How do you conduct research about a business or the things a company sells? If you’re like many consumers, you rely on the Internet to learn about different organizations and the goods or services they sell. Even if a given company doesn’t sell things online, it doesn’t mean people won’t research the organization and the products or services it sells using the Internet.
With so many people turning to the Internet to learn about businesses and the things they sell, it’s crucial for you to have a website. This is true even if you don’t conduct business online.
Drawbacks to Creating Your Own Web Design
As a business owner, you basically have two options when it comes to website design. You can try to make your own website or you can hire a web developer to create a site for you. If you’re tempted to make a website on your own, you may want to reconsider.
While you may save money by creating your own website, web development is a serious undertaking that’s often best left to proven experts. If you don’t have the expertise to create a professional, user-friendly website, the website you make may end up costing you money in the form of lost sales.
Does it make sense to save a few thousand dollars now if it’s going to cost you $100,000 in lost sales over the course of just one year? Of course not!
Lost sales aren’t the only drawback to making a website on your own. You’ll also have to give up some creative control. When you use a template to make a website, you’ll be limited to using the fonts, colors and formatting options that are available for that template.
If you have a working knowledge of HTML, you might think you know enough to make a website for your organization. A working knowledge is not the same as being fluent in a programming language, however. If you only have a basic knowledge of HTML or whatever code you want to use for your website, how do you think your website will end up looking? “Amateurish” is probably the kindest way people will end up describing your site.
If a website doesn’t look good, it gives the impression that it’s not secure or it provides a poor user experience, the site will drive visitors to your competitors’ websites. It will also prevent your site from ranking well in search engine results pages, which will make your site difficult for consumers to find.
Reasons to Hire a Web Design Company
As a general rule, designing the front-facing part of your website involves a different skill set than backend development. This can make it very difficult to find one web developer who has a skill set that’s broad enough to create a professional website on his or her own. When you hire a website design company instead of an individual freelancer, you’re hiring a team of experts who collectively have all the skills required to make a great-looking, fully functioning website.
In addition to partnering with a team of experts, there are a few other meaningful benefits to hiring a website design company to create a website for your organization. Here are a few of them:
- Custom Web Design: What do you want your website to do? Do you want an ecommerce outlet, an information-only website or something else? No matter what kind of site you want, a website development company will be able to make a website that is exactly what you want it to be and works the way you want it to.
- Responsive Web Design: If you’re like a lot of other people, you probably surf the web using different devices on a regular basis. Because consumers search the Internet with so many kinds of devices these days, it’s crucial for your website to have a responsive web design that will make your site look and function the same no matter what device someone uses to view and interact with your site. When you hire a professional to create your website, you can ensure it will be made using responsive design.
- Trends: You don’t have to be a web developer to know that things change quickly when it comes to the Internet. The newest technology can become outdated quickly, for example, and new best practices will evolve as things change and consumer preferences shift. To make sure your website takes full advantage of these changes, it’s wise to have your site designed by a web design company that’s on top of all the latest trends.
- Search Engine Optimization: Just as things are always changing on the Internet, search engine optimization changes all the time. The goal of SEO is to improve where your site lands in search engine results pages and drive traffic to your website. When you work with a professional website designer instead of making your own site, you can greatly increase the odds that your SEO will lead to more traffic and conversions.
- Support: If you make a website for your business on your own, it’s your sole responsibility to maintain and update your site. When you hire a web design company instead, you can hand over these ongoing, time-consuming responsibilities to your designer. Doing so will free up time for you to focus on other areas of your operation.
- Mobile-First Index: Google shifted to a mobile-first index in July of 2018. This means the search engine will give priority to mobile websites in the SERPs it produces. This is significant because it has the potential to change where your website lands in SERPs. By hiring a web developer to create a website or redesign your existing site, you can make sure your site is ready for a mobile-first world.
Contact Beyond Custom Websites
Clearly, the return you’ll get by investing in a professional web design can pay off in many ways. Increased traffic and sales, a lower bounce rate and longer visits on your site are just a few of the ways that an expertly made website can pay you back for your investment in professional web development.
Our web design company creates modern, fresh websites using responsive web design for businesses in many industries. If you’re ready to enjoy the ROI of professional web development, contact Beyond Custom Websites to get started today.