You know you need a website. Or, perhaps you know that your current website needs to be revamped or updated or given a fresh injection of life. But, you don’t design websites and although you know you have an inkling, an idea, of what you want it to look like, you don’t know where to begin.
Your mind is blank. Like a blank sheet of paper, waiting for those inspirational ideas to come, to start filling it up. But, as much as you think, the further away you are from filling that sheet of paper. Even less, forming a website.
It’s time to stop trying to create something that isn’t necessarily your strength and focus on what you do do brilliantly. Focus on your business and on building and growing and developing it, because your business is your strength. Unless, of course, you’re a website designer, but then you probably wouldn’t be reading this…
If we want a special cake, there’s no way I’d even consider baking it myself. We’d approach clients such as Silver Apples or Cocoa Cabana. Because that’s what they specialise in.
If I want the services of a photographer, even though I can make my way around my iphone, I’m no professional, so I’d call on our client, Jonny Draper. It’s what he does. Brilliantly.
Business coaching? I’d stop trying to muddle my way through things and contact our client, Kerry Wright. It’s her area of expertise. And she is an expert.
Out of this world wedding flowers? I suppose I could cobble together something “rustic”, but if the wow factor was what I wanted – which we suppose is what you might want with your website – I’d approach our client, Kelly Louise Floral Artistry. Because she can certainly wow…
See where I’m coming from? I could bake a cake, take a few snaps, talk myself through a business plan, make a bouquet (of sorts), but none of this is what I do. There are people out there who have dedicated their professional lives to doing these things, and so if I really want one of these things done properly, I’ll go to them.
However, we understand that cost and budget are massive considerations in all of this, and that by doing things yourself, you will probably save yourself a fair bit of money.
But will you really?
Think of all the things that you have to consider…
- The time you will need to invest to begin working out HOW to create a website – and don’t forget, if your mind is currently a blank piece of paper, this isn’t a good starting point;
- Unless you have a logo and branding, you’ll need to tackle this too, as you can’t have a website without a logo/brand. So, you’ll also need to have some graphic design skills, too;
- You’ll need to get to grips with the “backend” where the mechanics happen – and even though something like WordPress is pretty intuitive, it is SO easy to make one tiny error, and the whole thing goes into freefall, with the possibility you’ll only make things worse by trying to correct something which a professional could put right in a matter of seconds;
- Are you selling products? Good luck introducing an e-commerce element to the site or even just integrating an external shop;
- Where do you host the website?
- Are you going to sort out your own emails?
- Who’s going to trouble shoot for you once you’ve gone live? Sort out those glitches which always occur?
And this is just the start of things you’ll need to consider if you’re going to fly solo. Of course, there are loads of platforms out there, which tell you can create a fab website for £100 and that you’ll be recouping any expenditure in no time. And, these days, you have AI. With a few clicks of a button, if you go down the AI route, you’ll have your perfect website in no time. Hmmm, good luck with that if you have no real experience or time to invest.
Do yourself a favour and consider everything, in a logical way. You may pay a website designer a bit more than you might imagine investing if you go DIY. A cake I bake myself will cost a whole lot less than if I employed a professional – and if all I wanted to do was eat it myself with a cuppa, I would DIY. But, if it needed to be an occasion showstopper, I would understand exactly WHY I was paying a professional what they were charging,
It’s the same with websites. You can do it yourself, and there are millions of examples out there of websites which have been created in this way. But, if you decide that a robust, well designed and well crafted website, with ongoing support from your designer, to be much more important that something which looks OK but is actually very flimsy design and build wise, then get in touch. Because design is what we do.