How can you convince a biz owner custom website is better than Intuit site?

11 years ago

Are the sites you make better? Why?

We can't answer that for you because for all we know they are not better.

Do you believe your product is better? Is so tell them why. If you don;'t know just move on and go after people with no website.

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stephaniek

11 years ago

What do you not get through an Intuit site that you will get from a custom site?

Are you trying to sell them on a custom built site? Probably they use it because it's cheap and easy. If you're going to sell them on it, you'll have to show them that they'll get a better return in their investment.

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iAmNameLess

11 years ago

It depends... can they afford it or not?

Intuit, weebly, website tonight, they ALL SUCK donkey circles.

They aren't search engine friendly.
They look outdated, even if you made it yesterday.
They aren't flexible, and expansion is impossible.
They typically have very high bounce rates.
They just suck.

A custom website will allow a business owner to:
Have an optimized website for search engines
Have a professional website that reflects, professionalism
Doesn't look like a 5th grader with down syndrome designed it ( no offense, maybe some are great artists, but I haven't seen any.)
Allows for better user experience
Can be more engaging than intuit websites
Your competition has custom websites, don't you want to compete?

Really... people go with these platforms because they're either uneducated or broke. If they're broke, then I don't want them. If they're uneducated, then they need to either have an open mind, and willing to learn, or else don't waste your time.

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Kingfish85

11 years ago

Originally Posted by iAmNameLess

It depends... can they afford it or not?

Intuit, weebly, website tonight, they ALL SUCK donkey circles.

They aren't search engine friendly.
They look outdated, even if you made it yesterday.
They aren't flexible, and expansion is impossible.
They typically have very high bounce rates.
They just suck.

A custom website will allow a business owner to:
Have an optimized website for search engines
Have a professional website that reflects, professionalism
Doesn't look like a 5th grader with down syndrome designed it ( no offense, maybe some are great artists, but I haven't seen any.)
Allows for better user experience
Can be more engaging than intuit websites
Your competition has custom websites, don't you want to compete?

Really... people go with these platforms because they're either uneducated or broke. If they're broke, then I don't want them. If they're uneducated, then they need to either have an open mind, and willing to learn, or else don't waste your time.

^This pretty much sums it up.

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momtraders

11 years ago

Intuit is like $80 a month for a template site. If you are offering web services, one of the big selling points is the design will be 100% owned by them, intuit not so much, also you have better control over your seo. Your services offer a brand, intuit does not, hundreds of other sites could look like your clients. NOT very proffessional in my opionion. However, if you can't get them away from intuit, build a service similar to intuit, but undercut the price, and offer bonuses for them to leave intuit and use your service. ie, free hosting for so long, pro flyers, or business cards, additional banners, maybe a small marketing thank you package those types of things. Small offline business owners want things SIMPLE. Don't over complicate, and give it to them on a platter, they are too busy with other stuff. I know this because I help my finacee with our car lot, he did not even want a site to begin with! Too much money, too complicated blah blah, any how I built him a site, and do his craigslisting, but really all other offliners feel the same, they don't understand how important online sales are... so you have to really know your stuff, and the big thing about selling them is get them excited, motivate them, but at the same time handle it all from start to finish and make it seem so simple, all they have to do is write a check, or han over cash. They do that all day long, so no biggy there. They just get overwhelmed by the information, not the money part.

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Creativegirl 11 years ago

IAmNameless really sums it up and momtraders backs it up.

In my experience you have to pick you battles, who you want to spend your time educating.

I've heard all the horror and sob stories from biz owners about their websites and web designers (I use that term loosely). As a biz owner myself I avoid being held captive like the plague to: proprietary platforms, etc. It's hard for me to sell this to customers except in very specific situations.

When the economy tanked this web design biz model became popular, at least on WF, to promote. Easy to get started, low monthly cost for customers, residual income for you and lost leader to get an inroad to provide for more services like SEO.

Google uses it too with their partnership with Intuit (remember last year the free Google websites IMs were upset about?). They weren't free anymore than the new GoMo Google-Duda partnership is offering (free hosting for 1 year but it's still a DIY self job or pay duda $400).

Anyway, my point is you have to recognize who may be interested in taking control of their websites, online presence, etc. and who are not. We've pulled back from heavy education and low $ / high maintenance prospects.
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Eddie Spangler

11 years ago

Some good points , but for nameless thought you may enjoy this
Michael's Main Page

There is a first time for everything.

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John Durham

11 years ago

"They aren't search engine friendly.
They look outdated, even if you made it yesterday.
They aren't flexible, and expansion is impossible.
They typically have very high bounce rates.
They just suck."

I have to disagree with all of the above except flexibility in terms of giving the customer their own back office. I have made a ton of customers with homestead for years. Intuit sites rank just fine, I dont see any evidence that they dont and plenty that they do. So of, course, I disagree respectfully.

I have great ranking intuit sites that generate leads every month, and several intuit pages that make me (personally/not clients) thousands of dollars per year.

For flexibility, in terms of offering your customer their own back office to their site, then learn word press, but intuit sites are fine. I rarely meet a customer who requires their own back office in reality.

The intuit templates can look good or they can look bad, much depends on the eye of the person working with them... they certainly are more flexible than WP regarding your ability to move objects around on a page anywhere you want... instead of having to deal with having non proportionate separations on your page because WP limits where you can pace objects... or text you cant center because of this reason of that... on their templates... WP isnt very flexible as far as being able to manipulate the objects on the page... Though I guess if you are a coder you could get around some of it.

Im guessing most of the people saying this stuff only know the online version of intuit and arent intimate with the features of the downloadable version.

As far as costing $80 bucks per month? In what universe?

I have 40 domains on my intuit account and Im paying less than $100. per month.

Ps. Im sure you'll agree these templates dont qualify as "sucky" and you can certainly find alot of great ones...thing is they are all FREE also thousands of stock photo's with your intuit account...

Do these really suck honestly?

http://www.homestead.com/~site/hslo/website/gallery.ffhtml

I think the evidence says they don't.

Usually agree with Iamnameless but on this one I have to say my own experience with it disagrees.

Ps. @ OP - You have to convince them that YOU are a better marketer than their current one, not that intuit is better than WP or whatever...either their site ranks and brings traffic or not... Thats the bottom line.

Honestly, my real solution is just "Let em go. Let em have their site....Move on to the next call. Find someone who wants what you offer."

Dont hang around where you are not wanted, especially when somewhere out there a customer is just "WAITING" for you to call. Dont miss em....

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iAmNameLess

11 years ago

Originally Posted by John Durham

"They aren't search engine friendly.
They look outdated, even if you made it yesterday.
They aren't flexible, and expansion is impossible.
They typically have very high bounce rates.
They just suck."

I have to disagree with all of the above except flexibility in terms of giving the customer their own back office. I have made a ton of customers with homestead for years. Intuit sites rank just find, I dont see any evidence that they dont and plenty that they do. So of, course, I disagree respectively, but still disagree.

For flexibility learn word press, but intuit sites are fine. The templates can look good or they can look bad, much depends on the eye of the person working with them... they certainly are more flexible than WP regarding your ability to move objects around on a page anywhere you want... instead of having to deal with having no proportionate separation on your page because WP limits where you can pace objects... on their templates...

Im guessing most of the people saying this stuff havent spent much time working with intuit and most only know the online version and arent intimate with the downloadable version.

Well, I respect your opinion but I'll go ahead and show you evidence.

1.) They aren't search engine friendly
Explanation - They simply aren't. I'm not saying they CAN'T rank but I want to only deal with facts on this. They are NOT search engine friendly. Show me an intuit built website with a sitemap. Show me one with microformats, show me some with gzip enabled, show me some with css sprites. You can't. Why? Because it doesn't exist, you have NO option of SEO'ing a website and optimizing the on page, AND the loading speed of a website in a more advanced format. It is NOT SEO friendly, according to many of the metrics Google uses to rank websites. Can they rank? Yes... are they SEO friendly? Absolutely not. I haven't even seen one with an h1 tag.. but I think its possible to include it, the others are not possible. You can't even optimize where you want the google analytics tag, you have to insert it into the head instead of being able to decide where you want to load the script. I personally avoid loading any js in the header of a website.

2.) They look outdated even if you made them yesterday.
Explanation - I have never seen, even a mediocre intuit website.
Sumner Mansion Inn | Hartland, VT 05048 - built in 2012 - Looks like 2003 standards.
Team RAIN | Tampa, FL 33626 - Built in 2012 - Looks like 1999 standards.
Crescent Moon Gifts - Built in 2012 - Looks like 2001 standards
NACDB | National Association of Church Design Builders - Built in 2012 - 2008 standards.. although this one isn't awful, but the underlaying coding is downright awful.
SEAPOINT PITCH AND PUTT - built in 2012 - looks 1999
The Plaid Pigeon built in 2011 - looks 2007 but not horrid.

3.) In terms of flexibility, anything is better than intuit. The reason is intuit sucks from a development standpoint, flexibility standpoint, and overall. It really does suck, lol. Want to build an email list with aweber? Can't do it with intuit. Want a complex form or any kind of database application? You can't do it with intuit, you don't even control the server. You can't even connect to the actual server lol.

If intuit goes out of business? You and your clients are screwed.

I don't use wordpress, I hate wordpress almost as much as I hate intuit because wordpress isn't even offering flexibility in how I need it to. Wordpress is a LOT more flexible than intuit though.

In 1 hour.. actually... 30 minutes, I can make a better website than any intuit website you can find, with any platform, wordpress, joomla, drupal, straight html/css..

Want to run a script in your website? Can't do it with intuit.. found a sweet looking jquery slideshow? Can't do it..

4.) Bounce rate is very high on intuit websites. This is a fact based on my own experience. I have had a few hundred clients, that I have sought out by searching the string in google exactly as this "using intuit website templates". These guys are prime leads because even if you have had great success selling these sites, I have had great success targeting them because they want something BETTER. They know what their competition has, and often intuit websites can not compete on the level of design. I'm not disrespecting your business model at all, I respect it and its amazing what you can do, but from a technical standpoint, there are plenty of reasons why someone should avoid that platform.

Now to actually touch on the subject I meant to, LOL... Out of all the clients I had that were on intuit, only about 50 or so had google analytics installed. There was only 1 person who had a bounce rate that was under 80%. The rest, I don't know for a fact but I would assume they were in the same boat. The one person who was under 80%, had only 17 hits in the last 6 months.... only 2 were "new" visits, the 15 were returning visitors, which I would assume was the client. 1 of the new visits, was me, LOL.

I know you do well using them, but I have to disagree with you from an SEO standpoint and a development standpoint absolutely. We aren't talking about whether they can be sold or not, obviously they can be... but how to convince a prospect that their intuit website is not enough, I just explained and expanded on.

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iAmNameLess

11 years ago

Originally Posted by John Durham

Ps. Im sure you'll agree these templates dont qualify as "sucky" and you can certainly find alot of great ones...thing is they are all FREE also thousands of stock photo's with your intuit account...

Do these really suck honestly?

http://www.homestead.com/~site/hslo/website/gallery.ffhtml

I think the evidence says they don't.

Usually agree with Iamnameless but on this one I have to say my own experience with it disagrees.

Ps. @ OP - You have to convince them that YOU are a better marketer than their current one, not that intuit is better than WP or whatever...either their site ranks and brings traffic or not... Thats the bottom line.

Honestly, my real solution is just "Let em go. Let em have their site....Move on to the next call. Find someone who wants what you offer."

Dont hang around where you are not wanted, especially when somewhere out there a customer is just "WAITING" for you to call. Dont miss em....

You edited it on me John! LOL.

Yes, to my standards and the quality my clients receive, I think those templates SUCK. I don't like them, they look outdated to me. Obviously these websites are better than nothing, but I would never put out anything like that for my clients. I couldn't charge even $1,000 for a website like that. I would be ashamed of myself, to be honest with you LOL. Nothing against you because you're awesome, but when I have someone paying me for a service, my selling point is high quality and getting results, I wouldn't consider anything like these templates, high quality or something that will get results. You can't even offer user experience analysis and modifications with this, which is something people can and will pay thousands a month for.

What you said at the end, I agree with 100%. I usually will not try convincing anyone they need my services, most already know they do need it.

One marketer can convince a prospect that intuit websites are great, there are many selling points. A custom website can be approached by another marketer rambling off all those selling points..

Every platform you can think of can be SOLD.

Usually when people are hesitant and want to stay with a certain thing, its because they don't know or realize they need something. It's better to target people who know they need your services.

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John Durham

11 years ago

I have an aweber list that people join from my intuit web page, so that part is entirely not true. My extreme 90 optin page is on intuit, and it works fine with aweber.

In fact any warrior who ever joined any of my aweber lists did it on an intuit page.

I also have intuit pages that rank on the first page and produce leads monthly for my clients...

So while all the bells and whistles you THINK you need to optimize... are cool to have, my basic truth is that I find the optimization tools in the intuit program to be sufficient and have for years. I could build a site tomorrow with it and it would rank.

Now am I gonna rank for a major national keyword with 300k searches per month and high competition... Maybe or maybe not.

I have watched people talk about the changing google trends since google began, and it hasnt changed any of the basics... just the fine tweaking points here and there.

Again, Im no SEO expert, but my sites rank anyway.

Use your keywords in your page titles, file names, headers, footers, navigation links, meta tag them, make sure and direct some good back links to your site... use a 3% keyword density in your content.

Im no genius, but it seems to work for me and has for about 7-8 years.

I think you ARE semi genius at this SEO thing though Iamnameless, so you could be out of touch with all the flexibility these programs offer these days, however given your naturally defiant, and adorable fiery disposition... even in the face of proof of top ranking intuit sites... you would probably still say it sucks donkey circles and I understand that.

No offense, just wanted to say "I use homestead and it works fine".

Ps. I also understand the nature of why an entity like intuit would give a rise to so many who sell seo services. Its all nature and its all good. Back when the fender guitar company came out with the telecaster and stratocaster... The classic "gibson" guitar company thought fender was crude in how they made bolt on necks with no fret boards, basically just "pine work horses"...Gibson thought it was atrocious craftsmanship as well as the woods they used in fenders...

Fender was what Rock was ultimately built on though and today they are Gibson's fiercest competitor for 50 years now.

Fender just made things "simpler", but gibson felt like they cut too many corners to be considered "well crafted..."

Here's the key: Musicians though (much like offline clients) only cared about their personal playing experience, not Gibsons "technical foul" calls.... they just liked playing fenders.

There are ten different technical foul points that a craftsman could call out on a fender that are allegedly required for perfection in the eyes of a classic guitar craftsman,...but still fender is the number one selling guitar in the world, and every owner thinks its perfect.

Ps. Yes, I come back and edit sometimes, sorry about that. Look at JF straw's site. Ugliest thing you have ever seen, and makes him hundreds of thousands per year.

http://www.businesslyceum.com/

He wouldnt change it for the world. If a site could look like it came from the 1970's this one would, in fact; if a site could look "shady" this one would... and he makes money hand over fist with it year in year out.

I do agree that advancing your knowledge and learning all the latest tools is better than not though... but while one is better the other doesnt suck necessarily.

Back to the OP:

As far as convincing the prospect - "Next". Dont waste your time or breath- just move on and find someone interested.

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iAmNameLess

11 years ago

Originally Posted by John Durham

however given your naturally defiant, and adorable fiery disposition... even in the face of proof of top ranking intuit sites... you would probably still say it sucks donkey circles and I understand that.

No offense, just wanted to say "I use homestead and it works fine".

LOL you're awesome John, and totally correct, lmao.

No offense taken.. you have built a business with those sites, I have as well but in conflicting ways. It is only natural for us to see things a certain way LOL.

PLUS.. it helps forum members... if someone is selling custom websites to intuit users, they have selling points now. If someone is selling intuit websites and faces questions, they have rebuttals and selling points.

We don't have to agree on a topic in order for it to help people.

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John Durham

11 years ago

Originally Posted by iAmNameLess

LOL you're awesome John, and totally correct, lmao.

No offense taken.. you have built a business with those sites, I have as well but in conflicting ways. It is only natural for us to see things a certain way LOL.

PLUS.. it helps forum members... if someone is selling custom websites to intuit users, they have selling points now. If someone is selling intuit websites and faces questions, they have rebuttals and selling points.

We don't have to agree on a topic in order for it to help people.

Sorry I keep editing on you bro... No prob. Its okay to disagree, we can start a new trend and have it NOT lead to friendship demise! lol

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iAmNameLess

11 years ago

Originally Posted by John Durham

Ps. Yes, I come back and edit sometimes, sorry about that. Look at JF straw's site. Ugliest thing you have ever seen, and makes him hundreds of thousands per year.

Real Business Opportunities, Income Opportunities & Home Based Businesses

He wouldnt change it for the world. If a site could look like it came from the 1970's this one would, in fact; if a site could look "shady" this one would... and he makes money hand over fist with it year in year out.

You did it again.. LOL.

Yeah, that is an ugly site... but its a different story when its your site and you know how much it is bringing in. Ya know?

When offering web design services, I can't help think that users are going to become more and more savvy and have a certain expectation.

Then again... there are so many different selling points, I guess it really doesn't matter, does it? You can sell high quality, you can sell fast, you can sell easy to maintain, you can sell a one legged prostitute to a blind man... so many different opportunities and types of people that are in need of a variety of services. There doesn't need to be a certain way to sell them.

I suppose ultimately it depends on how you represent and market yourself. If you're approaching prospects saying it's affordable, with super quick turn around times, then you have a certain expectation. If you're advertising or marketing yourself as super high quality, 100% custom then you have a certain expectation and image to uphold.

That's the beauty of this business though, isn't it? People should be inspired by this thread, because it just goes to show you there isn't just one way to do things... You can achieve success in many different ways, and ways none of us have even thought of.

Originally Posted by John Durham

Sorry I keep editing on you bro... No prob. Its okay to disagree, we can start a new trend and have it NOT lead to friendship demise! lol

LOL, nice trend to start, has it ever been done successfully? lol.

Yeah absolutely though... I disagree with a lot of people on a lot of things, and not just because it entertains me LMAO! Disagreeing with you though, its better because I respect you. We just have a difference of opinion on intuit/homestead, but that really doesn't matter. People for or against it, will now leave this thread with more confidence either side of the fence they are on.

And at least we aren't arguing about cold emailing or cold calling.. we agree where it matters...plus you think I'm adorable. LOL.

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John Durham 11 years ago

Originally Posted by iAmNameLess

...plus you think I'm adorable. LOL.

Who doesnt?
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