There’s no doubt it’s easier than ever to build a website. Many platforms like Wix, SquareSpace, Shopify and WordPress now use no-code drag-and-drop builders as the default. The new generation of business owners are increasingly tech-savvy, having grown up using computers. Consumers also increasingly expect to interact with businesses online, and many will take a lack of internet presence as a sign of an unreliable or untrustworthy company.
Another clear trend of recent years is financial instability. Since the 2008 financial crisis, we’ve had austerity politics, Brexit, Covid and soaring living costs, as well as stagnating wages. Starting a new business in this environment is hard enough, and budgets might be tight once premises, equipment and stock costs are accounted for.
Therefore, it does seem like a bit of a no-brainer that a DIY website is a great way to keep costs down while getting the reputational benefits of having a website for your brand. However, is this a false economy? Let’s look at some of the advantages of getting your website made professionally.
Form and Function
Hiring a professional means you can be sure your website will look good and work hard for your business.
It seems fairly easy to build a decent-looking website using the free templates on sites like Wix or SquareSpace. Even if you aren’t that creative, the default layouts usually work pretty well, and might even include a few exciting features like slideshows or animated elements. It’s quick to tweak the colour scheme or pick from a range of interesting fonts.
However, what is less easy is avoiding the two major pitfalls that make a poorly built site stand out from a mile away: bad design and unclear user experience.
With all the fun options, it’s so easy to get carried away. Clashing colours, unreadable fonts and disjointed page layouts are all extremely off-putting for users. Slideshows, animations and interactive elements all need to be carefully tested to make sure they work on all devices and don’t fail if the visitor has certain browser settings or a slow connection. Many of the client websites I review fail basic contrast tests at least once, meaning many visitors may find the site uncomfortable or difficult to use, while those with a vision impairment may not be able to use the site at all.
Good web design is also much more than a beautiful colour scheme or perfect font pairing. The most common issue I find on homemade websites is the lack of a clear user journey. A good website can be a fantastic marketing tool that boosts income and helps you find new leads and customers. Having a website that doesn’t contribute towards your wider business goals is like renting an expensive shop on a main street, but keeping the front door locked and only letting customers in through the loading area at the back. You’ve made this potentially great investment, but only a tiny fraction of the people who walk past your window are ever going to find out how to buy from you.
While you want your website to stand out from your competitors, you don’t want it to be for negative reasons.
Unknown Unknowns
A web professional knows how to make your website run safely and smoothly, protecting your reputation and your data.
While editing and updating an existing website doesn’t require too much technical knowledge, it’s surprisingly easy to get in very deep, very quickly if you don’t know what you are doing. For example, let’s say you want to install Google Analytics on your site. Google Analytics gives you the precise snippet to use, but it needs to be in the head code of every page, and you aren’t sure how to access that. There’s an app to do it for you, but maybe it has limited functionality unless you pay for the premium version, so you decide to add the code directly.
There are lots of forums that contain code snippets and tips so you trawl around those for a bit. You try out a couple of bits of code, but they don’t seem to work. You download a couple of other apps and plugins that also don’t seem to do the job properly either. Eventually you get Google Analytics working, but now you notice your site runs very slowly and the contact form can’t be submitted. You’ve turned your user-friendly, functioning site into something that most people will give up on before it’s even loaded, and you don’t know how to fix it.
Simultaneously, as you now have Google Analytics tracking cookies on your site, you have a legal obligation to collect positive consent from users before installing those cookies on their devices, and to disable analytics tracking for any users who do not explicitly agree. Failing to do so creates a risk you will be fined by the Information Comissioner’s Office, and these fines can be huge if GDPR breaches are also involved. You now have to work out your legal position on cookies and implement it, while also trying to fix the loading speeds and contact form errors.
Asking AI is tempting, but is also a dangerous route. You can read more about my thoughts on AI in my previous post, but for now, take a look at this AI-coded security feature.
Putting code and apps you don’t fully understand onto your website can damage or even destroy your existing site, plus create new risks and security vulnerabilities you may not even be aware of until it’s too late. Paying someone to fix a site is often quite expensive, as there may be emergency rush fees, and they’ll have to spend time understanding what is going wrong, which can be hard to pinpoint if the site is built in a non-conventional way.
Time Is Money
Outsourcing your website gets the job done quickly and allows you to focus on what you do best.
A good way to value any product or service is to give yourself an hourly rate, and ‘pay’ yourself for doing the job. For example, if I earn £20 per hour in my day job, and I spend 3 hours vacuuming each week as my machine is old and not very efficient, then spending £200 on a new machine that cuts my time down to 1 hour per week is well worth it. I get 2 hours back each week, which I can use to earn another £40, so after 5 weeks I’ve made back the £200 investment and can enjoy my extra spare time. Another option would be to hire a cleaner, especially if I get someone who’ll bring their own vacuum! If I spend £40 per week on their wages, I’ll have to do 2 hours of work to cover it, but I still get a clean house and an extra hour of free time.
You should apply the same principle when deciding to save money by DIYing a website. Here’s how you might spend your time…
- Researching potential choices, from hosting, domains, CMS and add-ons
- Building the site structure and organising relevant information into a logical navigation system
- Correcting any mistakes or redoing work if your earlier decisions don’t work out as planned
- Learning about technical elements to understand how to set them up correctly
- Creating written content, images and design assets like logos and icons
- Sourcing high-quality stock images and assets with appropriate copyright licences
- Writing privacy and cookie policies that accurately reflect the technical make-up of your site
- Testing the site on multiple devices and browsers
Not to mention you’ll have to do all this while still running your main business and account for the general stress of managing a website build when you’d much rather be doing something else. As our 1 page website packages start from £35+Vat per month, you only need to work 3.5 hours at minimum wage to cover that. If you earn more, then it’s an even better deal; is it really likely you could DIY a well-designed, user-friendly, technically efficient and legally compliant website in under a couple of hours?
An Essential Business Service
Ultimately, the businesses that have the most successful and valuable websites are the ones that invest wisely in their digital presence. You should consider your website an essential part of your business infrastructure. Just as you would get expert advice on your accounts and legal matters, or bring in specialist help for refitting your premises and maintaining key machinery, hiring a web agency to build your website ensures your investment is in safe hands.
If you’d like to know more about how we can help your business succeed online, please send us a message or book in for a free consultation call.
