DIY Web Design: Do It Yourself Or Hire A Professional?

DIY Web Design or Professional Web Design

Every business needs a website right? Well, at least we agree on that. We all understand that  every business will be Googled eventually, and not having a website would be turning away potential custom.

If you are only just starting out in business is it necessary to employ the services of a professional web designer or is it worth having a go yourself?

There are many tools and templates available to use to have a go at creating a website yourself, but then looking around at local Winchester web designers it seems they make great promises too:

We work with many local businesses to create websites that support their digital marketing strategies and overall business objectives. Here are just a few that we have worked with.” Says Think Creative

Alniro promises to give me my big screen moment stating:

We believe that professional and engaging website design is key to the marketing success of a business. Whether your customers are local or global, individual or corporate, the chances are your clients will Google you at some point. Would you be happy with what they saw?

Darweish Designs offers to design my website “because first impressions count” while promising to “take the fuss out of updating your website”

After browsing lots of web designer sites I have to say it all looks very expensive, although in the long run I am sure it is worth it.

What is the worst that can go wrong if I have a go at designing my own website?

Apparently the mistakes made when opting for the DIY approach for your website can impact its performance and turn customers away. Here are some of the most common mistakes made:

Site Navigation and Structure

Poor navigation around a site is bad for both SEO and the User Experience of the site. As a beginner, the template of the web design is often chosen purely on what it looks like. Generally, the prettiest templates are chosen which usually tend to have poor or confusing navigation. The navigation of a site is one of the hardest things to get right.

Slow Website Speed

It is generally the graphics of a website that cause it to load slowly, which has a knock on effect to the visitor. Visitors to websites will simply abandon the page if it does not load quick enough. You will come unstuck here if you don’t know how to work with compressing images and server call and caching. You may need a professional to make sure that your page load speeds are user-friendly and up to the mark for user experience.

Omitting the Business Goals

The website could look wonderful and sleek, but does it fulfill the business goals? It is a common design mistake to miss out important calls to action. You must tell the visitor what you want them to do to reach that sale. Do you want them to contact you, fill out a form, sign up to a mailing list or buy something? Omitting these instructions can severely affect your sales or lead targets.

Not Focusing on Google and your Users

It is important that your website not only reaches your customers but it is also good enough for Google too. It is very common when designing a website to focus on one or the other, but not both. If you focus on optimising for Google and not your customer you could lose sales and if you focus on your client and not Google they will never find you in the first place. Consider both.

What about Mobile?

After hours and hours in front of your desktop, you have finally got what looks like a pretty, working website. But what about mobile?

With mobile website design, there are a whole new set of design challenges. Firstly the audience may be different to that of your desktop site. Then there are the screen sizes, images, clickable button sizes, clickable link sizes, plus the order that your content is displayed in.

Google has recently rolled out an update for mobile, making in even more important as a business to ensure your site is mobile friendly.

Takeaways

So, it is possible to build your own DIY Website, particularly now you know the most common mistakes to avoid. However, if your company is going to grow it may be advisable to spend the money on a professional web designer and be presented with a website that is ready to be adapted for future growth. This will avoid you having to swap websites later when your business is in full swing and very demanding.

As for me, well I am heading straight for a web developer in Winchester.

If you have had a go at developing your own website let us know how you got on and how you found the design experience.

1 Comment on "DIY Web Design: Do It Yourself Or Hire A Professional?"

  1. Your post captures the issue perfectly!

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published.


*