Before the rise of DIY website creation services, people usually requested the assistance of website developers who coded them manually. These days, deciding to build your own website is made easier for any computer-literate person through the use of free DIY website tools.
These tools are made accessible, easy-to-use, and widely available online. You don’t even need to have a background in web design or programming to have a live website! You just need to pick out which one best suits your needs.
But how do you know which strategy is the best to stick with when it comes to website creation?
Here are some of the factors you need to consider when creating a website:
Purpose
Before considering anything else, ask yourself why you want a website.
- To build trust?
- Generate leads?
- Spread your business’ influence
- Showcase your work to potential clients?
Whatever your reason behind needing as website is, it’s important that you’re clear about your purpose from the beginning.
How do they compare?
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DIY Website Builder
Online website builders usually have drag and drop capabilities that can allow you to create your own pages. You can decide what each page looks like, the elements that it has (image blocks, text blocks, video player, sign up sheets, and many others), and the functions that you want each page to have.
A DIY website can serve any purpose you want it to have and you may also choose from templates that can help you build your own website with all the information you need it to have.
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Professionally-Developed Websites
The beauty of having an experienced professional design your website is that experts can always help weigh in on the decisions revolving around the elements that will exist in your website.
Their opinion matters as they not only have a good idea of what a good and functional website looks like, but they will also know what works well with algorithms and feels right for website visitors.
Read about why your website isn’t working
Budget
Everyone has a budget. Whether it’s as small as $50 to thousands of dollars per year, your budget will definitely determine the success you can get from your website.
People with complicated businesses that need more than just a few web pages typically avoid DIY website creation services as they can cost more and don’t have the security services needed to make transactions and processes secure.
How do they compare?
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DIY Website Builder
Most DIY website creation services will compete with each other to offer the cheapest and most complete plans, making it tricky for anyone to choose which service to use. So the rule of thumb is, if you want something that’s really simple (budget, aesthetics, and purpose-wise), a DIY website might be your best bet.
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Professionally-Developed Websites
If it’s something more complicated and requires a lot of safety, security, maintenance, and round-the-clock customer support, then you will progress better with a professionally-built website.
Skills
Your skill level will matter a lot when it comes to deciding whether to get someone to help make your website or to build your own website.
For someone with a background in programming and coding, there is nothing hindering them from creating as many pages, features, and custom functions for their website. But for those who have minimal to none in the coding department, it’s better to either rely on a professional to do the job for them or to simply use the DIY website creation services.
How do they compare?
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DIY Website Builder
For DIY website tools, it only pays to know what pages you want to add, the contents you want to include, the colors you’ll be using, and the purpose of each page you’ll be including. You don’t need to know anything about coding since the templates and drag-and-drop options can automatically generate them for you.
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Professionally-Developed Websites
Having you or a professional create your website will require more than just a knowledge of what you want it to look like and contain. Professionals usually use a CMS (Content Management System) like WordPress to organize pages, images, content, and other elements of the website. They also use it to run the codes for each of the pages in order to create the whole website.
Branding / Authority
Potential customers or clients become more confident in a person or a business when they have a website that has solid branding that explains the nature of their profession/business, reflects the products and services that they offer, and simply looks decent and apt for the industry and business itself. Domain hosting has become very affordable, so not having one for your website can be troubling as most visitors can be meticulous.
How do they compare?
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DIY Website Builder
Most free plans in DIY website builders will retain their company’s branding (e.g. Made with [DIY Website Builder’s Name]) at the bottom of every page on your website and they will even include the DIY website builder’s name on the link (e.g. www.alfordcreative.wix.com). This is something many will want to avoid as this is a red flag to many online visitors. You’re free to use a DIY website builder when you build your own website, but having those website markers and not investing in proper website hosting can greatly affect people’s perception of your brand.
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Professionally-Developed Websites
A custom website with a dedicated domain name, website hosting, and expertly-made branding not only turns heads, but boosts your website visitors’ opinion of your business. To many people, if you can invest in a good website, branding, and hosting, then they’ll be confident to think that you won’t cheap out on the products and services that you offer, too. It also clears doubts on your business’ legitimacy as it will show in the efforts that you’ve exerted for making your brand custom-made and purposeful.
Read about three key questions for small business branding
Time
One of the many things that not many realize about building your own website is the amount of time you need to spend in order to build your own website design from its structure and colors to the number of pages and specific types of content that it needs to have.
For someone who’s running a business on their own, it will be tricky to find the time to get started on every step that DIY website creation requires. How will you have the time to manage your business if you’re working on making all the elements needed for your website?
How do they compare?
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DIY Website Builder
Many DIY website builders are easy enough to use as they have templates that you can easily tweak. It cuts the usual time you would spend preparing layout pegs, branding ideas, and color schemes, but remember that using a template means that there are many other websites like yours who will look identical no matter if you change your logo or colors. Oftentimes, you won’t even be able to change images, layouts, fonts, and colors. Other times, they won’t allow you to change anything but the content. This limitation not only robs you of your artistic capabilities, but forces you to look lazy with your branding.
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Professionally-Developed Websites
They say time is money. So if time is something you don’t have much of, then having your website created by a professional is most likely your best financial choice in this situation. A professional web designer will have the skills and the time to make everything look clean, professional, and consistent for you. They also know the rules in the industry, so you can make sure that your website is in accordance with laws and won’t land you in any legal problems.
Read about outsourcing: a smart option for small business
Maintenance
Some business owners create their websites just for the sake of having one. They don’t put into perspective how handy websites are when it comes to attracting more attention and building a stronger sense of trust within the industry.
Can you imagine how difficult it might be for a busy business owner, like a florist, to open her shop every day, check inventory, answer emails and calls, handle delivery, do sales talking with customers, deliver flowers, compute taxes, and create and maintain her business’ website on her own? It’s simply not a job for one person!
How do they compare?
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DIY Website Builder
You can just imagine how a DIY-ed website would look like if once it’s created, not one bothered to update details such as their new products and services, address (especially if they changed locations or opened up a new branch), contact numbers and email addresses (this can be incredibly frustrating for a potential customer), or anything that has changed over the last few weeks, months, or years since the website was made live.
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Professionally-Developed Websites
When businesses pay for constant maintenance and improvements for their websites after they’ve been created, there is no doubt that it will be law compliant, updated, highly accessible, intuitive, and all-around wonderful for every website visitor that’s interested in doing business with them. Well-maintained websites generally perform better when it comes to attracting interest, generating leads, and improving people’s opinion on the brand.
Choosing between using a DIY website creation service or getting a professionally-made website shouldn’t be a tough decision. You only need to consider factors that impact you and your business such as your budget, skills, branding, amount of free time (if any), and ability to do maintenance on the website. For us, it’s like choosing between what you have more of… time or money? If you have more time, go ahead and try to DIY it. But if you have less time and more money, it’s no question that you should let a web developer handle the matter while you increase your sales and focus on the potential ROI you can get from your awesome professional website instead!
Are You Ready To Build a Website But are Tired of Trying to DIY?
We have a solution just for you! Our Quickstart websites are the perfect compromise for when you need a good-looking website fast, but don’t have the time or knowledge to DIY.
Learn more about our Quickstart websites and start building yours today. Still not sure if Quickstart is right for your business? Schedule a chat with me on the calendar below.
