A Successful Website Is Simply Not A Do It Yourself Project

Despite what all the do it yourself website companies want you to believe, a professional and successful website is definitely not a do it yourself project. They’re essentially selling a very attractive yet erroneous idea that anyone can create a stunning and successful website by simply using their proprietary, amazing, do it yourself (DIY) website tools. According to their marketing hype virtually anyone can easily and quickly create their next great business website in a few easy clicks. Unfortunately this ludicrous claim couldn’t be further from the truth.

I honestly can’t count the number of times I’ve heard from new website clients statements like: “I’ve spent hours trying to get this or that just right on my website but can’t quite figure it out … can you help me?” Even more disconcerting is the: “I paid for a website with them a year ago. I’m still paying monthly for it but gave up on it a long time ago.” The list of frustrations and disappointments associated with attempting to build one’s own website is a long one. Many great business-minded people essentially waste tons of valuable time attempting to build their own website.

Don’t Try This At Home

Building a professional site is truly a monumental task. It’s also a feat that’s best left to the care of a professional website designer or developer. Someone who’s both skilled and equipped to pull it off without a hitch. In fact if they’re truly a professional website designer or developer chances are that web design and web development is their passion. It’s something that they do daily and are experts at. Your best friend’s cousin who’s pretty good with computers unfortunately doesn’t meet this criteria. I’m just saying.

There are literally dozens of valid reasons to let an experienced professional build and/or design your website. For the sake of brevity I’m listing what I consider the top 3 reasons you should definitely let a professional do it. Here we go.

#3 Website Aesthetics -

I simply call it the “wow effect”. It’s essentially the user’s initial perception of your website. The reality is that your website has about 5 seconds (at most) to persuade a new visitor to stay on it. While family and close friends may overlook the fuzzy images and overuse of bold text fonts on your homepage your first time website visitors won’t be as forgiving.

Whoever coined the phrase “looks aren’t everything” was definitely not speaking about websites. Numerous studies on website aesthetics prove otherwise.

Design and presentation of a website is strongly visual. Visitors will make aesthetic judgments very quickly. Your site’s aesthetic appeal actually increases the likelihood of a visitor making a purchase or using services on your site.

Professional website designers are experts in graphics design, interaction design, information architecture, and typography. All of which are critical to insure that your website takes advantage of the all important “wow effect”.

#2 Website Usability -

The name basically says it all. It’s your website’s ease of use for a visitor. The user should be able to fairly and easily intuit the actions they need to perform on the web page. Whether it’s click a button to perform an action or selecting an appropriate item in a drop down menu.

Some experts will argue that a website’s usability is truly what matters. Some will even go as far as to proclaim that the sites aesthetics pale in comparison to the importance of the sites usability.

The funny commonality that I’ve noticed among most who claim usability over aesthetics is typically this. Either they themselves don’t possess the design skills necessary to render an appealing design or they are kinda like your uncle Jack who likes to think that all of his horribly designed neckties are just as nice as all the rest of the neckties in the world. Why? Simply because they function well as a necktie. Uncle Jacks’ can’t build great websites. No, really they can’t.

The truth is that both website aesthetics and website usability are so closely intertwined and interdependent that I refuse to think of either of them existing meaningfully on their own. To negate one aspect is to abuse the other and professional website developers know this.

#1 Affordability / ROI -

My number one reason you should let a professional website designer or website developer build your website may come as a shock to some. Especially if you’re among the vast majority of entrepreneurs who automatically equate beautiful, highly functional websites with an exorbitant price tag. This assumption is perhaps one of the most misperceived elements of professional website development and design.

Just as in any market there exists overpriced website designers and developers. Some do readily charge fees well above and beyond the true value of their work. However there are also many professional website designers and developers who for various reasons have chosen and are able to offer their services at a more competitive rate.

Surprisingly this huge disparity in price difference is not necessarily because the quality of the work is less. Sometimes that is obviously the case but not always. Typically a close inspection of the developer or designer’s portfolio will in many cases answer the question of quality comparison.

In my own personal instance I offer very competitive rates simply because I can. I maintain low operating expenses and choose to forgo many of the perks and luxuries that most of the larger web agencies consider to be necessities. I also offer free project quotes and initial consultations.

So it truly pays to shop around a bit when it comes to choosing the right developer or designer to take on your website project.

In regards to ROI or return on investment you simply won’t find better returns with any other medium than what you’ll see with your professionally developed website. It’s without a doubt one investment you can’t afford not to make!

About The Author:

- Mark D. Hulett is an accomplished website developer and website designer at Georgia Web Development. His experience and working knowledge of websites spans more than a decade.