It is likely that developing a new website will be one of the first tasks on your to-do list when beginning a new firm. Or you might be an established company that needs a little bit of a website makeover because of expansion or rebranding. Consequently, you quickly Google website design and are surprised to learn that the cost of hiring a web design agency is a little higher than you had anticipated, particularly if you have a limited marketing budget.
You might be tempted to just join up for an account and take on the challenge of creating your new website yourself because web design is becoming more and more accessible to non-web designers with technologies like Wix and Squarespace.Here, we show why that's never a good idea and why paying that initial cost will definitely end up saving you time and money in the long run.
Put another way, would you give the responsibility of leading your sales team to someone without a background in sales? Most likely not. Your website should be designed with the same methodology.
When a potential buyer hears about your business, they frequently go to your website as their first search result. Many times, it's how customers first learn about your company, and occasionally, like if you operate an online store, your website is your company in and of itself. It's crucial to do it properly because that's where customers will interact with your brand and frequently turn to when making selections about what to buy.
A good website isn't just judged by the standard of the information or even by how it looks. It's evaluated based on how simple it is to use and how quickly users can discover what they're searching for, which may determine whether a customer chooses to do business with you or not.
When developing a website, if you don't have experience in web design, you generally won't think about the various ways that users might engage with it. This is related to user experience and includes everything from where and how your material and graphics are displayed on the page to the colour schemes you employ in your design.
The main selling point for DIY website builders is that you no longer need to be an HTML expert to build a website; however, this does not mean that building your own website will not require any technical expertise at all. Purchasing a WordPress template will only get you so far; you will almost certainly need to use a little HTML and custom CSS here and there to customise the template to suit your business, and you will definitely want to do this if you don't want to end up with a website that looks exactly the same as another company, or worse, a competitor.
Aside from coding, if you're not a web designer, you're unlikely to consider other technical aspects of design, such as how the size of the images you're using affects page speed, or how different elements of your design will appear on a mobile device. A good web designer will ensure that everything is in place to provide the best user experience possible, regardless of whether it is accessed via desktop, laptop, tablet, mobile, or all four.
Web designers and developers will be constantly on the lookout for new ways to improve website design and user experience, even if they aren't the ones who come up with these new trends in the first place. There will be new functions and features that you, as a non-web designer, are unlikely to be aware of, which may prevent you from standing out from the crowd.
Whatever you want to accomplish with your website, a website designer will usually know the most efficient way to accomplish it.
Let's face it, running a wiring business probably isn't your strongest suit when it comes to creative design. Web designers, on the other hand, are Design Masters. They understand how to make something "good" appear exceptional.
A web designer can also examine your brand identity (logo, fonts, colours, and other creative assets) and ensure that your website reflects that. Many small businesses will build their own website internally only to end up with something that does not match their overall brand identity.
The psychology of good, consistent branding means that when done correctly, a consumer is more likely to engage with your brand - so consistency across your marketing materials is critical. In addition, inconsistent branding can make your company appear unprofessional.
If you're not a website designer, chances are you've never created a website before, and if you have, it probably didn't look as professional as you'd hoped - right? This is due to the time and skill required to learn how to build a decent, professional-looking, and converting website.
Learning how to use do-it-yourself software won't happen overnight either; they usually come with a variety of features and functions that you'll need to learn to navigate. Even so, you could end up spending hours building a page only to discover that a certain element doesn't work properly, in which case your time and effort have been wasted and you may end up having to consult a web designer or agency to step in and fix the problem anyway.
So, if you're considering creating your own website to save money, you should think twice. If you're a business looking to grow, appear professional, and get the most out of your website, which we assume you are, it's probably a good idea to work with a web design agency. Always keep in mind that the seemingly hefty price you will pay upfront is more likely to save you time now and costly fixes in the future, resulting in a better ROI from your website in the long run.
The good news is that our web designers have years of experience in the industry, so whether you're a new company looking to build your first website or an established company in need of a makeover, you're in good hands. Contact us today to see what we can do for you.
Interested in working with Diginow? Drop us a line at hello@diginow.co.uk.
We are a Creative Web Design Agency based in London & Leicester, specialising in Bespoke Website Design, Web Development, Branding and Digital Marketing.
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