Should You Design Your Own Website?
I am frequently asked by business owners if they should design their own websites. Let’s look at the issues involved.
Cost is a primary consideration. It is true that professional websites can cost anywhere from $3,000 to tens-of-thousands of dollars to build, depending on the complexity of the site. And yet everywhere you look you will find affordable and accessible software available to teach you how to design your own website for under $350. There is a learning curve involved to do it yourself that you may not have the patience to endure, or you could pay the professionals for their experience and expertise.
Time is a factor to consider. That is your valuable time away from your business as you learn to design, code and develop a website for yourself. You will need to understand multiple programming languages, how to make a website go live, and how to build a site that works on multiple web browsers. Using a web design professional is a proven time saving investment.
Many facets of web design are necessary for maximum success. For instance, a user friendly website is the professional designers goal and if you design it yourself, you run the risk of creating usability problems with your own site that you aren’t even aware of. That can be time consuming on your part to correct it, and it will cost you site visitors and potential sales until the correction is made.
Search engine optimization is mandatory for the success of your website. You don’t want to find yourself on page 110 of a Google search as your prospective visitor will more than likely only look at the first few domains listed. You will have to spend time researching the reasons for your bad search engine representation, realize you need to redesign and recode your website, and then hope for the best. Professionals are constantly studying the latest evolution and demands of search engine optimization, and will maximize your position to allow for the most visitors and potential sales.
If you use a professional web designer, you will produce results right from the launch. Those results mean immediate revenue for you! You can now make a more informed decision to plunge ahead and design yourself, or hire the professional web designer.
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