Some national chains of service providers including real estate and mortgage companies offer turnkey websites for affiliates and franchisees. From a recent conversation with one mortgage broker, I was intrigued learning details of the relationship and the fact that some of these cookie cutter websites used by thousands of agents are fee based, not free.

This broker explained that for $25 USD paid monthly, or $300 a year, the agent gets a cookie cutter website. Each takes as little as 10 minutes to setup and then never changes. This recurring cost goes on forever which is why I question the value aside from name association with the parent brand. Here's an explanation of difficulties the site may experience attracting new business.

Although each site is a sub domain of the parent company and will be treated by search engines as a separate website, the content for each agent is identical to all others except for contact information. Low cost cookie cutter website solutions may be practical for small business owners on a limited budget, yet having duplicate content that is just like 1000 other sites drastically impacts the value in seo, or search engine optimization

Search engines reward sites with fresh and original content, so the owner of a cloned site cannot expect major search engines to drive new business traffic their way. This may be okay if the realtor or mortgage broker is enjoying success, but if the business is struggling to make a profit, each agent must find new ways to market their business.

Besides the obvious methods with printed materials that include the sub domain website address, site owners will require more direct proactive marketing. Referrals will become extremely important, and should be utilized often. One option may be a standalone blog offering generic advice about their niche. The parent corporation is unlikely to allow use of their logo on an outside site, so the best the owner can do is provide value with news, reviews, and advice, and have links to their cloned sub domain.

This compromise in seo value by using an external blog violates my usual advice about blog integration for small business owners. The hosting options are either 1) external which is not integrated, 2) use a sub domain for partial integration, and 3) subfolder storage for full integration. With a fully integrated blog the search engines connect your blog as part of the main site, and the value for driving visitors to your site is enhanced.

In my conversation with the mortgage broker mentioned earlier, they stated revenue was sufficient to support their work as a full time job. Once they understood the downside, they agreed to consider the external blog for indirect promotion to help drive traffic to the cookie cutter site. Now that they understand their situation, the importance of direct marketing will receive additional focus with an emphasis on networking and referrals.

This is an important lesson in expectations. Once an owner has a realistic perspective of site performance, there's nothing wrong with having a site that simply contains more than could ever fit on a business card. Having a www domain printed on your business card and stationery shows evidence of sophistication. It could make the difference between you and a competitor who still hasn't gone online.

The ideal scenario for any small business is having an original site with fresh content added often instead of a cookie cutter clone. Integrate a blog and forum as appropriate and you create a search engine magnet, but that traffic is meaningless if your content is stale and only optimized for search engines. It is more important to design content for visitors who are more likely to stay longer and eventually buy when you provide quality information and value for money.

Finally, avoid the mistake made by some new small business website owners who buy turnkey websites based on late night television ads. You don't get rich buying a clone site and then sitting back waiting for the armored truck to show up each day with bags of money. Sub domains from well known brand names like mortgages or real estate are no different. Hard work and promotional methods whether online or by direct marketing are still the keys to success.

Jim Degerstrom writes small business advice based on 30 years in management, sales, and marketing, including GM or President of small companies in 5 states. He is proficient in website design and graphic art, and runs his online Small Business Resource Center and offers advice on his Small Business Advice Blog from Kissimmee, Florida USA.