A company website can be one of the last things that a startup business might consider. Many times with no idea of where to start and a lack of understanding of having one in the first place. And yet, in today’s competitive marketplace, a well designed marketing enabled site can be huge to their ramp up success and credibility. Even if their market is local only.

Those that finally wake up to the need and importance of a company website are faced with a couple of options. Build it themselves or have someone do it for them. The later being much more expensive. Or is it?

Company Website: Time is Money

As I have matured, I realize that there are some things I should not do. When I try to repair home plumbing it always leaks. When I repair anything electrical… well… it’s typically shocking to say the least. And car repair, wow. How does a car continue to run when left with extra screws, bolts, nuts, etc.. after the “repair”? Scary.

What’s the adage: “If I have to repair your repair the rate is double” or something like that.

However, there are things I do really well. Company website design/marketing is one for example. As an experienced business web developer/marketer I make it look easy. Not unlike an experienced plumber, electrician, or mechanic does. But don’t be fooled. The “make it look easy” part comes from years of training and experience. Trials and errors I would keep you from experiencing. You have a business to run after all.  

Also, I really like/love web development and online marketing. I enjoy keeping up on the latest content strategies, SEO changes, social media tips and web design trends. Again, items you most likely do not have time for. Let’s see if there is a real savings by doing it yourself.

DIY Site Build: The Lure of Simple and Cheap

You’ve seen the ads where you can put up a business site in minutes at a crazy great price. You tell yourself, “I can save my company some pretty serious money if I do it myself”. “How difficult could this really be?”

A do-it-yourselfer can easily find that they do not enjoy the process and find themselves frustrated and “in the weeds” pretty quickly. Even when working with a DIY site builder product that promises otherwise. There is always a learning curve no matter what the product type. Maybe not so simple after all?

The end result can be a business site that’s not found in searches and not a lead generation and/or sales tool. Many times it looks cookie-cutter and amateuristic.

While the lure of saving money upfront is real, ultimately it can  become a waste of time, company credibility at risk and, more importantly, money lost in the long run. And then there are these considerations.

DIY Site Build:  Concerns You Might Not Have Considered

Business to Run – I have had the opportunity of running my own business and I know the time needed to be successful. I would have at least 10-15 tasks awaiting my attention on any given day. Business meetings, employee issues, cash flow needs, purchasing, proposals, phone calls and then there’s marketing and oh yeah, the website sucks. Do you really have time to take on this challenge? What are your time costs to this project? What did you not pay attention to when you were “saving money” building your own site?

Stuck with Hosting Company – If you ever decide to change hosts or switch to another company this is where things get complicated with the DIY Site Builder offer. Transferring your website and moving files can become a nightmare, if it can be done at all. Putting all your eggs in one basket (hosting and proprietary site tool) can be a disaster and expensive to fix.

On the other hand a web designer can seamlessly transfer your entire website to a different hosting company or make changes and additions to your design simply and easily. Future flexibility for any business is always a good thing and typically saves the company money in the long run.

Local Business Culture – You know your local market and the buyer culture. A local web designer does as well.  A local web designer that has actually ran a business and is experienced with sales and marketing is huge. A powerful difference over using a national generic DIY product and template.

Content, Content, Content – If you haven’t heard this you will: Content is King. Professional, search engine optimized, content is needed to get your company website found on any search engine. When you write content do you know what is needed within the content, site title, url-slug, meta description, focus keyword and evergreen strategy to make the most of your efforts? This is such an important piece to the success of your site. Expect a steep learning curve here. A professional developer, and in my case a syndicated author, can not only save you time and money by getting this on the right track at the beginning but can help make you money. A lot of money.

Security and SPAM – A never ending battle ensues between hackers and website owners. These issues can be as simple as spamming your comments to totally taking over your site. It is imperative that you are on top of this especially if you take orders over the internet. If not done correctly this can be costly and your reputation could be in jeopardy. Do really want to take on this endeavor?

In full disclosure, I am slightly prejudiced as I am a web designer. With that said… the reason I have written this article is because time after time I deal with potential customers that went the DIY route and then found themselves frustrated, trapped and their site was a dud. What they wanted was a credible, focused and lead generation sales tool. A web design/marketing developer can do that. They will cost more upfront, no doubt. But for the long game you will come out way ahead.  

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