Creating a website for your business can be a daunting task, especially if you're on a tight budget. Deciding to do it yourself (DIY) and try a website builder may end up costing you more in the long run, both in terms of time and money. In this article, we'll explore why settling for a DIY website can be a costly mistake for your business and what you can do instead.
Website Builders Are Not The Answer
DIY website builders offer limited customization options, meaning you will be stuck with a cookie-cutter design that may not accurately reflect your brand and won't help to attract your ideal audience. This can make it difficult for you to stand out from your competitors and can also hurt your brand recognition.
Once your website is up and running and you want to make changes, you are still restricted by your existing template options and limited functionality, which can be a time-consuming and frustrating process. Think of it logically, is it worth your time not focusing on your business and trying to learn how to design your website? It might seem like an expensive option to hire a web design agency at the time but doing so is actually saving your business money and time.
Lack of Professional Quality
DIY websites often lack the professional quality that a web design agency has to offer. This includes things like non-functional or poorly designed navigation, poor colour and typography choices, slow load times and image optimization. All of which leads to a poor user experience that lowers your sales and customer satisfaction. Designing an unprofessional website could actually harm your business representation online, leaving your business looking unprofessional and lowering trust.
No Web Design or Tech Support
When choosing to design your own website you are very much on your own. For any design and tech issues, you have no one to turn to. Spending additional time researching and YouTube-ing methods and solutions to your problems takes time. However, these problems don't exist when working with a web design agency. Say you decide to get in professional help after you come across a huge issue. A web designer or web developer is not going to know the ins and outs of your project and this could result in an expensive fix.
It's really a risk-and-reward scenario. Is the risk you are putting on yourself DIY-ing your website worth the reward? If not then it may be a better solution to work with a professional.
Limited SEO Capabilities
Are you versed in basic SEO for your website? Do you know what is needed to add meta descriptions, alt tags and rich snippets to your website so it performs to its full potential? If not, then your website could be missing out on some huge traffic opportunities. Not optimising your website could mean your customers just aren't finding you when they search.
Additionally, website builders such as Squarespace, Wix, and WordPress can have limited SEO capabilities, which means that your website may not be easily discoverable by potential customers who are searching for your products or services online. This can result in lost business and can be difficult to rectify, especially if you don't have the technical expertise to optimize your website for search engines. Now don't get me wrong, all of these platforms are great for building sites but they do require the backend knowledge needed to make full use of them and make sure your website is optimised and indexed correctly.
Your Website isn't Growing with Your Business
If your business grows and expands, you may find that your DIY website can no longer accommodate your needs. A lot of DIY websites can only accommodate a certain amount of website traffic or may only allow for certain features lowering their potential. This can result in the need for a complete website overhaul, which can be time-consuming and expensive. With a custom-designed website, you can plan for growth and ensure that your website will be able to grow and evolve with your business.
Working with a Web Design Agency
While a DIY website may seem like a good option for businesses on a tight budget, it can end up costing you more in the long run. Working with a web design agency to design a custom-designed website, on the other hand, provides the professional quality, technical support, and SEO capabilities that you need to succeed online. By investing in a custom-designed website, you can ensure that your business has the online presence it needs to succeed and grow.
As an example, working with us here at Full Circle Design, we like to keep our clients in the loop every step of the way. We constantly share updates on design and development changes and, when your website is up and running, we teach you how to update and add to your website when needed. Meaning you get a high-performing website from the start that works for your business and a website that is easy to manage once it's online.
If you still want to create your own website then by all means go for it! We'll be here cheering you on along the way. We'll also be here if things go wrong. Our goal here at Full Circle Design is to help Irish businesses grow online and support them to increase customers and sales through their websites.
Interested in Working with a Professional Irish Web Design Agency to Grow Your Online Business?
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