Many businesses think about a website as a one-time expense. But as with most things in life, there are many hidden costs of owning and operating a website. As such, it is important to make sure your website works for you and not the other way around!
Here are a few things to consider about the cost of ownership when it comes to your Title Company or Law Firm’s website.
1. Time is Money
Do it yourself can be cheaper financially but do you really have the time to build your site or dictate what you want? Most title agents are busy with files and an attorney’s time is often better spent on billable hours.
Many times we find that the company that tries to build the website in house gets more than they bargained for in time, money, and frustration.
With TitleTap, you work with a team of experts who only build websites for your industry, and will actually do the work for you.
2. Security & Compliance
Wire fraud during real estate transactions has grown exponentially according the the FBI.
For the title agencies and law firms, this might be a showstopper. The fact is that many of the well known website providers like GoDaddy are not SSAE SOC 2 compliant, so if you are in a regulated industry like title insurance, you may want to think twice about hosting your website with them.
Beyond a SOC 2, just remember that extras like backups and SSL security cost extra, and often require an expensive IT person to configure them.
Don’t get caught in the trap of thinking that every website is as secure, reliable, and compliant as the next one.
TitleTap’s servers are SSAE SOC 2 Type II compliant. Plus every website comes with SSL encryption, firewall to deter the hackers, and spam prevention to block the spammers – all at no extra charge.
3. Web Page Content & SEO
Website content is often an afterthought for companies. But this is the driving force behind how well you rank in online search results. In fact, the content that you have on your website is how companies like Google categorize your website so that it can be found by your customers.
Every TitleTap website comes with starter page content to help you rank in your local market for your practice areas or services you offer. In fact, in 2019 we discovered that 91% of our websites ranked on the first page of Google for their desired keywords.
4. Marketing Tools Often Not Included
Unfortunately building a website is often not enough, you actually need to market your business to get customers and clients to your website. Most website builders are just that – a website builder, not a marketing platform.
With TitleTap you get both the website and the option for tools to help you market your business automatically. For example, our Net Sheet Calculator app gives your Realtors an easy way to do business with you, while our online customer review survey Feedback Automatic, helps you get more reviews and market them.
5. Who on your team is responsible for Website Changes, Software Updates and Backups?
So many times I’ve heard the story of companies not being able to get in contact with the person that built their website several years before. Traditional web designers and marketing agencies only get paid on new business. As such, many are not incentivized keep the website content up-to-date with staff members, or keep the website secure with security patches.
At TitleTap, we handle all of the above for you. Every website comes with a bucket of monthly changes if you need them, frequent website security updates, and weekly backups so you have peace of mind!
6. Industry Knowledge
One of the biggest gripes we hear from new customers about their prior marketing firm or web developer is that the person didn’t understand the industry. Our website platform was built specifically for service industries like Title and Law.
In fact, our company founders even come from your business. As a result, our websites come with starter content related to your service and practice areas. This is one of the biggest benefits of working with TitleTap. It is like working with an industry marketing consultant without the heavy cost associated.
The good news is that with TitleTap you don’t need to pay an expensive marketing firm to build you a website either. Our websites start off at under $1,000 and less than $200 a month. Schedule a free exploratory call today to learn if TitleTap is right for your Law Firm or Title Company.