my cypersecurity website redesigned. I had slapped something together (link) a few months ago on my own, but I figured since I'm running it as an official business, I better hire someone to make it look siginficantly more professional than my (admittedly limited) web skills would allow. The first place I contacted, I didn't get a good vibe from. They hated my logo, hated everything I did in fact, and the guy I spoke to was um.... rude?... basically talking down to me the entire time as if I was some know-nothing he was desperately wanting to scrape from his shoe...
 
So I called another place and the lady I spoke to was infinitely nicer. Unlike the previous company, she actually asked me what my company was all about, what services I was offering, what I wanted as far as website capabilities, and had her own ideas that actually jived with some of the things I wanted to accomplish. Plus, the quote she and her company gave me was SIGNIFICANTLY less expensive than the first company. Ten minutes in, the first company wanted me to commit to a $2500 a month open ended contract before they'd talk to me any further, and the 2nd company only wanted $1500 for everything (website design, graphics, development of in-website apps, social media integration, maintenance, a couple months' worth of advertising, the works), and only half down to get started, the rest when she was done getting the site designed in 2-3 weeks.
 
She also talked to me about doing some search engine optimization (SEO) for the area once the new site is uploaded, since cybersecurity, cyber forensics, ID theft, and anything related to locking down people, is increasingly becoming a hot topic, especially given that where I live (South Florida) has so damn many law offices, medical clinics of every specialty you can conceive, banks, rich folks who want everything and anything secured, the list goes on. Plus, I ran a search, and the certs I have.... well, I can count on one hand with fingers to spare, the number of people who have them. She was also going to look into doing pay-per-clicks, mass e-mailings, newsletters to get the word out, and other things, all for quite a bit less than what the other comany was charging.
 
So I went with option 2 of course. Right now, my current site, the one I made, is up, but I already gave the company access to set up everything they need, and they already found some things they sent my way, complete with sketches, basic graphics, and even integrating my existing logo in, which the lady said she actually liked, but wasn't really popping in a dark background the way it was at present.
 
Oh, and did I mention I already got a couple local clients? :)
 
As someone who works in this field, I have my suspicions about the 2nd company.  I hope it all works out for you, but just a word of caution a lot of people claim they know/can do SEO.  It is great when it is done right, but doing it right requires constant attention and updating.  I've heard many horror stories from friends and family about how they shelled out all this cash for SEO and to have absolutely no results.  Many of the tactics used a few years ago don't apply today or can get you blacklisted or filtered as spam on Google.  If your developer is not going to be working on your SEO over a lengthy span of time it won't do much for you.  That is my main concern for you when I read this post.
 
$1500 is extremely cheap for all the stuff you listed.  I hope it all works out for you, its a great company to start in these times!
 
Also, yes, good luck, but I'd also be wary of such kitchen sink deals. You need website development, not advertising and SEO thrown in, those are to attract customers and usually yield nothing. I'd get the website built, then do advertising (on your own) and SEO (with an actual SEO expert)...
 
Also logos are very important, you may want someone that just does logos, but see what they can do first since you paid. But if they give you a killer website and you hate the logo, that is not unusual and often a separate expense.
 
The company I went with is the only one in the area that actually does SEO and online advertising. The first place I went with, the condescending company that wanted $2500 a month, didn't even include SEO or marketing in their quote, which was a real drag for me. The other reason I went with the company I did was because I looked at their portfolio, and was rather impressed with it, and the first company wouldn't let me see theirs, which was a big red flag.
 
And as far as the logo goes, I already got one designed, bought & paid for :)
 
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