7 Reasons to Avoid DIY Web Design
7 Reasons to Avoid DIY Web Design
DIY it! That’s the best method to save cash and you learn something new. But let’s be honest we can’t say the same when it comes to web designing.
Designing your website using a custom template is not a good idea. DIY website marketers are smart in that they are going to try and trick you into believing that you have the essential knowledge, insight, and skills to create a website that is unlike any other in your market.
Therefore, we listed 7 reasons you should avoid DIY websites at all costs!
- Your First Website, Your First Impression
Quality is key. Your website is going to reflect your company image, so having a well established and maintained website is going to show your audience that you’re not here to play around. You’re a quality business that shows that you care about your online brand enough to invest it in.
This sounds like you’re off to a good start right? Well, you are! But only if you ditch the whole DIY idea. What a professionally built website can do for you is something a DIY website just cannot.
This is also your chance to market your brand! Only a well-conceptualized and designed website will attract and convert clients.
Your current clients and potential clients are going to evaluate your website and online presence before forming an opinion on it. So you want to make sure you leave an impactful impression on them because it’s not hard to switch from you to your competitors.
Some general mistakes that may drive your clients away include:
- Images, gifs, or buttons that take too much time to load. Anything longer than 2 seconds is a no.
- A layout that may be difficult on their eyes. Such as too many bright colours, flashy images or texts.
- A layout that has hard functionality.
- Unprofessional designs that make your business look low-scaled might insinuate that you also don’t possess the right knowledge and skills for the job.
- Back-End Functionality Matters Too!
Don’t judge a book by its cover, ever heard that? Well, it’s the same with websites. Using a DIY designer might help you put together a page that looks functional on the surface but trusting the exterior is similar to cleaning your room by shoving everything in the closet!
There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work you’re going to have to do to develop your site!
But this what we want to avoid. SEO a.k.a search engine optimization is about the code on the back-end of the page just like the content on the front-end. Editing the complex back-end development yourself can lead to something very messy.
Let’s be honest, amateurish coding is probably not the best idea, it’s going to slow down your website and it will destroy the display of your site on desktop and mobile formats.
So, you definitely don’t want to wing this by DIY.
- Appearance on Mobiles
Your website must be an all-rounder, it should be compatible with tablets and phones. 53% of web traffic and 63% of retail traffic is made up of mobile users. Also, 85% of adults want mobile phones to display the same quality of the website that a desktop would, this is crucial because 50% of consumers commonly don’t recommend businesses with a poorly designed mobile website.
- No Impact
Your website needs to be distinctive, impactful, and effective if you want to stand-out in the market. And this is hard to achieve with DIY website designs. Using pre-made templates or a free website developer means that thousands of businesses have already used it. Therefore, it’s ineffective and impossible to stand out!
Plus, DIY website developers usually allow very little customization unless you have a paid account.
- Not Secure
One of the most concerning things for any business is security, including virtual security for their website. Something DIY website designs seriously lack in, as most DIY websites offer minimum protection and are not able to meet or maintain volumes of high traffic. Therefore, you don’t want to use DIY website makers, your website could be comprised and private information could be leaked.
While professional website creators will provide you with technical resolutions which will help keep your website up and running, plus safe from cyber attacks, hackers, malicious threats, etc. They also improve your website performance!
- Are You Really Saving Money?
Contrary to popular belief, DIY website designs aren’t as cheap as we think. The cost of hiring a professional web designer is always the deciding factor when it comes to website designing. But consider this, in the long run, you will have to hire someone, because if you go the DIY way you’re going to make mistakes and you’re going to need someone to fix them for you.
Additionally, professional designers ensure that websites receive traffic. Therefore, they are the ones that can encourage potential clients to look around your website and convert them into your consumers.
Plus, with a DIY website, they are more likely to switch to your customers quickly, and you don’t want that. You want your potential clients to look around and browse through your products or services.
- Modification Expenses
It’s impossible to start with free DIY website design and upgrade to a more customized design. Most DIY websites are set-up in a way that you cant access and make customizations. For this, you will need a professional website designer and this will definitely end with you having to pay more.
Additionally, some DIY website designers are ‘Hosted Solutions’. Which means you cant transfer your website to another hosting provider. That means if you want to move your website you cant! You’re going to have to build another one.
So just this once, don’t DIY it! It may sound and look easy but you really don’t want to go down that path.
