Do you want a simple answer so you don’t have to continue to read the remaining 800 words on this page? Ok then. Yes. Yes you should. Your website is the online face of your organization. Do you want your face to be the “I just rolled out of bed and haven’t had time to wash my face” look or do you want the “I’m polished, professional, and look hot” kind of look? So the question is who is better suited to create a professional, well designed, functioning website? A professional web design company or you? If you still aren’t convinced, let’s walk through some of the benefits of using professional web design and professional services.
Expertise
Creating a well branded online presence may necessitate a variety of skills from content writers to graphic designers to developers. A professional web design company will have the knowledge and expertise to determine the scope of your project and what specialists need to be engaged. For example, if you are an interior design firm, one of your biggest sell points are the pictures of your work. A website design company might have to break the news to you that your blurry iPhone pictures aren’t doing you any justice and hiring a photographer would be imperative!
Cost
We know. Cost is probably one of the most important factors for a startup company. Startups require big bucks and we know you (understandably so!) are prudently watching your pennies. As a startup you can appreciate the term “time is money.” Your time is valuable and spinning your wheels to attempt to build a top of the line website takes time away from procuring business, ultimately resulting in lost income. The professional will do it right and in less time, leaving you to focus on generating business for your company.
Scalability
Most organizations have humble beginnings with the expectation of eventually becoming a larger company. Starting out, your company’s website requirements may be rather simplistic. For example, a five page website that includes an “about us” page and contact form may be suffice. As your business grows, your website will need to accommodate your expanding business needs. Blog pages, shopping carts, social media links, and photo galleries may be necessary additional components of your website as you grow. When you utilize a professional web design company, they will build your website so that these capabilities can be added at a later date.
Current Industry Trends
What are the latest trends in website design? Are videos helpful to attract traffic to your site? What is Google saying about search engine optimization (“SEO”) these days? These are all questions that a professional should be qualified to answer. Like any industry, website design, coding and SEO continuously changes. It experiences trends, new technology and requires it’s professionals to continually educate themselves on the latest and greatest. Keeping up on industry trends will keep your site modern and prevent it from looking old and obsolete.
Clear, Defined Process
Building a site isn’t simple especially in this ever changing world of technology. It involves determining business needs and requirements and then translating that into a website that works most effectively for that business. This process incorporates stringent series of events in configuration and improvement from start to finish. A professional web design company can create a blueprint, execute that plan and make the necessary adjustments along the way to meet your individual business needs.
What Are the Benefit of Working with a Professional Over Using a Template Site?
There’s no doubt about it, contracting a web designer is going to cost you more moola than any $99 website offer you see advertised on Facebook. Let’s face it, not every out of the box solution works correctly right out of the box. If every business had the same advertising needs, we suppose these DIY sites might be a plausible option. Your website, however, should be as unique as your business is. Do you want your website to be branded in the same manner as the other thousands of people who purchased the same template? It has taken the professionals years to learn their trade. We think we can speak for most web designers and say that we have spent many nights troubleshooting, researching the latest code, focusing on Google best practices or trying to find that one character in the code that has single handedly taken an entire down site. It is safe to say there is a significant learning curve that comes with developing websites. Is that a learning curve you are willing to devote time to as a new business owner? What happens when your site gets hacked, or you attempt to update a plugin and oops…your site goes down? Eventually you will need to break down and hire the professional that you should have used in the first place. How much time, energy and money have you wasted on your website that could have been spent generating revenue? If you want to learn how to code, we highly encourage you to do so but don’t use your business to test out your new skills. There is some truth to the coined phrase, “You get what you pay for.”
