Web

3 Reasons Why a Local Website Design Company is Better for Your Small Business

In today’s fast-paced, digital world, you have an endless menu of options when it comes to website design and development. You could do it yourself, hire a freelancer, use a freelancer mega-platform, or hire an agency.

If your brand values a community-centered approach, you may feel limited to local website design companies. You need a company that understands what that means in the city or town where you do business. That begs the question, does shop-local only apply physically, or is it possible to hire a company with a local mindset even though they’re not local to you?

We think so! In this post, we explain why Cross & Crown brings the handcrafted, socially conscious, shop-local experience to every client we serve, whether they’re here in Chambersburg, on the West Coast, or on the other side of the world.

1. Digital Marketing Opens More Doors to Shop-Local

Digital marketing has been a major game-changer in how businesses connect with customers. For generations, local stores have been the heart and soul of many communities, offering unique touch-points that set them apart from larger companies. This personalized local approach is what consumers have come to expect from the shop-local experience.

With the rise of digital marketing, businesses now have more access to consumers than ever before, with new tools to help them promote their products and services to an even wider audience. This makes it easier for customers to find and shop at local retail locations throughout their communities—and beyond.

By creating relationships through digital marketing—especially social media—these shops gain loyal customers and develop online communities that, in a sense, mirror the IRL communities we know and love. Especially since 2020, these local experiences are translating into online experiences that can be enjoyed by people anywhere in the world, thus preserving the spirit of ‘shop-local’. Ultimately, the marriage between digital marketing and retail is creating mutual success for both businesses and consumers alike.

Maybe you run a small business and want to carry your brand online, but are worried about losing the personalization you provide to local customers. Or perhaps you’re looking for a local website design company to make a website for your local business because you want someone who understands your unique context.

This all makes perfect sense, and as a local website company that has successfully translated our business into online communities, we think we have a lot to offer businesses and nonprofits looking to do the same thing.

Read More: Digital Marketing 101: Invest Heavily in These Tactics for Big Long-Term Payoffs

2. The Best Local Website Design and Marketing is Built on Relationships

In reality, the benefits that come from a local company may not be because of their physical proximity but their relational proximity. You don’t have to be in someone’s physical presence to really get to know them, ask thoughtful questions, understand their needs, and deliver a handcrafted product. What you need is a locally-minded company, even if they’re not physically located close by.

The good news is that you’re not limited to physically local companies when you want a local, community-based experience. Now you have a wider pool of options to choose from as you search for digital marketing agencies for nonprofits and small businesses alike. You can find all of the following digital marketing services online by choosing a company that is relationally driven and community-minded.  Some services you may be searching for include:

• Website Design – creative imagery, layout, UX, and functionality that helps customers get to know your business, even if they never physically cross your doorstep.
• Digital Marketing and Social Media – create and cultivate online relationships with customers near and far.
• Video Production – draw customers into your brand story through high-quality marketing videos that deepen credibility and trust with your online community.
• Logo and Graphic Design – the visual representation of your brand that relies on graphic design best practices to tie every visual marketing element together with flawless consistency.

All of these things are easy to have done remotely by people you may never meet in person. Someone on the opposite side of the world can even work on them while you’re sleeping!

And while that may sound good, on the other hand, you lose something when the person creating your branding and marketing collateral is disconnected from your local context. The person you entrust your digital marketing to must take time to get to know you as if they live, work, and play right next door.

Hiring a faceless freelance web designer or some big nationwide name are viable options, but what if you could partner with a creative marketing agency that also shares your passion for the community-driven, shop-local experience?

If you choose to partner with a web design company that works remotely, it’s worth your time and money to find one that has a local presence, too, versus hiring someone through one of the many freelance megasites. (Check out another post we did on logo design for more thoughts on that.) A company with a local presence will understand what a local business needs to thrive better than someone who hasn’t walked a mile in your shoes.

Read More: 3 Ways Web Design and Marketing Work Together to Grow Your Business

3. Local Website Design Companies Understand Local Business—No Matter the Physical Location

While offices are in Chambersburg, PA, our clients are found all over the country and even in other parts of the world. We started as a “local” website design company and have worked hard to maintain that mindset and approach to everything we create. We’re able to bring that same shop-local vibe and deliver the following benefits to customers, whether they’re in our town or on another continent.

1. Meaningful Communication

Make no mistake, we’re a business that values relationships. Geography is no barrier when it comes to getting to know you, your objectives, and the local context where you work. With today’s tech, we can share design files and protect timelines across time zones and state lines, but never at the expense of what makes your business distinct and unique in your local community.

We work with you and do everything within our power to immerse ourselves in your culture and understand the details of the social, relational, and environmental priorities that matter most to your target audience. We won’t suggest tone-deaf or cringe-worthy ideas like some “distant” companies may do. Relationships are important to doing business well, and getting to know you is our priority. We want to build the same connections with our long-distance clients as we do with the ones who share our favorite coffee place down the street. And thanks to technology, we can do just that.

2. Less Risk of Ghosting

Let’s face it, if you’re just another number, you can easily be ignored. It’s an unfortunate reality of our industry that many customers wind up dissatisfied because their designer from who-knows-where slow-rolls their project or just disappears, and they never hear from them again.If you’re doing business with a big corporate-type design company, they can be hard to get in touch with. Messages go unreturned, and to be honest, there’s not a lot of incentive on their end. There’s not much risk to their business if you are unhappy. You’re just a small fish in a big digital pond.

When you choose a locally-minded web design company, you’ll never be treated like a number. Because good business is built on relationships, you will be treated with the attention and respect that you deserve.

3. Better Accountability

The faceless mega-platforms aren’t necessarily motivated to deliver exceptional service. That experience may feel more like a web design vending machine than an actual relationship where your designer genuinely got to know your brand and services. When you need help or have a problem, they’re never really accountable to anyone…and you’re at their mercy.

So, with our clients, even though they may be several time zones away, we treat them as if they were here in town. We deliver that local shop experience even if we aren’t physically nearby.

4. Better Understanding of Your Mission and Your People

A locally-minded website design company is in a much better position to fully understand your company’s overall mission and help you achieve your goals of doing good that reach beyond simply making more money.

We love doing business with people who want to impact their world. That’s why we make a point of really getting to know you and your business, immersing ourselves in your culture, and working to understand the community you serve so that we can help you make a difference there.

And as a business that is heavily invested in our own local community, we understand the value of using tools such as thoughtfully-designed, handcrafted websites, compelling brand marketing videos, and social media content that is dialed into the local perspectives that moves people to positive action.

5. More Than Just Website Design

Sometimes, when you work with a freelancer or long-distance company, you may encounter a punch-the-clock mentality that does only what’s requested and nothing more. This is one of the biggest dangers (and fears) of hiring someone outside of your “in real life” connections.

When you choose to work with a locally-minded web design company, you need not worry about being shoved into a box. You deserve to work with a company that intuitively understands the necessity of accountability and is proactive with ideas, suggestions, strategies, and recommendations beyond the exact duties they’ve been hired to complete.

Find Out How Cross & Crown Can Be The Local Solution You’re Looking For

When you work with our team of professional website designers and developers, you get all the benefits of a local company anytime, anywhere. We will do whatever it takes to help you drive results for work that matters…the way a good neighbor should.

Contact us and schedule a meeting! We’d love to see how we can help.