There is no question that websites that have been developed by a professional look a million times better than those that are built from ‘do it yourself sites’. After all, a professional web designer should understand what will work in a site to make your potential customers part cash with you.
As a web designer myself, one of the requests I come across the most is how people would like a custom design. This is totally understandable, as each business is unique and you would like your website to stand out of the crowd. But, decent custom designs are very expensive and totally unnecessary.
As a small business, spending a lot of money on a website is not always possible. So how do you get a unique website for a cheaper price?
Well, you can either out-source your desired website to Indian companies who are very cheap and will give you the custom look you require. But you will be sacrificing the quality, which will put off potential clients due to it not being very user friendly or using any on-site marketing tactics to make sales. This option will also make it hard for you to work closely with your web designer and you may feel frustrated.
How can a pro website designer help?
Technology has moved on so much these days that you can have you cake and eat it. Meaning, you can have a unique website for a very good price and usually these websites come with a content management system (CMS) that allows you to update the website yourself.
Having a CMS built for your website specifically is very expensive, and is just as bad as having no CMS and paying every time you would like your website to be updated.
WordPress, is a brilliant example of a CMS that allows you to pick a layout of your choice and customise it with your branding. While working with your professional web designer you should seriously consider this option, as it will be a lot more cost affective for small businesses than forking out for a custom design.
Other advantages to working with a pro web designer is that they will be knowledgeable on the marketing behind having a website. There are many other factors you need to consider in your marketing plan once you have a website and a web designer will be able to advice on this.