Your Website – DIY or Hire An Expert
Everywhere you turn, there are ads for Do It Yourself (DIY) website builders. Potential clients are led to believe that they can come up with an idea for a business before lunch and have a published website before dinner – the same day. While the promos and promises from DIY web companies are tempting and the price tags appealing – STOP and think. If something seems too good to be true, sometimes it is.
DIY websites are actually a sound solution for some business owners – and you might be one of them. But, if you are not computer savvy, and don’t have the time or patience for new challenges, here are just a few compelling reasons why you should think twice before tackling a project that might be more than you bargained for.
You Get What You Pay For
Your website is your most prominent and powerful promotional tool. Your online identity must be professional, credible, and user-friendly to stand up to your competition. Attempting to save a few dollars in the short term can negatively impact your sales and marketing in the long term.
The “paint-by-numbers” process offered by DIY programs may be functional but typically does not provide access to the highest performing design and development tools readily available to professionals. Restricting the ability to modify and customize your DIY website prevents your website from achieving optimum design, performance, and results.
Shouldn’t your website powerfully portray your professionalism, reputation, and brand identity?
You Can’t Get There From Here (Don’t throw good money after bad!)
Many businesses start off choosing a DIY site intending to upgrade to a professional site eventually. However, DIY sites often contain proprietary programming, making it difficult or even preventing a professional web developer from accessing and customizing an existing DIY site. Consequently, starting over from scratch may be the best or only option, costing more in the long run than choosing a professional developer at the start.
DIY can be expensive to modify. Every upgrade, optional plug-in, and additional design feature can be an added cost. The price tag keeps increasing and often leads to high, recurring monthly fees.
Don’t you want to avoid add-ons and extra fees that push you beyond budget?
Time is Money
Learning how to construct a website can be frustrating and time-consuming. Things can get complicated very quickly, leading to a DIY disaster. The average DIYer could take anywhere from 120-160+ hours to complete a website – the equivalent of nearly four full-time work weeks! (Schmidt, 2020) Time is money. The learning curve for a DIY website can come at a very expensive cost.
Wouldn’t you rather be spending your work time taking care of business?
First Impressions Matter
Your website is your front door to the internet. In less than 10 seconds, visitors to your homepage will form an opinion about you and your brand and decide whether to stay or go – engage or bounce.
DIY companies tend to offer a wide selection of templates, but these templates can look generic without significant upgrading, resulting in a negative first impression. While the template formula may appear simple to use, in reality, it can take hours to learn how to navigate the programming, add content and photos, change colors and fonts, and add pages and links to create a consistent brand identity and professional look and feel.
If you don’t invest the time and pay for extra features, it will be instantly clear to your website visitors that your website – and by extension, your business – lacks credibility.
Isn’t your bounce rate essential to your success?
Better Safe Than Sorry
Securing an “out of the box” DIY website could prove to be problematic. Invariably, technical issues will arise that require expert knowledge and support. A vulnerable or broken website can result in significant lost sales and damaged credibility.
Are you up to the task?
To DIY or NOT to DIY – That is the Question
A DIY website may be just the ticket for those individuals who have a good working knowledge of basic computer programming, an eye for design, enjoy troubleshooting, and have the confidence and patience to take on new challenges and see them through to the end.
But, if this does not sound like you, then ditch the DIY option and place your online presence into the hands of an expert. Investing in a professionally built website can save valuable time and money, allow you to focus on essential business needs, and avoid unnecessary stress and frustration by venturing into the DIY unknown.
Don’t risk your identity and reputation. A professional web developer will put their experience, technical knowledge, graphic design abilities, and troubleshooting skills to work for you. They’ll build it – so you don’t have to.
IMC is a full-service website and digital marketing firm located in Saratoga Springs, NY. Services include website design and programming (including eCommerce database and custom software integrations), branding, content creation, print collateral materials, and hosting. www.imediaconsult.com
Citations
Convergehub. (2018, October 23). The Primary Reason Why Small Businesses Fail to Grow without CRM https://www.convergehub.com/blog/reason-small-businesses-fail-grow
Itseeze. (2016, December 19). 6 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Build Your Own Website – https://itseeze.com/blog/6-reasons-why-you-shouldn-t-build-your-own-website/
Khorev, M. (2019, November 17). 6 Reasons You Shouldn’t Do Your Own Website Design. https://mikekhorev.com/6-reasons-shouldnt-website-design
Profitworks. (2020) https://profitworks.ca/blog/297-why-having-awebsite-isimportant
Schmidt, G. (2020, July 30). 9 Reasons Why DIY Business Website Design is a Bad Idea.
https://pixolabo.com/9-reasons-diy-business-website-design-is-a-bad-idea/