Is it worth paying for a professional web designer to make my website?

I learnt to write code when I was working at a marketing agency in Manchester. I was the only designer based in a room with five developers who all had degrees in computer science. I was in awe of what they could do and they were more than happy to teach me the basics of coding. Over time, as the internet advanced, more and more online tools became available for people to build websites without having to learn how to code. Great, I thought, I just wasted my time learning a new skill that’s already redundant – How wrong was I?

After trying out a few DIY website builders, such as; Wix, Shopify, Weebly etc. I soon realised how limited I was when it came to creative freedom. I’d often find myself wanting to edit the code so I can have things just the way I want them, not the way the software assumes I want them. Sometimes editing the code would be possible, but I’d have to pay a premium for the privilege.

When thinking about building a website yourself you have to consider the following:

• Do you have the time?
• Do you have the design skills, expertise and experience?
• Can the online DIY website builder do everything you need it to?
• What happens if things go wrong?
• What will your customers think of the finished website?

 

Some of my existing clients tried the DIY route when starting their businesses, and to be fair, considering they weren’t designers or developers, they did a relatively good job. However, over time they soon realised they couldn’t do everything they had hoped and needed that extra help. In some extreme cases their websites were hacked as the sites weren’t maintained properly and needed professional help to fix the problems. There’s an old saying, “Buy cheap, buy twice” and that certainly rings true when it comes to websites. It’s much more beneficial in the long run to pay a little more at the start than having to pay twice when things inevitably go wrong.

It’s not just the initial costs that are on the line here either, your reputation is too. What will your customers think if your website doesn’t look its best, or worse, has crashed and becomes totally unusable. My prices for websites start at £500 for a standard brochure website. I then charge £25 a month for general maintenance and any small changes the client asks for. The only other cost is for the business’ domain name, web hosting, email and security certificates, but this can be as little as £50 a year and I don’t make any money from this.

So, in summary, yes I cost a little more than the DIY website solutions in monetary terms but think about what you’re getting for your money. Here are some graphs to help you visualise the value a professional web designer like myself can add to your business.