Your website is your digital storefront – it’s what your potential customers will see, how your brand presents itself, and how they interact with you and your product. So, it’s important to get it right – an aesthetically pleasing and functional website are crucial to the smooth running of your business activities. A slow, outdated, or buggy website may be enough to deter your customers and impact the growth of your business. There are many different things to consider in building your website to best represent your business including the initial build, the maintenance, security, and staying up to date are also essential.

Can I DIY my website?

It is possible to DIY – “do it yourself” – and create your website yourself from scratch. With many different platforms to choose from, building a website can be done over the course of a single day. WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, Joomla, Drupal and the like set out templates where you can simply pick and choose the elements you want for your website. But these free templates are just that – you may end up with only a simple, functional website that is difficult to differentiate from the plethora of webpages out there. Many businesses may use the same free templates, resulting in similar appearances. What you are able to change is limited, and you may not be able to adjust elements such as fonts and colours to match your branding. As a result, your website will look very similar to other websites who have used the same free templated. Beyond simply building the website, there is the maintenance and security to consider afterwards. When you add in content creation and SEO (search engine optimisation), it will be a major chunk of your time taken for your website. Websites are no longer set and forget – to remain optimised for customers to engage with and find, you need to consistently update your content, security, and maintain your website least it becomes dormant. When it becomes dormant, customers may not find the content they are searching for on your website and leave frustrated, never to return, or you website may even become de-indexed

Why should I hire a professional web designer?

In essence, it is possible to DIY your own website, but it may be time consuming and you may not get the results you want as there are many details to consider and skills to learn. Hiring a professional web design company – or webmaster –  saves you time and effort. You can simply set the task and focus on what is more important in your business. By opting for a design company with a webmaster at the helm, you can ensure you will have a unique, high quality website design that is professional and best represents your business. From small businesses to larger corporations, a good website is an essential aspect of business to reach your audience and have a presence in an increasingly competitive market. We’ll explore the benefits of hiring a professional web design – or fittingly, a webmaster.

Advantages of hiring a web designer

1. They have the skills and experience to produce a quality design that yields results

Website design agencies are made of professionals with a wealth of experience and knowledge in their field which they can apply when creating your website. There are many details involved inwebsite design – from the visual impact of the layout, the effectiveness of SEO, and level of interest in the content. Hiring a professional ensures you are getting the highest quality product for your investment. While it is indeed possible for you to take the time to learn the skills to create a quality website, it still may not compare to the work of a professional who has the experience and education in the field and specialises in website design. By hiring a design company, they can create a professionally designed website that is unique and is designed exactly to your requirements in terms of the layouts and functions which may require specific knowledge to code or create. A design company will ensure you have the features you desire, beyond that of which you can get from a template which only provide the basics. Your website would be fully customised to the needs of your business.

When you employ the skills of a webmaster, you receive all the benefits of a professional who is experienced and knows how to create the elements you are looking for. Website hosts such as WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace have made it easy for individuals and business with minimal to no experience in web design to create their own website. With free templates to choose from, all you can change at a basic level is the aesthetics such as colours, fonts, and positioning of elements. However, you may not be able to create the more complex elements and plugins that will separate your website from the pack. Even then, to do it yourself allows for the risks and pitfalls that a professional would avoid. By hiring a web design agency, you can be assured you have a professional website that is both aesthetically pleasing and has all the functionality and personality you require. Plus, a webmaster or website designer has the benefit of being immersed in the world of design and aesthetics. It is their job to keep up with the latest trends in the industry, and by hiring them you receive the benefit of their knowledge and experience. You will get someone who can not only create your website, but really tailor the experience for your customers. Good designers and professionals take into account both the user interface (how the website looks) and the user experience.

2. Time Saving

When you consider the time you will need to learn coding unique design elements for your website, completing the maintenance to ensure it is secure from hackers and bugs, updating content and SEO regularly to keep it ranking on search engines… its a lot to do.

If you want to build your website beyond what the basic templates offer, you may need to invest a lot of time to learn the coding skillsrequired to build your custom codes to make sure your website performs how you want it to. After the creation of your website, there is the maintenance, updates and content to consider. Things like producing and uploading written content, updating listings when applicable, staying up to date with trends and elements – these will all take a considerable amount of your time to keep up with. When you hire a web design company, it’s as simple as setting out a plan for the services you require, and they’ll take care of the rest. They can cover as much or as little as you require – from simple, low-cost options to more comprehensive services, you can find the right plans to suit your needs and how much control you wish to have over your website. And with all the time you’ll save, you can focus on growing your business and your products.

3. Get it done right, get it done once

While you are in the learning process of DIY-ing your own website, it is inevitable you will run into issues that will take you time to fix and figure out the issue. In the trial and error phase, you may miss customers coming to your website and that mere maintenance time may be enough to deter them elsewhere. By hiring a professional, you can be assured your website is right and always ready for your customers.

To most, if not all of us, website design is not second nature. Website hosting services take some of the headache out of website design by providing a range of free templates for you to simply drag and drop the elements you need to create a functional website. But when you wish to have custom elements to really let your site stand out, this requires a lot of experimenting and trial and error. This process may be time consuming and costly. You may run into additional problems in the future when attempting to create your own code, and will create more issues when you try to fix it. When you hire a webmaster through a web design company, you can save yourself the frustrations of trying to figure out codes and unravel the mistakes made. Professional know how to achieve what you want the first time around, and will know how to avoid the pitfalls, errors and crashes of a novice. Hiring a website design professional ensures you will get the results and end product you want, with minimal to no frustrations. You can have peace of mind that your website is free of issues and errors from the beginning so you can hit the ground running when you publish.

Some web design company offer the whole package of design, maintenance, and SEO so you don’t have to refer to multiple companies for your website. It’s efficient and easy to track in terms of the services you’re getting. PMGS Digital Marketing takes care of all your website needs, and we’re the number 1 digital marketing agency in Melbourne. We offer a comprehensive service in terms of website maintenance and development, and with a team of experience professionals, you know you’re getting the best value for your investment so contact us today!