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Getting a self-storage business up and running involves dedication, patience, and reliable software and marketing partners. This seems like a smooth road to a newbie investor, but deep-pocketed investors think otherwise.

They appreciate the importance of an attractive self-storage website design because it is the key to luring customers. Before moving forward, here are what you should consider when creating a self-storage website.

1. Domain name 

A domain name is a series of alphanumeric codes used to access a website. In layman's terms, the name is a set of numbers and words users type on a browser to access a website. When choosing a domain name, it should be memorable and talk about your business. For instance, you can use something like http://selfstoragecontainers.com or just http://selfstorage.com (if the domain name is not yet published. Avoid complicated phrases with complicated numbers, hyphens, and abbreviations.

Having a memorable domain adds credibility to your business, increases search engine ranking, and improves internet mobility.

2. Theme

There are many self-storage website templates with customizable themes to download and use on your website. However, a website theme should not only be adaptable on both computers and smartphones, but it should also have cross-browser capabilities. 

While adaptability is the key to creating an all-rounded website, keep it simple. Let the website have a few meaningful features that will provide complete information and is quick to navigate. 

Avoid overloading it with too much information and features. Even though the site will be attractive, users will spend so much time finding out what they need. This has a negative impact.

3. Locality 

Due to the nature of the self-storage business, most customers are from within. So when setting up a self-storage website, use names locals are well versed in. 

4. Cost 

The cost of building a self-storage website varies from a couple of dollars to thousands. This depends on features, website designer charges, and the price of a domain. 

When choosing how much you need to spend on a website, don't go overboard because you might waste a lot of money. For starters, spending $500 to $2000 to get the website up and running is ok. You may spend more on bots or other add-ons as the website grows. 

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Best Self-Storage Websites

After understanding what to consider when building a self-storage website, next is what features a website should have. 

1. Captcha Tests

Completely Automated Public Turing test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart, or CAPTCHA, is a test used in computing to differentiate human website visitors from robots. The test involves a series of distorted numbers, letters, or images administered by a computer designed for humans to complete them. 

CAPTCHA test prevents promotional spam, registration spam, and data scrapers from colonizing your website and often appears when humans act like bots. With spam scraped off a website, it takes less time to load and boost security.

2. Security

With technological improvements, the best self-storage website is impenetrable by hackers and protects users' data. This wasn't the case a few years ago, but the evolution of so-called black hooded hackers is forcing many websites to adopt high-tech and modern security features. 

A self-storage website design should include security features like a Secure sockets layer (SSL certificate), hotlink protection, and registry locks. 

Enable two-factor authentication if you receive and store sensitive customer information such as account numbers and SSNs. Also known as two-step verification, it is a powerful security feature that will require account users to verify their authenticity using a password and a code sent to the email or phone number, biometric data, or an authenticator app. 

Basically, it involves a user keying in something they know (password) and something that is only identical to them (biometric data, phone number, or email.)

3. Integration with social media 

Social media plays a crucial role in creating a free space for unhindered customer interaction. Different platforms provide customers with a place to share reviews, promote the brand and stay in touch with the latest news and offers. 

Take your time to understand which platforms the targeted audience frequently uses and integrate them into your website.

4. Contact us page 

Despite your self-storage website providing almost complete information, customers may want to reach out in person. A contact page will suffice. 

Contact pages should be welcoming, promise users when they will get responses, and have links to various social media pages or blog posts for quick answers. 

5. Content 

According to the Nielsen Norman Group, users read less than 30% of the content posted on a website. Knowing this will help you produce engaging content spiced up with clear pictures. 

Underestimating the power of content leads to less traffic, equating to low customer turnout and profit. The problem will affect even the best self-storage companies.

Self Storage Marketing Companies.

Now that you have spent considerable time creating a self-storage website, how do you market it? This is where Adverank, one of the best self-storage marketing companies, comes in. 

Adverank's unorthodox approach to marketing mainly involves pay-per-click (PPC) and social media advertising. PPC is a practical yet cost-saving digital marketing strategy where the advertiser pays a fee to the ad publisher each time one of their ads is clicked. PPC, along with other models such as cost per impression (CPM ), is used to assess the effectiveness of an ad campaign while maintaining marketing costs as low as possible. Additionally, it is a suitable metric for measuring customer interests.

As PPC experts, Adverank enables clients to compete better through:

1. Using proprietary algorithms to analyze data

Adverank has spent considerable time creating proprietary algorithms while factoring in what matters the most to the advertiser. Along with feedback from industry players, Adverank continuously updates the algorithm to analyze data and make daily recommendations. 

Advertisers can then access updates through a mobile-enabled dashboard as they move around with their daily duties. 

2. Social Boost feature

If you are not a social media influencer, creating a loyal team of online followers is an uphill task. Luckily, with the Social Boost feature, Adverank digs deeply into social media platforms to help you get new customers. Although most social media visitors may not be actively looking for self-storage companies, Adverank technology attracts those who exhibit interest in self-storage units. 

3. Periodic metrics

Knowing how a marketing campaign is working should be of high priority. It enables you to set up strategies for your plans. 

Adverank's data-driven system provides periodic insights on all properties owned by advertisers and PPC budget recommendations to monitor spending. In the end, clients are able to make informed decisions and possibly predict their next steps. 

4. Property management system integration 

Adverank mines data from property management systems to evaluate the impact of PPC advertisements. The near real-time approach always updates customers with accurate and transparent information to ensure you meet your goals. This would not have been possible without the seamless integration of Adverank technology and property management systems. 

Self-Storage Business Models

To compete effectively, all self-storage businesses need a proven model which will provide high value to customers and increase return on investment. Here are a few self-storage business models.

Hub and spoke model 

Hub and spoke is a centralized operational model in which different activities, known as spokes, are routed to a single point referred to as a hub. In a self-storage business, managers can route all activities, such as bookings, payments, and repairs, onto a single point for easy execution. This model efficiently utilizes resources and may be cost-saving. But before implementing it, you need to know the pros and cons of owning storage units.

Market segmentation 

According to market segmentation, the self-storage industry is divided into several categories. The most common segments are B2B and B2C. The B2B segment involves other businesses booking self-storage units for their merchandise. This segment contributes a small amount to the self-storage business profit. 

The B2C segment, on the other hand, is the largest contributor to self-storage business profitability. The segment includes military movers, travelers and transients, collectors, and home movers. 

Specialty stores 

Customers have complex needs, and meeting each one of them might not be possible. But you can satisfy most of them with specialty stores. 

The specialty store business model requires you to build units that can house special goods. Examples are airtight units for climate-sensitive collections or refrigerated rooms for perishable products. 

Like in other businesses, before you adapt to this model, you need an answer to a question like, how much does it cost to start a self-storage business with special units? Calculate the unit's cost in relation to market demand to find out if the model may generate returns. 

Despite specialty stores costing more than regular units, you may charge a premium for the new features.

CONCLUSION

Designing a self storage website is easy and affordable. Start by finding a memorable domain name, attractive themes, and reliable marketing partners. Adverank has years of experience in PPC and will offer you the best starting point. Besides PPC, Adverank's experts and systems offer social media marketing. Combining the two increases SEO rankings and reduces internet marketing costs.