Should I build my own website? The cons of DIY designs

These days it’s not that difficult to design and build your own website. With the opportunity to buy hosting packages and domain names and a variety of platforms suitable for your business such as WordPress, Wix, Magento and Shopify you can be set up in a matter of hours.

Except it’s not that simple and whilst building your website yourself might seem like a cheap and easy alternative to working with professionals, it can leave you with an unprofessional, low quality website which doesn’t suit the purpose it was created for.

Why doesn’t a DIY website work?

No SEO

A common misconception when creating a website is believing the ‘if you build it they will come’ ideology. This is pretty much never the case, you need to act in order for people to find you. Using techniques such as SEO you can write effective, key word rich text which can help attract potential customers or visitors. There’s no point creating a website if nobody is going to see it, which is why you should never neglect SEO.  

Choosing the wrong host or platform

There are a huge range of free hosts out there such as Blogger, Wix and Weebly and it can be tempting to choose a free option. There are some issues with choosing a free host however, most importantly that it’s hard for a business to be taken seriously if you don’t have your own domain. Nobody is going to take a business serious if their domain is yoursite.wix.com, not only does it look amateur, it can make your website look incredibly untrustworthy. 

You can’t do it all

Owning a business doesn’t make you a designer, a developer or even a copywriter. You might have a idea of what you think looks or sounds great, however it’s always a good idea for a professional to fine tune these ideas and make them look as good as they can. A professional has access to all the correct tools to create your website to your specifications, so that it not only looks fantastic but still attracts visitors, it is their job after all.

It’s hard work

Running a website is difficult, if you think that setting up a website is an easy and quick way to make money you couldn’t be more wrong. Looking after your website is hard work, there’s always things to update and change and if something goes wrong you’ll need to deal with it. Add to that the pressures of running a  business, you’ll soon find yourself struggling to keep up. Why have the stress when you can have a professional deal with your website, leaving you time to run your business?

If the success of your business depends on a high quality website and online presence then it’s important that you have website designed by experts who know what they’re doing. Whilst a cheap alternative might be just fine, a professional website will be worth it in the long run.