Website help for older business owners

If you have run your business for decades and the website side feels like a foreign country, you are in good company. Many of the best-run small businesses in any town belong to owners who learned their trade long before websites existed. Good help is available, a lot of it free or cheap, and the right setup lets you stay in charge of your site without learning to build one. This guide covers where to find patient help, how to work with it at your own pace, and how to protect yourself from the people who target established owners.

Experience is an advantage here

Owners who have been around a long time often worry they are behind. In practice they have something younger owners lack: a clear sense of who their customers are, what those customers ask, and what makes the business trustworthy. That is the hard part of a website. The technical part can be handed to someone else entirely.

Your years in business are also a selling point on the site itself. "Serving Elm County since 1987" says more than most marketing ever will.

Where to find patient, plain help

SCORE mentors. SCORE is a nonprofit, supported by the U.S. Small Business Administration, that pairs owners with volunteer mentors, many of them retired business people. A mentor will not usually build your site, but can help you decide what you need and review quotes with you. You can find SCORE and other free help through the SBA's website.

Small Business Development Centers. Often run through a local college, these offer free advice sessions. Some run workshops on websites and getting listed on Google.

Your public library. Many libraries offer one-on-one help with computers, email and phones, booked by appointment. Ask at the front desk. Librarians are used to explaining things slowly and without judgment.

A local web person recommended by another business. Ask the owner of a shop or trade you trust who did their site. Look for someone who answers the phone and explains in plain words.

A grandchild, niece or employee. Fine, and often the quickest. Just follow the account rule further down so the site stays yours if they move away.

How to work with a helper at your own pace

Being comfortable with a process matters as much as the result. A few habits make it easier:

Ask for a phone call or a visit, not only email. A good helper will talk you through things. If someone only ever sends long emails full of terms, ask them to call.
Ask for everything important in writing afterward. A short email after each call that says "we agreed X, I will do Y by Friday" keeps both of you honest.
Keep a notebook for the website. Date each entry. Write down who you spoke to, what was agreed and any logins. This becomes the history of your site.
Ask for one thing at a time. "Please send me just the home page to look at first" is a perfectly good request.
Never decide on the spot. If someone wants an answer today, the answer is "let me think about it". A fair offer is still there tomorrow.
Ask them to explain a word you do not know. "What do you mean by domain?" is a smart question, not a silly one. A short explanation: the domain is your web address, like yourbusiness.com, and you rent it by the year.

Making screens easier to read

Reviewing a website draft on a small screen with small text is tiring for anyone. Some practical fixes:

On a computer, hold the Ctrl key (Cmd on a Mac) and press the plus key to make everything on a web page bigger. Ctrl and minus makes it smaller again.
On an iPhone or Android phone, the settings let you make text larger across the whole phone. Look under Display or Accessibility.
Review drafts on a tablet or computer with a bigger screen first, then check the phone version.
Ask your helper to print the pages if you prefer to mark changes with a pen. Many owners find this the easiest way to spot mistakes.

Staying in control of your accounts

Whoever helps you, three things must be in your name, with your email address:

The domain (your web address).
The website account, wherever the site is hosted or built.
Your business email account, if you have one on your domain.

Ask your helper to set these up in your name and give you the usernames and passwords on paper. Keep that paper somewhere safe, like with your insurance policy. A password notebook kept at home is reasonable for many owners; a password on a sticky note on the monitor at the shop is not.

If someone already set up your site under their own name, ask them to move it to you while relations are good. Who owns my domain shows how to check.

Calls and emails to ignore

Established businesses with a website get a steady flow of offers. Some are honest sales pitches, some are not. Be wary of:

Letters or emails that look like a bill for your domain from a company you have never used. Your real renewal comes from the company you bought the domain from. Domain renewal scam letters shows what these look like.
Calls saying your Google listing will be removed unless you pay. Google does not phone owners to demand payment for a listing.
Anyone asking for your passwords over the phone or email, or asking you to install software so they can "fix" your computer.
Sure-fire Google promises. Anyone who swears they can make Google show your business above everyone else is selling something nobody controls.

When unsure, hang up, and call your helper or the company directly using a number you already have. The Federal Trade Commission collects reports of scams aimed at small businesses at ftc.gov.

Thinking about your customers' eyes too

If your customers are mostly your own age group, your website should suit them: large text, a phone number that can be tapped, plain words, no tiny gray print, no moving parts. That is good design for everyone, and it shows a business that understands its customers. Making your website easy to read for everyone has the details to ask for.

What to do this week

Start a website notebook. Write today's date and what you have now: website address, who built it, any logins you know.
Pick one source of help from the list above and book a call or visit.
Check whose name your domain is in, or ask your helper to check.
Make the text bigger on your phone if you find it hard to read.
Write down three things customers always ask you. Those belong on your home page.

If you already have a website and want to see what a modern version would look like without doing any of the work, you can see your site rebuilt first and look it over at your own pace before deciding anything.