What To Choose When Creating Your Website

Every business’s website is their bread and butter. It is the first face your customers see, and over time is shaped into your online persona. The process of creating this face will entail investing time and money. As with every investment, options must be weighed to ensure you are making the right choice. 

Creating a website can be done two ways: by hiring a website designer to do it for you, or by using a website builder where you can create it yourself. Naturally, both options will need different budgets.

It is important to note that there are many factors to consider before choosing. To help you, we have put together a list of pros and cons for both options.

Website Designer

Pros 

• Great Design and Functionality

Designing a website from scratch is not as easy as it might seem. Think of it as building a house from the ground up. You’ll need the right tools like materials, blueprints, and people with expertise. Occasionally, business owners try their hand at designing their own website. Without the proper tools, the end result often falls short of expectations. The website would be difficult to navigate, information would be hard to find, and the overall design would be messy and inconsistent. These are essential for creating a great website. 

Alternatively, a professional web designer will have the expertise and the qualifications to ensure the essentials above are met. They will be able to put them together in synergy so that your website is well thought out, user-friendly and most importantly, pleasing to the eye. Sort of like the right contractor building your house!

• SEO Friendly

The design and overall look of your website is important, but it’s not all. You’ll want to drive potential customers to your website and start converting them. To do that, your website must be optimized with the right SEO techniques, particularly using the right keywords strategically on your website. This will help your website appear on the right Google searches and rank higher. Professional web designers are definitely equipped to help you with SEO. You’ll be attracting and converting customers in no time.

• Fully-Customized

You’ll be the customer here. Once you let your web designer know exactly what you want and need for your business, they will be able to execute your vision. Not only in terms of how it looks, but also taking into account the requirements for your products and services. They will put together the right tools, third-party applications, number of pages, color scheme and so much more so that the various parts of your website come together like a well-oiled machine.

Cons

• High Budget

Hiring professional web designers will cost you more money. As you can tell by the Pros above, the job will be completely customized and therefore will require elaborate research and planning.

Typically, you would have to hire a team of designers. The team would need time to consult with you, analyse your competitors, carry out market research and then brainstorm to come up with your desired design. There would also be back-and-forth with you consisting of feedback and revisions. This whole process will definitely drive up your budget.

• Takes Up More Time

The process mentioned above will take up time. Brainstorming sessions, A/B testing and then the feedback and revision cycle would lengthen the time taken creating your website. The more time taken, the higher your cost will become. We know Rome wasn’t built in a day, but think about just how many days!

Website Builder

Pros

• Straightforward and User-Friendly

Once you find the website builder you want to use, you’re only a few clicks away from creating your website. The tools are easy to use and come with instructions on what to put where.

With the help of the dashboard, drag and drop your desired features onto the website. There are also ready-made templates for you to work off of. Input the information you want, choose your colors, formatting, etc. and soon, your website can go live. No coding required!

Everything is extremely user-friendly. You can continue making changes and expanding your website once it goes live. The whole process will be pretty straightforward. Website builders are meant to be easy to install and use, for business owners who like to get their hands dirty.

Even without expertise, your website will be ready to go in no time. If you’re ever unsure how, tutorials can be found on the internet; be it a YouTube tutorial or a step-by-step guide in an article.

• Assistance Is Available

If you ever need help, every online website builder comes with customer support. They will know the ins and outs of the builder and can guide you through your issue, no matter if you want to add more to your website, take something away or redesign.

• Low Budget
  

There are many website builders available online that allow you to create a website at very low cost. You can make use of the free tools available. You might have to spend a little money for additional services and tools, but it definitely won’t cost you too much. This is the best option for small business or start-ups with a limited budget.

Cons

• Mediocre Design and Functionality

Website builders have limited options, so you won’t be able to customize as much as you would like or add specific features. In terms of “freedom”, you will be constrained to what is available on the website builder. It won’t allow for plugins or new templates to create a more appealing design. In terms of functionality, you have to take what you get. This might result in a website that you aren’t completely happy with, and might not offer much value to your visitors.

• Not So SEO Friendly

Remember what we said about SEO? Unfortunately, with a website builder, you can’t do much about that. Most website builders do come with basic SEO features, but they won’t be strategic enough to help you with your Google rankings. This will make it harder to attract and convert customers.

• In the Long Run, You Might Spend More Time and Money

While you do save money on the setup of the website, you might have to continue spending money after the fact. The limitations of your initial design will cause the website to be difficult and slow to access, not to mention tough to navigate while inside. Over time, it will probably cost you more time and money as you will have to keep up with the demands and maybe even complaints from your website visitors.

It all adds up, and in the long run you might find that you’ve spent more time and effort than you would have with a website designer.

So, what do you think?

Both options are certainly worth weighing, with their own set of formidable pros and cons. It also depends very much on your budget and the amount of time you’re willing to spend.

On one hand, with a website builder, you can run your business on a budget and still have a website as the face of your business. It can be easy to set up and ready to go in no time, serving your purpose to have an online presence.

On the other hand, creating a website with the help of a website designer can be beneficial in the long run. Once your website is up, it will be smooth sailing from there, with little to no issues. You will enjoy your ideal design with better user experience for your customers.