On a few occasions we get asked “why shouldn’t I just use a DIY website builder?”, the short answer I usually give is “I’m sure you have a saw, screwdriver and other tools in your shed, but would you try fitting a full kitchen suite yourself?” (unless you’re a joiner/kitchen fitter reading this then I’ll think of another analogy when you call).
So I thought I’d point out what you get with a professional when the question is why should I hire a professional website designer instead of trying to build one myself:
A website designer / developer can get to know you and your goals
They can help you see the sometimes blind side of your current marketing or website approach, for example, you may have what you think is great content and images etc. on your website, but is it what your potential customer / client want to see? Do they want to read reams of text about how great you are (sometimes they do obviously), or do they want to find your product or service as fast and easily as possible with the help of well-designed user interface which improves user experience and engagement?
Hiring a professional website designer will save you time
Think of the time you’ll be able to spend doing your actual job, trying to learn how to use a very simple DIY website builder is time consuming no matter how easy they promote it being on their adverts. Simple elements like images need optimising and compressing with professional software (some images can be reduced by up to 98% and appear to lose no quality to the viewer) and correct background SEO work conducting on them targeting your keywords. The man hours you WILL lose can be better spent doing your job and promoting your business as you should be doing, instead of trying to cut corners on such an important aspect of your company/organisation. Your website should be something that saves you time by making it easier to manage once built, not taking up several hours a day or week trying to get a DIY one to do something it can’t.
Hiring a professional website designer can save you money
You’re probably thinking “how when I can buy a DIY one for a £1 a month?”. Well, DIY websites start off from that low cost price, then have lots of add-on and hidden fees for extras, too many to list, but they include things like not having adverts plastered all over your website, adding a shopping cart with monthly subscriptions, SEO optimisations which don’t do anything and you then end up spending money on it which gives you nothing in return and you will either give in altogether or go to a professional which is then the cost you should have paid to do it right in the first place plus the money you wasted on a DIY one. Also, as above, it saves you time which you can use to do your actual job instead of essentially working for nothing trying to do it yourself.
You get expertise
Hiring a professional in any job or trade gives you the reassurance that they’ve been doing this for a long time and with good results, back to the kitchen analogy, you would like to think if a professional fitted it they would make sure your cupboard drawers aren’t falling or the sink going through the worktop, with websites it needs to not only look professionally built but perform with the purpose it was intended to, whether that’s letting customers know and see what you do, or getting them buying your products on an ecommerce shop.
You get a bespoke website design that does what you want and need it to
With a DIY website build you get a template which looks like hundreds, if not thousands of other websites throughout the internet barring the text and some of the images, what’s going to make yours stand out and will it even do what YOU want it to do? Hiring a professional gets the ability and right to say “this is what I want on my website and what I require it to do”, how can you be dissatisfied when you’re getting exactly what YOU want. Again, back to the kitchen analogy, would you buy a DIY kitchen and try and make it fit into your unique space and expect it to look professional and function correctly?
You get what you pay for
No doubt you’ve heard the phrases “you get what you pay for” or “buy cheap, buy twice”. Don’t expect to get anything but a poor experience from a DIY website builder or any good search engine rankings. Once you’ve designed your generic website, don’t expect to be able to change the design in the next few years, you’ll have to start all over from scratch, more time lost and you’ll have possibly forgotten how to use the editor unless you really keep on top of it so there’s that to learn again. DIY websites generally load slower due to all the unnecessary coding and features, this is now a big ranking factor for Google for how fast your website loads, including more importantly users, studies show if users have to wait more than 3 seconds for a website to load they just hit the back button and move on. Ask any of your colleagues or friends who have or run companies who are successful if they use a DIY website builder, you already know what the answer will be!
Finally, First impressions count
Build a website yourself that doesn’t look professional and it will reflect on you, imagine a builder you’re thinking of hiring coming to your premises in a van which is dirty and covered in rust, this will instantly put you off. Have a website that gives a clean professional image that reflects your professional work and you’re more likely to get that enquiry or sale.
