We live in a world where the Internet rules supreme; we all make use of its resources in many different ways. Almost all of us that are connected are online every single day, whether it’s for work or pleasure. If you have a business and you want to give it premium exposure, you definitely need a website. But there is a big difference between a website that’s well-designed and one that is mediocre or worse – badly-designed. With this in mind, if you are planning to build a website, what should you do? Should you go the DIY web builder route, or should you go for a professional web designer and developer? Here’s how to determine your best choice.
Figure out your needs
Before you decide whether to go for a DIY site builder or an expert designer and developer, you have to first figure out your needs. Have a clear idea of what you expect from your website and what you expect it to do for you. Think about the pages you require as well as how functional you want your website to be. Are you aiming for customers to buy something from your site? For this, you would need an ecommerce system. Would you like to create and update your content regularly? Then you would need a good blogging function. Would you like visitors to fill in a form or would you just want to impart information about your business? Another aspect you should consider is whether you are satisfied with a website that looks generic or would like something custom-made and unique to your business.
Know your options
You basically have three options for your website:
- You can go the template route and use a DIY site builder
- You can go customised and hire a professional website designer and developer
- You can do both – hire a website designer and customise your template as well.
A site builder is essentially a tool which allows you to create a site with the use of templates that are pre-made. You can choose from various templates, and different builders can present you with different options. A website designer is someone who is professionally trained who can build your website from the ground up with a blank slate or canvas. You can work with the designer and tell them what you need, and they will come up with something that works for you. A website design agency such as Expre will often have a team of designers and developers and even marketing experts who can take care of everything from start to finish. Note that a designer is different from a developer in that developers are more about making your website functional whilst designers are more about the aesthetics of your site. So if you hire an agency, they can often already give you both.
At the end of the day, your choice will be based on different factors, such as your budget, your requirements, and the time you have to spend on your site. If you have the budget and would like a site that’s expressly built for you, hiring a web designer and developer will always be the better option.
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