25 Jan 2023
The Pros and Cons of DIY Website Builders vs. Hiring a Professional Designer
Since the advent of the internet, a website has been an essential aspect of any business or personal brand. Your website plays a major role in informing your current and potential customers about your business values, the services or products that you offer, and represents your online identity. Moreover, it allows your customers to engage with your brand in a meaningful way.
The biggest question that new business owners often grapple with is: whether they should create a website with the help of numerous DIY website builders available online or hire a professional designer? Although there is no definitive answer, it is a legitimate question that requires careful consideration.
Designing and developing your website is a big decision. It can be time-consuming and costly; hence, it is understandable that free website builders like Wix, Shopify and Godaddy have become increasingly popular. In this article, we will explore the pros and cons of DIY website builders vs. hiring a professional designer, helping you make an informed decision that meets your unique needs.
Hiring a Professional Designer
Hiring a professional designer to create a custom website is a popular option amongst businesses looking to create a distinctive and refined website. Whether you choose to employ a full-time web designer or a freelancer, they can create a website that meets your specific requirements based on your reference or guidance. This approach can help ensure that your website stands out and truly represents your brand.
Pros
- Customization: When you opt for a professional designer, you can expect a unique and customized design that is tailored to your specific needs. You can work hand-in-hand with the designer to get the desired results and a website that reflects the value and personality of your brand.
- Functionality: Professional web designers possess intricate and nuanced understanding of web development, which enables them to select and integrate the most effective tools into your website. Furthermore, professional designers implement proper coding techniques to ensure a seamless user experience for your customers, regardless of whether they access your website from different web browsers or mobile devices. This attention to detail results in a website that is highly functional and provides a consistent experience across all platforms.
- Expertise: Your website serves as your brand's identity online, and it is often the first impression that potential customers will have of your business. Even if your products or services are of high quality, the appearance of your website can greatly influence a customer's perception of your brand. Therefore, it's crucial to create a positive and lasting impression. A professional web designer can help you achieve this goal by designing a user-friendly, visually attractive, and search engine optimized website that effectively showcases your brand's value and personality.
Cons
- Costly: Hiring a professional webs designer can be a costly affair. If you are just starting out with your business or have limited funds, hiring a professional can be a challenge. Additionally, if your website requires complex functionality or coding, you would have to shell out more money. It is also challenging for new business owners to differentiate between a good web designer and somebody who lacks expertise.
- Lack of Control: When you hire a professional designer, it is important to keep in mind that they will not share the same vision for your business as you do. Nobody knows your business better than you and this can be the bone of contention when you hire an outside agency or designer. Also, once the website has been created, you are solely responsible or updates that have to be made. This can be a challenge if you do not have the requisite knowledge about web designing and you may have to hire someone for the job once again.
DIY Website Builders
If you have been researching on the internet to find the best options to create your website, you might already be familiar with popular DIY website builders such as WordPress, HubSpot, or Wix. These platforms give you the option of choosing pre-existing templates which can be used to build a website to your liking. The website builders are convenient and easy to use for beginners or new business owners. You won't have to go through the hassle of hiring help from outside and can create a professional-looking website on your own.
Pros
- Economical: Using a website builder over hiring a professional web designer will cost you significantly less. Even though you would still have to shell out money for domain, hosting and website builder fees, the overall costs would be much more affordable.
- User-Friendly: These website builders are created keeping in mind user-friendliness, making them easy to use for anyone even if they have no technical background or expertise. They feature a number of customizable templates, drag-and-drop features, and interactive interfaces, making it easy to create a professional-looking website without any coding knowledge. You just have to come up with some content for your website, upload images, choose colors for the website, and you are ready to launch.
Cons
- Customization: When you hire a website designer, you can expect a website which will be custom-tailored to your specific needs and preferences. Even though website builders offer you multiple customizable templates, they are limited in the ways of design and functionality. Additionally, it can be challenging to make your website stand out when countless other organizations and individuals are using the same templates. Thus, it would it be challenging to create a unique and distinct website that can accurately represent your brand values.
- Lack of Expertise: As someone who has used these website builders, I can assure you that they are not as easy to use as they look. If you encounter a problem, it can take hours of sifting through countless Youtube videos to resolve the issue. Additionally, it can be quite challenging for beginners if they are not technically inclined. Although you will have creative freedom to customize your website as you desire, your lack of developmental experience may prove to be a hindrance. Perfecting the use of these website builders is a time-consuming endeavor and if you are already short on time, it might become a significant issue.
- Limited SEO Options: One of main limitation of using DIY website builders is the inadequate options they provide for SEO. While many of these website builders, such as Wordpress and Shopify, offer basic SEO tools, such as the ability to add titles to pages & posts, meta description and create sitemaps, the options are pretty limited. Thus, you might find it difficult to optimize your website for search engines. Meanwhile, a professional web designer would have the full know-how of SEO from clean code to make your site is to discover on search engines.
Verdict
Hiring a website designer offers several advantages over using DIY website builders. While DIY website builders can be useful for creating static, simple websites, they lack the personalized touch that a website designer can offer. A professional would provide a customized design, optimize your website for SEO, and save you time and money in the long run. If you want to create a website that it unique and stands out, a professional designer is the way to go.