If you’re wondering whether or not you should pay for a professional website or go the route of a Free ‘do-it-yourself’ method then there’s a few things to consider.
In the video above I explore the pros and cons of each. But below I’ve also summarised why you should or shouldn’t get a website built for you professionally.
How will you be perceived?
When you do things yourself, you set up your website to the best of your own knowledge. A professional designer is experienced and will know how to best organise and design your website so people perceive you as professional and quality focused.
Time vs Money
DIY costs time. Professional Web Design costs money.
You need to decide what’s most valuable to you. If you’ve started a business and have no work but plenty of time you can build it yourself, but you still only create a website that isn’t as professional as paid website.
A professional designer will get you a better product and cost you little time. If you’re busy your time may be too valuable and better directed toward your business, paying a designer may be the cheaper option here.
Weight it all up!
Business vs Personal
If you run a personal website, are you willing to spend $1000 or more for it? It may not be necessary considering your goals.
With a business you’re there to make money, so money invested to get a solid website could be returned many times over. If you run a business, professional websites are nearly always your best bet.
A Professional will know what’s best for your goals
You know what you want your website to achieve – make a sale, generate a lead, get people to contact you, etc.
This is best served by “Call to Actions” or “CTA’s”
There areas of websites and tools that make CTA’s more effective and professional web designer (should) know how to best implement them. An amateur website builder is most likely unaware of how to achieve these goals with a strategic call to actions.
Search Engine Optimization (Google traffic!)
Search Engine Optimization (or SEO) is an art in itself. Again, you can research this all yourself or rely on the knowledge of a professional!
Software Stability & Security
Websites get hacked.
Usually it’s not an individual targeting your site but thousands or millions of bots circulating the internet looking for vulnerabilities so they can take your site down, advertise some illegal or dodgy product or just send emails through your server.
This is one of the TOP reasons I recommend a professional build your site and make it hardened against attack. You can never be 100% safe, but the odds are vastly in your favor!
Responsive across devices & platforms
Will your website work across phones, tablets and PC’s? This isn’t so hard with DIY sites but again the professional designer is more aware of how to make this transition better across the board.
Will you stand out or blend in?
Do you have the ability to make your website stand out and not look like every other free one out there? If not, call upon a professional!
Designers do this for a living. They focus on making you look good and stand apart from everyone else.
Will visitors find your site trust worthy?
Trust signals are a big one.
You can learn them yourself but this is where the function part of design comes to play. A psychological understanding of visuals in your website takes time to learn and a good designer will know what you need to do in order to have visitors trust you much sooner.
General Advice
When you get stuck dong your own site, you have to research, pay a consultant, spend time figuring out what’s wrong, what to do and how to do it.
Again, a professional designer knows the lay of the land and can offer you this advice and steer you in the right direction.
Generally speaking, the paid design benefits most people.
I’m not saying you should never design yourself, I encourage people learn web design and build websites as it’s very fun and interesting. But if you’re focused on results, definitely consider calling a professional.
If you do need some what done, don’t forget to contact us today! Thank you for reading 🙂
