In the last 10 years or so, there’s been an explosion in the growth of online website builder tools that have made it easier than ever for pretty much anyone to publish a website. However, while these tools might be ample for hobbyist sites or blog pages, there are many compelling reasons why you should take a more professional approach to your website build – particularly when you’re looking at producing a site for a company.
If you’re slightly stuck on the fence trying to decide whether to go it alone with a DIY website build or invest a little more in a site provided by a professional company (e.g. like web design agency – ALT), below are just a few reasons why a web developer will almost always be the better option.
Developer skills go far beyond just coding and design
While it’s true that website builder tools have made it much easier to publish a site, in pretty much all cases, if you put a DIY site next to one that’s been made by a pro development firm, you’ll instantly be able to tell which is which. Truth is, there’s a lot more than just coding that goes into building a great website – everything from design skills to choosing the best images, writing the most engaging text/headlines and prioritizing the most pertinent information up the hierarchical tree. Web designers and developers have honed these skills over many years, making them a much better choice when it comes to producing a successful and interesting site for your company.
Your company is unique - your website should be too
If you use a website builder platform, you’ll be limited by the templates they provide – and, consequently, will end up choosing a layout that’s likely been used on thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of other websites. Even if a development company uses a pre-designed layout in a Content Management System (CMS) platform like WordPress, they will almost always customize it to your particular needs to make it unique. At the other end of the scale, if you spend a little more on your site development, your developers will build your site from scratch, bespoke to your firm and very much one of a kind.
Running a business is complex enough without being bogged down with making a website
Bottom line: web developers are skilled at what they do and will produce a better website in a fraction of the time that it will take you to try and complete work. Your time would be far better spent concentrating on running your company and doing the things that make you money than on muddling your way through the intricacies of trying to produce a website.
First impressions count
In today’s commercial landscape, your corporate website will likely be the first point of contact customers (both prospective and existing) have with your firm. Today, it’s estimated more than 70% of all consumer journeys start with an online search so, if your site doesn’t resonate quickly with your visitors, you could end up losing out on valuable trade opportunities. Website developers know how to engage visitors quickly and give them a better User Experience (UX), in turn making it more likely they’ll work with you.