When it comes to getting your business online, there are typically two main choices for you to pick from; hiring a web developer and doing it yourself.
In most business scenarios, we’d definitely recommend hiring a freelancer or some kind of outsourced help to give you a hand. However, when it comes to web design, you’d be surprised at just how expensive it is to get a website up and running. This is because there are multiple costs to keep in mind–it’s not just a one-off fee to hire a designer! You also need to think about picking a web host, registering a domain name and even adding content to the website itself.
If you rely on a third party to help you do this, then it might seem like a good deal at first. However, the more you rely on someone else to maintain your website, the more expensive it’s going to get over time and the harder it’ll be to take back control. Instead of relying on a third party, it’s a good idea to start early and get to know how to control your website, add content and ultimately run it.
In this post, we’re going to take a look at a couple of the main differences between hiring a web developer and doing it yourself, and why you should ultimately choose to manage your website with your own staff.
Should you be taking advantage of the latest website trends?
Website trends evolve very quickly, meaning it’s important to have a dedicated website design expert that can upgrade your website to match the latest trends. This makes your website a lot more attractive and also helps to bring in new audiences as well as dealing with issues that your existing audience has with your website.
However, do keep in mind that good website design doesn’t always mean that your website will be successful. In fact, there are a lot of newer website design trends that simply don’t work or are unnecessary, especially if your website is only there to give your audience more information about your brand and the products you offer. A lot of business owners go overboard and spend a lot of money on well-known designers, only to be disappointed when they realize that their website isn’t attracting more people.
While taking advantage of the latest website design trends can help your website feel more modern, what’s more important is the type of content it has. In short, younger and hipper website design can be useful, but it’s not guaranteed to give you an advantage over your competition.
Do you require special functionality?
If you have a unique idea for your website then hiring a web developer is often the best way to ensure you get those features. For instance, if you’re developing custom web-based apps or a dashboard to help manage their online orders, then a web developer will make this an incredibly easy and simple process.
However, there are a lot of website building tools nowadays that actually give you access to these types of features. In fact, setting up an online store can be done in just a few clicks by enabling certain modules or options with your current web host. While it does cost a bit more money per month to access these features, it’s actually incredibly easy to use and you can add a lot of functionality to your website with ease. Many of these tools come with excellent support, and even if you’re unsure about something, there are plenty of dedicated support communities that would be more than willing to give you a hand.
Of course, if you don’t find the right plugins or widgets that you need, then developing a custom solution can often be the only option. In a case like this, hiring a web developer is the only way to get custom functionality.
Are you willing to learn about web design?
One of the biggest questions to ask yourself is; are you willing to learn a bit about web design? It’s a skill that can be incredibly useful further into your career and you don’t need to go in-depth regarding most web design principles and concepts. In fact, a bit of basic WordPress knowledge is often enough to help you grow your brand, especially if you focus on a content-first approach to your website. After all, content is a lot more important than just the design of your website, so as long as you know how to use your content management system, you’ll have a fairly easy time upgrading your website and adding new content to it.
So if you’re able to spend a bit of time learning how to use WordPress, then the DIY option is generally a lot better since it gives you more freedom and helps you save a serious amount of money on both web design and maintenance fees. However, if you simply don’t have time to spend on learning about web design and WordPress, then it may be worth hiring a web developer to do the work for you.
How unique does your website need to be?
Hiring a web developer also means that you can get a more customized option when it comes to unique web designs. A web developer costs more money depending on the scale of the work they’re doing, but you can often request them to make a bespoke website. This options up a lot more design options, especially if you’re working off basic WordPress knowledge. However, you should still keep in mind what we mentioned before; content is a lot more important than just the design of your website.
There are also some extremely effective website design tools that are accessible even to people with zero web design experience. If you do a search for the best website builder, you’ll find that there are dozens of excellent options that can help you design a stunning website with minimal effort. While you might be limited on the type of functionality your website has, it can still give you lots of customisation options that will help your website stand out from the competition.
In short, consider how much time you’re willing to spend on designing a site. If you really don’t think you can invest time and effort into it, then hiring a web developer is usually the best option. However, if you are willing to put a few hours into learning basic tools like WordPress, then you can save an incredible amount of money while also retaining some level of personalization.
Some final words
Designing, building and managing your website can seem like a lot of work, but once you get used to the different software tools and work processes, it’s actually surprisingly easy to get the hang of. In fact, it’ll only take a couple of minutes each day to ensure your website is running correctly, and with the right content management systems, you can easily and quickly add more content to your website without much effort. From there, you can hire different freelancers to create content for you, but you’ll always have total control over your website and you can adjust how much money you spend depending on what you want your website to do.
Of course, if you want a turnkey solution that you don’t have to manage or even care about, then a web developer might be a far better option if your budget allows for it. It all depends on your personal circumstances.
