Building a DIY website is tempting. But before you embark on this journey, please read my take on this seemingly inexpensive road.
For the moment, the internet is a very chic place to hang out. Your social life is at your fingertips and your spending craves are satisfied in seconds. From job searches to social media groups chatting about cat hair-dos… it all seems so delightful. But, as we all have experienced, these highly-public tubes are often complicated to navigate, filled with icky bugs, viruses, hackers, thieves and dark roads that should not be traveled.
Websites, on the other hand, are private and controllable. Having your own website is like having a kingdom surrounded by high walls to protect all the bustling things going on inside. It’s all yours and as a website owner, you can climb your highest tower and shout to the whole world who you are, what you do and why everything will be perfect when they shower money on your business. No one can shout back unless you want them to. The only thing they can do is leave; a DIY website owner’s very worst nightmare.
Learning to build websites is a full-time job (and you already have one)
We love building business websites. It’s an honest living that helps entrepreneurs and business owners boast proudly about what they offer. Or what they sell. And, as our chosen profession, learning how to build intelligently was well worth the time as now we are building many of them. Because of our education in the field, we can face ourselves in the mirror each morning and call ourselves professional website designers without cringing.
Think about it. How much time have you spent learning new things in your lifetime? I don’t know about you, but everything I know had to be learned, by me, first. No one else has ever offered to learn things for me so if I want to stay relevant, and competitive, the learning will never end.
Now, for most of we humanoids, the learning process is exciting and makes us feel happy and accomplished. It’s an endorphin thing but, because there are so many things to learn within our own field of interest, it might be wise to let others handle certain tasks. This is especially true when something only has to be done once or twice, like sewing a wedding outfit… or building a website.
Things you will forget when building your own website
The inbound marketing methodology, which today is widely seen as the best way to find new customers on the internet, requires that every business has a “really good website destination”. Websites are the hub of successful internet marketing. They are usually the first and last stop before making a big purchase or commitment. It’s the place where we make up our minds to spend our hard-earned money.
There are many little pieces that go into building a good website and doing a good job on these individual elements, such as content writing or picking visuals, is extremely important. But making sure that all these elements function holistically, and show up at the right time to convince a customer, is a tricky proposition and takes experience.
This careful placement and timing will determine how well a website will look, feel, react, interact, inspire, motivate, and, finally, close the deal. So, why is it that so many businesses still turn to their newest, least experienced employees and tell them to go build a website on GoDaddy or Wix?
Why do some business owners try to do it themselves?
DIY website businesses think they are saving money. Really?
I get it. It’s tempting to tell a bored intern to “go build us a website”. Young people must be technical geniuses, right? Well, they might be, but without a solid understanding of website strategy, the kid might actually put up a website that chases customers away.
Then there’s the entrepreneur who enjoys the challenge of learning new things. But when it comes to IP addresses, domain names, pings, hosting packages, registrars without phone support and server crashes, the thrill might be short-lived. Getting a link to actually go somewhere is an amazing high, but understanding the psychology behind a visitor’s click, or figuring out why everything on your mobile device version is gigantic, can be frustrating and a complete waste of precious, entrepreneurial time.
When it comes to websites, “okay” is a four letter word
There is no getting around it—a website built by an amateur will look amateurish. With mobile-responsive designs and ever more elaborate desktop layouts there is too much that can go wrong, too much to troubleshoot, and too much at stake to settle on a website that’s just okay. Is “good enough” how you think about the rest of your business?
We seem to do our best work for companies that are not startups. They typically have 5-50 employees, know who their customers are and have solid, achievable long-term goals. If you’ve been in business for a few years and aren’t still bootstrapping your budget from the change jar, don’t waste your valuable time on something you know nothing about.
Invest in a professional website designer and leave the minutia to the pros. You won’t regret it.
Save your valuable time and money! Call Chroma Sites Today.
