Your website serves so many functions. It’s a calling card, a brochure, a lead generator, a sales closer.
With so much riding on your website these days, does it make sense to do your website yourself? Sure, you’re a startup and you want to bootstrap everything. There are real costs to doing the website yourself if you don’t get it right the first time.
You should consider hiring a professional web design company to build your website. Read on to learn the top reasons why you want to leave your site to the experts.
1. Save Time
How much time do you really have to devote to your website? Could that time be better spent elsewhere, like on getting investors or new customers?
It’s not just the time it takes to build the site. You have to take the time to learn about design and SEO to make sure your site is set up for search engines. You also have to write content for your site.
It takes hours upon hours to do. Handing off the website development to someone else frees you up from busy work to focus on the important work of growing your business.
2. You Don’t Know What Users Want in a Website
You have to be honest with yourself about web design. You may have researched a few websites that you want to emulate.
What you don’t realize is that those sites may look good to you, but they don’t provide a great user experience. They may load slowly, have poor navigation, or are hard to use on mobile devices.
A professional web design company understands what users want in a website experience and it knows how to deliver a great experience.
3. You Don’t Know SEO
A great way to get your business known and get traffic is to be at the top of search results. You’re probably not an expert in SEO.
You would have to take the time to learn the 200 ranking factors that Google uses to rank websites. You would also have to figure out the technical side of web development to make sure your site is set up properly.
Professional web designers understand that they’re building sites for users and search engines. That goes a long way to set your site up for things like rich snippets.
4. Your Needs Require Technical Expertise
There are simple website projects and there are complex projects, like setting up an eCommerce store. Your project may be complex and require technical expertise that is beyond your scope of knowledge.
For an eCommerce store, you’ll need to know how to set up a shopping cart, shipping rates, and payment information.
Not only that, but your site needs to comply with security standards. That usually requires a lot of technical expertise to make it happen. A web design company can bring their expertise to the table and make sure your site meets all of the requirements.
5. You Can’t Afford a Bad Design
You’re probably aware of the importance of first impressions when you meet people face to face. Did you know that people form first impressions of your business based on your website?
In just a matter of seconds, people will decide whether or not they want to work with your business just based on your website.
You have to make that first impression count. Otherwise, you’re going to lose potential customers before you have a real chance to let them know what your business is about.
6. You May Rely on Bad Tools to Build Your Site
Just because you can build a website yourself, doesn’t mean that you should. If you choose to build a site yourself, you run the risk of installing plugins or themes that are so cumbersome and poorly coded that they slow down your site.
Another common problem is that you may rely on too many plugins to build your site. Every plugin that you use demands resources from your web host’s server to operate. That will mean that it can take forever for your website to load.
A professional web design company will use clean code that isn’t slow or bulky. That will only help the site’s performance and improve the user experience.
7. You Can Put Your Site’s Security at Risk
There are stories every day about a company or government organization falling victim to a cyberattack. Ransomware, denial of service attacks, or an SQL injection can take out your website and your business.
You might think that you have nothing to worry about since you’re just a small business. About 43% of all cyberattacks happen to small businesses. One of the most common reasons why is because small businesses let their websites go after it’s built.
They don’t bother to update plugins or the CMS they used to build the site. These updates often have security updates. Failing to update and maintain your site leaves you vulnerable to attack.
A web design company takes into account the latest security threats and builds a safe and secure site. They’ll also educate you on ways to keep your site updated and maintained after the work is complete.
Do You Need a Professional Web Design Company?
Your website is the storefront of your business. It’s where people will go to learn more about your business. You want to make sure that you leave the best first impression possible.
You can design your own website and build it. It could cost you much more in time, education, and it can cost you revenue if you do a bad job.
You’re much better off getting your site done right the first time. Hiring a professional web design company saves you time, energy, and will ensure that you have an impressive site from the start.
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