Considering Building Your Own Website?

Many small businesses want to go the DIY route and build their website using online tools such as those provided by their hosting company, or free “build-it yourself” online website builders. While that gung-ho DIY attitude should be applauded, you may quickly find out that the web design process is harder than you think.

Before you roll your own website using a “DIY website builder”, please consider the following items:

It may not be as easy as you think. Web design, and more importantly, development are trades just like any other. There are experts in the industry that have been doing this for years. Consider the time investment you will be making. If you have limited experience using computers you will still need to invest your own time and resources into learning to use this specific tool. Do you have the time to make that commitment, or the resources to invest in it?

Your final product will not be unique. Imagine if every company had the exact same logo. How would yours stand out? While there may be hundreds of templates to choose from, someone is inevitably going to be using the same one as you. Your website will likely come off as impersonal, cookie-cutter, and generic. Are those traits that you want people to apply to your business?

Can you call a lifeline? During the web design process, a professional is always there guiding you along the way and answering your questions.When you get stuck on your DIY project or you have questions, where can you go for support? In most cases, professionals won’t be able to even use the pieces you’ve put together on your own and will have to start essentially from scratch.

Your final product will be blown out of the water by even a budget website that is professionally done. There may be a well-intentioned web designer behind the scenes building these templates, but as they are pushed for higher quantity over quality you’ll find that the elements of design are sacrificed. Templates are often made intentionally generic so as to appeal to everyone and end up not best serving anyone. The quality of a site built just for you cannot be compared to one that was built for the masses; and your visitors will be able to tell that. Especially if you have a “created with XXX website builder” plastered on the footer of your new website.

When it’s time for a refresh, you’ll have to start from scratch. When it comes time to redo your website (generally every 3–5 years) there’s very little chance that your DIY web builder is even going to even be around. If it is, you are forced to pick from their limited selection of templates. If this time around you wanted to hire a professional, your existing website is basically useless to any professional as it will be filled with outdated proprietary code that cannot be reused in any way to build your new website. They will likely have to start from scratch which will cost more than if you had at least some outdated pieces that they could use.

If you are still determined to build your own website after considering the above, then we wish you the best of luck. Should you decide that you would like help from a professional website design company, feel free to contact us Buffalo Wired. Our SmartStart Website packages are designed with small businesses in mind with small start-up costs and big impact results they are the perfect way to “get your feet wet” on the internet and still have the help of a professional team backing you.