Website Development on a Low Budget – CTA

Website development is often seen as an expensive and cumbersome process, with unmeasurable results. Aki Karkulahti, CEO of the marketing agency CTA, strongly believes that marketing should be seen as an investment rather than an expense. Karkulahti’s team has carried out hundreds of website redesigns and now shows how to do it effectively, even on a low budget.

I had the chance to interview another Trustmary partner, and I learned that it is not necessary or even worthwhile to redo the whole website at once.

If you want to learn how to see marketing as an investment in the future, contact Aki on LinkedIn or by email.

See the full discussion here:

Who is Aki Karkulahti?

Aki Karkulahti is the entrepreneur and CEO of the marketing agency CTA.

–  I am a family man, entrepreneur, and CEO of CTA, says Karkulahti.

What Does CTA Do?

CTA has been up and running for 10 years.

– The mission is to make marketing more functional and simpler. By helping the good guys succeed, we succeed ourselves. We don’t work with the negative people, says Karkulahti.

On a practical level, CTA is an SMB’s strategic partner that helps build a website that is not just a digital business card, but a real platform for business growth.

In particular, the company focuses on ensuring that the website supports sales and customer acquisition, using data-driven optimization and automation.

The company’s client base consists of small and medium-sized businesses that want to develop their online presence in a cost-effective and efficient way. The aim is to help clients do marketing sustainably so that, for example, their website serves its purpose for years to come.

– We want to be long-term partners to our clients, not just do one-off projects, Karkulahti says.

There is one thing the company is particularly specific about.

– We don’t work with negative people. Marketing is an energy game, and the energies have to be aligned to get results, he says.

Karkulahti feels that CTA has succeeded in its work when customers can proudly say that marketing is a profitable investment instead of an expense.

Most Common Mistakes in Website Updates

In Karkulahti’s view, many SMBs’ websites are too static. The information is outdated and does not reflect the company’s current business.

The worst mistake is that a website can make a company look smaller than it actually is to a potential customer.

Websites should be lively and dynamic: customer reviews, testimonials, and interactive elements such as lead generation chatbots and contact forms add value.

– Instead of thinking marketing as an additional cost, companies should think of website development as an investment that delivers long-term business benefits, Karkulahti says.

He also stresses that companies’ websites should not just be static brochures, but active tools to support customer acquisition and sales.

– At worst, a website has next to no connection to your current business. To make matters worse, you wait for potential customers to mysteriously land on the site and still contact you, even though your services are very vaguely explained, if at all, he continues.

At its best, a website communicates your company’s value, and vision and to your target audience.

5 Ways to Update Website on a Small Budget

Karkulahti divides website development into five main areas, each of which can be implemented without a huge budget.

1. Add the voice of the customer
2. Speed up the site (=technical improvements)
3. Clear structure
4. Develop your brand voice
5. Update home page or one landing page

1. Highlight the Voice of the Customer

Every company says it is the best in its industry. But the best companies have customers to tell them that.

– The number one thing that every website should have is the voice of the customer. It builds trust and credibility, says Karkulahti.

Reviews, testimonials, and referrals are a key part of the website.

– It is easier to trust a company, when its existing happy customers praise the services than if the company would say those things themselves, Karkulahti points out.

If the voice of the customer, or social proof, is missing from a website, a deal is more likely to be missed.

– If the voice of the customer is missing from the website, there might be too many doubts in the prospective clients’ mind to buy from you. Without seeing social proof, they are more likely to think twice about buying and leave the site without ever coming back, he continues.

Where to Add Voice of Customer to Website

• Integrate customer feedback collection into your business processes
• Keep logo carousels and referrals up to date
• Produce case studies regularly
• Use of all customer feedback and social proof systematically

Trustmary has a playlist of interviews on YouTube on how people use reviews.

2. Create a Clear Website Structure

– When you try to tell everything at the same time, nothing stands out, and the big picture remains vague, says Karkulahti.

Website development should focus on navigation and customer journey modelling.

– Quite a few companies haven’t given proper thought on how to ideally guide a visitor through the site, he continues.

The risk with changing a website’s structure is that not all areas of the business receive the same exposure. However, the key is to ensure that all key people within the organization are consulted to avoid going back and forth.

– The people responsible for the company’s business operations should be on the same page about the structure of the website. Everyone must understand what the goal of the website is and what compromises need to be made with the structure to make it user-friendly, says Karkulahti.

4 Tips to Make Website User-friendly to Navigate

1. The website should clearly communicate what the company offers and to whom.
2. Information should be easily accessible
3. The navigation and customer journey should be logical and guide the user in the right direction
4. All key people in the company are involved in the process from the beginning

3. Site speed

Site speed directly impacts the user experience and therefore the overall search engine visibility. Mobile traffic is rising in many industries, but websites are rarely optimized for it.

The easiest way to test the speed of your own site is to pick up your phone and browse it.

– Especially in the SMB sector, the speed of the site is often not given enough attention, says Karkulahti.

If the website is already running smoothly for the user, don’t fret too much about the numerical values provided by the external site speed tools.

– Always consider what the return on investment is. If you decide to spend time and money on speeding up your website, it should have a tangible impact on your business. Improving technical aspects only for an external site speed tool to show 100/100 is a wasted effort, Karkulahti underlines.

How to speed up your website easily?

• Free tools such as Google PageSpeed Insights help you identify areas for improvement.
• Make sure your plugins are up to date and not slowing down your site
• Optimising website load time, reducing image sizes and removing unnecessary elements are all low-cost ways to speed up your website.

4. Develop Brand Voice

If your company’s promise is “we are a quality provider” or “we keep our promises”, it’s time to think about sharpening your message.

– Isn’t it a basic assumption that a company will hold its end to the deal and do quality work? These are starting points, not differentiating factors for any brand, says Karkulahti with a laugh.

The visual identity also has an impact on the brand’s distinctiveness and brand image. If the images are of poor quality and generic, the brand will not be remembered.

Measuring the impact of developing a brand voice is challenging. For small companies, the sales team can ask a new client why they chose to buy from you, but they might not remember to report that back to marketing. For larger companies, a larger annual brand survey isn’t always in the budget.

– Sometimes the best indicator is that you are truly satisfied with your website after making it represent your brand better, says Karkulahti.

Developing Brand: What to Consider

• The company brand should be visible on the website (fonts, colors, visuals, tone of voice)
• The visuals of the website should be in line with the company’s values and identity.
• Focus on what you’re really good at and do your best to show it through text, pictures and video.

5. Update Home Page or One Landing Page

When you don’t have the budget to redo the whole site, you can try a more tactical approach.

The home page typically attracts the most traffic for businesses, so, at the very least it should always be up to date.

– In addition to the home page, a reference page, for example, is really important because it is also used by sales. Investing in it can bring commercial benefits, Karkulahti says.

Analysing the visitor data helps to identify which areas need the most improvement.

– When decisions are made based on user data, issues cease to be matters of opinion, Karkulahti points out.

Which landing pages should always be on point?

• Home page
• Main service pages
• Reference page
• Contact us page
• Price list

Website Development on a Small Budget Is Possible

Website updates don’t always require a boatload of money.

The key is to understand that small improvements can make a big difference. By focusing on the right things and involving the voice of the customer in the process, a website can be an effective sales and marketing tool.

– Link all website update projects directly to increase the bottomline and the overall company strategy. Metrics, budgeting, and forecasting are difficult topics, but when updating your website, it is still worthwhile to calculate costs and projected outcomes. Senior management is used to forecasting, so marketers should start playing the same game boldly, concludes Karkulahti.

See the full conversation here: