Do I Need to Hire a Professional Web Designer?
There are many reasons you may need a new website: you may be launching a new business, rebranding, shifting your service offering, or updating a tired, old site. A few years ago, in these situations that there was only one option: hire a professional web designer to build your site for you.
However, these days you actually have two choices: hire a professional, or build the website yourself. More and more people are choosing the latter, whether entrepreneurs, professionals, small businesses and even larger businesses. This is thanks to the range of tools now available that allow you to build your own website.
But is it really that easy to build your own website, if you are not a professional web designer? Or should you be hiring a designer to do it for you?
Advantages of Building Your Own Site
There are many benefits of creating your own website. Probably the most obvious one is cost: professional web designers can be very expensive, so by doing it yourself you can make significant savings. Secondly, building your own site gives you creative control, meaning you can ensure that the end product matches your vision completely. Building your own site also means that you will be able to update it and maintain it yourself, allowing you to add in any new copy or new information rather than relying on someone else to do this for you.
Challenges With Building Your Own Site
Website builders have made it a lot easier than it used to be to build a website from scratch (no coding required!) as we will discuss in the next section. However, this does still take some time and effort even with these handy tools at your disposal. It is quite easy to learn how to create your own site even if you have never done this before. This will take some time, some patience and a little trial and error to get things right and produce a professional-looking site. If you are someone who hates working on a computer, gets frustrated by technology, or simply has no time in your busy schedule, this may not be for you.
How to Build Your Own Site
Building your own site is easier than you might think. There are a range of website builders available these days, the majority being very easy to use, drag-and-drop interfaces. All you need to do is pick a template, add some content, and customise to your tastes and requirements. Having some sense of what makes a great website design will help of course. Check this article for some great WordPress design ideas!
Probably the most difficult part is choosing your website builder. The main website builders on the market today are:
- WordPress
- Wix
- Weebly
- Squarespace
WordPress is by far the most popular, with … If you are wondering whether you should use WordPress to build your site, keep in mind that this website builder has a lot of great features, but is not the easiest to use for beginners. WordPress offer a great number of plugins for a variety of purposes, such as when your site is in maintenance mode, surveys, pop-ups, SEO, and more.
Wix and Weebly, on the other hand, are great for beginners, being extremely easy to use. Squarespace is a little more challenging to use, but produces beautiful, high-quality sites, so is recommended for designers, artists and those in visual industries.
Final Thoughts: Do I Need to Hire a Web Designer:
In many cases, you do not need to hire a web designer to build your site. You can use a website builder to quickly and easily build a professional-looking site, even if you have little experience in this area. Doing so can say you significantly, while also allowing you greater freedom and creative control.
However, there are certain times when it is a good idea to hire a designer. It really depends on your business, your needs, and the resources you have available. Check the lists below for when you should build your own site, and when you should consider hiring a web designer.
Situations when building your own site is ideal:
- If you have a small business, a small-medium ecommerce store, or are an entrepreneur, a blogger, or a freelance designer, writer or similar
- If you are on a very tight budget
- If you want to be able to maintain complete creative control over your site
- If you want to be able to frequently update your site with fresh information or content
- If you are in the marketing, design or similar industries and want to be able to use your site to demonstrate your skills
When you may be better off hiring a web designer:
- If you have a larger business
- If you have specific, tech-heavy features you want on your site
- If you need a very unique site, for example if you work in the tech industry
- If you don’t have the time to dedicate to building a site, but are willing and able to invest some money
