If you’re an entrepreneur, you probably have the kind of personality that screams independence. I know I do. I first got into web design fifteen years ago, when do it yourself (DIY) websites like GeoCities and programs like Microsoft’s Front Page were popular. I figured, I was an artist, I understood design, so I’d make my own.
Back then, compared to today’s standards, everyone had a site that looked like an amateur had done it. They had busy background images, vertical navigation bars, narrow content areas, cluttered content, irritating flashing animated ads and hideous colors. And they were all constructed on HTML and required a webmaster to make changes if you weren’t fluent in HTML code.
Since then, a lot has changed. Over the years many do it yourself website companies have cropped up. They offer sweet promises of easy set up, easy management and beautiful sites that will lure traffic like crazy. Ahhh…but remember when your mama told you if it looks too good to be true, it probably is?
There’s a very good reason why smart business owners hire professional designers to create their websites. In fact, I have seven reasons for you.
- Free Is Never Free: Many DIY accounts lure you in with the big FREE, but read the fine print. Can you only choose from a limited number of templates? How much of those templates can you modify? How much storage space do you get for files and images? Will you be able to connect and upload through FTP or a program like Dreamweaver, or all the files strictly stored on that company’s server? Do they charge extra for using your own domain name? What is their customer service and support like? Poke around and sniff out the fine print. Check out their “pro” packages. Their monthly cost may come out equal to or more than what it would cost for you to hire a designer and self host.
- Beware the “All Inclusive”. One of the major drawbacks to using a DIY site is they want to sell you everything. They want you to use their hosting, their servers, their URLs. You’re at the mercy of their software’s limitations, as well as all of it being up to date. You also won’t have a way to store and save your own theme and uploaded files. Why is this important? Should you decide at a later date to self host, migrating the site and all the content is a major headache, leading you to feel like your content and files are being held hostage. At the very least, starting with a free site like WordPress.com or Blogger, you have the capability to export your content and move it over into a new installation elsewhere.
- DIY Ends Up Looking Like DIY. The customization limitations imposed by some DIY sites end up creating a site that looks amateur.
- Shoddy Code. What happens when the host doesn’t bother upgrading their back end to comply with the current web standards? Things break. They don’t look the same across all browsers. In short, your potential clients can’t reach you. Poor code also makes it very difficult for a designer to come in and customize your site for you. Working with industry standards like WordPress or Genesis, you’re bound to find a designer or developer who specializes in those platforms and themes. Using a DIY site, there’s a big learning curve for your designer when they have to go in and untangle the user interface and figure out how to customize your site for you.
- Not Easily Customized. This may sound repetitive, but it bears listing on its own. Not only do DIY sites make it difficult to customize the overall look, but adding functionality can be hard too. Not every DIY site has the plugin capabilities of WordPress. You may not be able to install a simple shopping cart, or optin form. You may not be able to add video or downloads easily. You may also have to rely on HTML to make adjustments, which is counter productive, since you were trying to avoid that in the first place.
- Unreliable. Who do you call when the server goes down? Better yet, how long will it take for their customer support to get back to you? If you’re trying to make a customization, will you be left on your own, with only so much as a “We don’t do that” for an answer? Working with a professional designer or hosting service like In Motion Hosting (affiliate link), Blue Host or GoDaddy, you know you’ll get excellent support and answers to your questions in a timely manner.
- You Are Not A Designer. Admit it. You are not a designer. This is not your genius work. If you’ve never set up your own site before, you’re facing a HUGE learning curve. Do you really have the time to invest in that? A good designer will get your site set up within a week or two, depending on their schedule and how quickly you approve the final design. This is not something that should drag on for weeks and months. There’s no reason for it if there are project management systems in place.
While you may think DIY is a cheap way to get started, do your homework. Figure out how much of your valuable time you’ll have to spend on this. There’s nothing worse than investing a lot of time and money on a project only to discover it’s not working for you and you end up having to hire a professional to start all over for you. That scenario is downright heartbreaking, we don’t want to see you go through that experience.
And if you’d like some help? Call us. We’d love to talk to you.