In this digital age, businesses need to have an online presence. Customers seek out websites, social media profiles, and more in order to determine if a company meets their needs. Not having these elements can make a business appear less legitimate and turn protentional customers and clients away.

Hiring a website designer, however, does mean spending money. You may not be so keen on doing that. After all, small businesses work with small budgets. You might be wondering: should I create my own website, or consider other options?

With all the website design tools available on the internet, you might believe website creation is fairly simple. It’s true that with a few clicks and drags, you can create a good-looking website for free. But given the fact that your website is central to your digital marketing strategy, and an important part of your success, your website needs to be a lot more than pretty.

So, let’s answer the question: should I create my website on my own?

What Goes into Creating an Outstanding Website?

Entire professions aren’t created without reason. Given that website design is a thriving field, it’s clear that these professionals are in high demand. Relying on professionals rather than opting for DIY in any area of expertise produces better results. With so many free tools available, why do professional web designers deliver better results than people making websites for themselves? Because they truly understand what goes into creating an outstanding website. Here are some aspects of website creation that can be tricky:

  • Mobile Compatibility: Many people searching for your business will be doing so via tablet or their mobile phone. Many websites, however, display differently on these devices than they do on laptops and desktops. This means businesses must essentially create a website with two designs in mind: the one optimized for mobile devices and the one viewed on other devices, such as computers.
  • Accessibility: If you have a physical store, you’ll likely already know a bit about making things handicap accessible since it’s part of local and federal law. You might not have considered, however, making your online presence equally approachable. If you truly welcome all customers, your website should be accessible to the blind and deaf, as well, which requires special design aspects.
  • Logical Layout: To a degree, this is intuitive. As a consumer, you visit websites and know which layouts work for you and which ones don’t, but your preferences aren’t always going to line up with those of the average user. Professional website designers, however, know the research and results that inform where items should go, how they should be grouped, and more.
  • Winning Content: Website design is about more than the technical elements; it also involves content creation. A designer isn’t likely doing this on their own, but most web designers have professional writers and graphic artists they work with. The end result is winning content targeted to the desires of your customers.
  • Quick Website Loading: Have you ever clicked on a website, only for it to take ages to load? It’s something we all loathe, which is why you don’t want your website to be sluggish. Most people will wait six seconds or less for a page to load before they close the window and are done with your business. Website designers know how to minimize load times for a frustration-free browsing experience.
  • Secure: When a professional designer creates a website, they make certain it’s secure for you and your customers. Not only does this encourage greater trust in your company, but it also helps your site rank better in searches—which is vital to success.

In addition, a website designer will also work on graphics and color schemes, visuals, text, and more. Creating your website may not be a task you’d like to take on yourself, especially given the stakes for your business and digital marketing strategy, but only you know what’s best for your investment.

Creating My Own Website: The Cons

  •  Free templates are used all the time—because they’re free. If you use them too, your website is going to look identical, or at least very similar, to thousands of other websites.
  • Your time could be better used elsewhere. Even when using drag and drop programs to design a website, you can expect to put in several days of work before you have a page that’s live and ready to share.
  •  People know professionalism when they see it. Even the best free templates tend to read like canned products to customers. A unique website is something people are drawn to.
  •  Designers understand search engine optimization. While you might grasp the basics, this isn’t something to leave up to chance, especially given the importance of search engine rank and your business.
  • DIY site builders tend to have inaccurate site analytics. Because analytics drive your digital marketing strategy, you’ll need them to be as accurate as possible.
  •  If you choose to go the free route, invasive ads can take over your site and lower your customer experience, even after all that hard design work. Professional designers will know where to host the site and how to control the advertising content.
  • DIY websites don’t come with support. Websites run into bugs and have to be updated often. If you create your own design, you go solos for fixes and updates too, which can take hours of work.
  • Nothing on the web stays the same for long. There are security updates, new search engine guidelines, and design trends you will need to stay on top of in order to adjust your website accordingly.
  • Websites and servers can crash and when they do, they’re gone for good—unless there’s a backup. Most DIY platforms don’t offer this service.

Creating My Own Website: The Pros

  •  You’ll save money, at least in theory (keep in mind that if your website isn’t keeping up or needs changes, however, it may cost you more money in the long run).
  • You can make it happen on your own time. Quality website designers are busy, so they may need to finish a few projects before they’re able to get to yours. Going DIY means you can start right now.
  • You’ll know what you’re getting. Sometimes people who claim to be professional website designers, such as freelancers without much of a portfolio—can turn out to be amateurs.
  • Use feedback from people who matter. As you work, you’ll be able to ask some of your loyal customers to take a look and give you feedback on your site.
  • You know your business best and can put that knowledge to work in your website design. Yes, a designer will know your niche if you select the right one, but the designer doesn’t work for your business.
  •  You’ll learn something new. As grown-ups, we rarely learn new skills or study new fields. If you have time and take the design process seriously, there’s a lot to learn.
  • You can take pride in your accomplishment if it turns out well. This is something you can’t get from having someone else create the site for you.

Weighing Your Options

Looking at the pros, you might think: “Create a website on my own? Don’t mind if I do!” However, the list of cons is pretty heavy. In order to make the right decision for you, you’ll have to look at these options in greater depth.

While there certainly are benefits of creating your own website—each pro starts with you. Time and effort are needed for digital tasks rather than running your business. New skills and a sense of accomplishment may leave you feeling great, but they don’t convert to income. The end goal is to convert website visitors into customers. Can a DIY website do that? It can if you have the time and effort for design, upkeep, and updates to the website.


Hidden Website Costs

Creating your own website can seem like a super money saver, especially if you have the time to do it yourself. But here are just some of the hidden costs of DIY website creation:

  •  Branding is key to any marketing plan. Even with a prefabricated template, you’ll need to have graphics designed. When you hire a designer, these costs are typically included, but on your own, you’ll have to hire a graphic designer for quality results. Expect to pay $100 an hour or more for this work.
  •  Assuming the service you use doesn’t automatically backup your website, you’re going to need to pay a secondary service to keep your website saved and safe. This could cost upwards of $10 a month.
  •  Many website builders don’t include security features, but a safe and secure website is a must-have. Professional designers include security in their products but if you go it alone, you’ll need to hire someone to secure your website for you. Anticipate spending at least $15 a month for an automated security program and much more for human assistance.
  •  Search engine optimization is one of those areas that doesn’t go far on instinct alone. Web designers have the tools needed to determine which keywords to use, how often to use them, and when to change them up to keep your ranking high. Alone, you’ll need to purchase these tools yourself, hire an SEO expert, or wing it. For an expert, be ready to spend upwards of $300 for initial assistance and additional charges each time your SEO needs to be updated.
  •  Analytics and data drive online marketing decisions, and you can get plenty from your website—if you have the right tools. Just as with SEO, a web designer can include analytics in your design and maintenance package, but you’ll spend a lot of money buying them on your own. Assuming you use several subscription services to get the full picture, you could spend $50 a month or more.

Grouping Services to Save Money

One way to make hiring a professional web designer more affordable is to look for a marketing company that handles website design in addition to other aspects of marketing. For one price you could receive assistance with strategy, branding, search engine optimization, social media, web design, content, and more. Because these are elements you’ll need to outsource, even if you choose to make your own site, you could easily end up saving money by grouping services—especially when you consider the potential loss in profits due to a badly designed website.

Finding a Website Designer

There are many places to find professional website designers online, but we suggest looking for a comprehensive service that goes beyond mere website creation. Turn to a marketing consultant who handles all elements of digital marketing strategy, including social media strategy.

Ready to hand over the reins? Contact Strategic Growth Advisors. We’re Tucson marketing specialists who offer comprehensive solutions for growing your business.

our recent blogs

We don’t just want to build you a custom Growth Strategy, we want to give you resources for the everyday. Read our blog for fresh ideas and insights on business growth and development.

Benefits of Hiring a Marketing Agency (And 7 Things to Look for in One)

Staying on top of your company's digital marketing can be challenging. From managing your social media presence to optimizing your search engine rankings,...

Leamon Crooms November 5th, 2021

Naming SEO Images & Social Media Marketing Images: Best Practices

When it comes to your brand's social media marketing and search engine optimization, you might not think that the images you upload...

Leamon Crooms October 29th, 2021