Many businesses develop their websites without using a professional web designer, and that could be a serious mistake.
You don’t want to spend too much
One of the main reasons that a business does not want a web designer is due to a small budget.
For very little money you can buy a good-looking WordPress template and have a reasonable website up and running in a day or two. Alternately there are software and content systems that, with a few clicks of the mouse, will create a website for you. These include offerings from companies such as Wix, 1and1 Internet and GoDaddy.
For a little more money, you can hire your Cousin Vinny, a student, who promises to knock up a company website for just £199 so that he can have beer money this term. Cousin Vinny is not a professional website designer but he does not how to use a computer, so must know what he’s doing – right?
What you will get with these inexpensive solutions is a conventional website; a website that looks like most other websites and has standard imagery. If your business has no competitors, then this may be fine. Most businesses, however, are in competitive markets and need more than an OK website. They need their website to stand out, to make them look different from the rest.
Why you need to invest in your website
If your business is successful then it probably does not operate from a building that is falling down with a leaky roof, and paint peeling from the walls. Neither does the chief executive drive a twenty-year-old dented wreck of a company car.
Spending very little on premises and company cars creates a negative image that puts potential clients off using you.
In a similar way, a badly designed cheap (or free) website creates the impression that your business is unprofessional. First impressions are important, and your website is often the first point of contact that someone makes with your business.
You may argue that the theme on which your amateur-made website is based makes your website look professional, but looks alone do not make a successful website.
What a web designer adds to your website
Your website may look great to you, but is it unique? If your site is based on a popular template, or theme, then lots of other sites will look similar. A web designer can create a site unique to your business and this will make it stand out against your competitors.
A good web designer will make sure that your site is easy to use by designing navigation, menus and buttons that are clear and easy to use.
If you are selling products or services, then a web designer will make sure that the process of buying and checking out is simple and straightforward.
With cybercrime and hacking on the increase, a web designer can protect your website by making it as secure as possible from outside interference.
One of the website builders mentioned earlier advertises ‘industry specific text and images’ for your website, using one of their templates. This will make your website feature the same text and images as every other website in your industry who has used them. Do we need to remind you what Google thinks of that?
Many web designers will expect you to provide the text content for your website, but a good professional web design company will also be an experienced web communication company and suggest ways to edit your content to make it more search engine friendly. The designer will also include site maps and other files that help the search engines index your site correctly.
One financial area of your business that you should not cut back on is the budget for web development. Hiring a professional web designer may not be as cheap as cousin Vinny, but it is a wise investment that will contribute to increased brand awareness and more sales.
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