So, you want a website for your business, but don’t know where to start? Most people go straight to Google for answers and are hit with an endless barrage of DIY options. While DIY builders have come a long way in recent years, there are still significant drawbacks that will come back to bite you. Offers are often packaged in fancy advertisements enticing you with free domains and features that seem like a dream come true, some even claiming you can build a professional website in less than a day. While this may be true if you’re familiar with how the platforms works, its often not the case and many require a time-consuming learning curve. It’s understandable to choose DIY if you’re in a hurry and on a budget, but you’ll likely end up wishing you’d invested in a custom website suited to your company’s needs. Here’s why:
Poor Search Engine Optimization
The proper language and formatting for your website content is crucial for SEO, and DIY builders will offer little or no help in this area. Customers become frustrated and unhappy with the next-to impossible SEO features offered for articles and images. Google, the most popular search engine in the world, ranks websites by taking content into account. You need a professional with knowledge about how this works, otherwise your site won’t even show up in the first few pages of search results.
Forget Unique. Your Website Will Look Like Someone Else’s
In today’s online world, your visual brand and image are vital for success. With DIY sites your creativity is limited, and you’ll have to work within the parameters offered in your chosen theme. If you choose a “popular” theme, you know countless others are using it. With a professional web designer, just about anything is possible and your site will be uniquely yours. You’ll stand out.
Too Many Features Slow Your Site Down
Most businesses don’t require endless options, but DIY builders are bloated with so many options. This impacts your website’s performance and even slow it down. And no, you can’t just disable or remove them. A custom site keeps a lean code base for faster use, which is especially important from mobile devices.
You’re Stuck and Limited
Custom features and coding should be done early on so that you can grow and change with your business, otherwise you’re stuck with a limited box of DIY tools. Down the road, this limits your ability to expand a store or grow to meet customer needs. In short, it can hurt your business down the road.
A Subpar Site = Unprofessional Image
Admit it. The vast majority of us don’t have a knack for design, writing content, branding, etc. While it’s more affordable to go the DIY route, your website will likely not have the visual appeal or the professional quality you need to hold credibility and authority. To be viewed as a pro, your site needs to be high-quality to reach your target audience.
Bottom line, a website should lay a foundation for decades of use and growth. A custom site pays off through successful SEO, while helping you stand out as uniquely you. It allows you to focus on your business instead of navigating through a DIY builder. Ultimately, with a professional web designer you’ll have unlimited possibilities for growth and change, an epic site that runs efficiently, and you’ll shine as the professional that you are.
