News
By: Team WTI | Date: July 17, 2019
Categories: Digital Marketing, Internet Marketing, Local SEO, Search Engine Optimization, Web Development, Web Maintenance, Website Backup & Monitoring, Website Design Articles,
Tags: DIY websites, Self Build Websites,
It seems pretty tempting to make your own website, right? We see the ads saying how cheap and easy it is. Well, they’re kind of right. The websites that are made using their software are cheap. Like a $500 car, you get what you pay for. Besides, a good website is not easy to make. DIY websites can hurt your business! It takes a team of experts to not only build your site, but to make sure that it looks good, works for users, ranks well in search engines, and allow potential customers to become paying customers.
A website is an important part of your business, so don’t pick this area to cut corners. In the end, bad DIY websites can damage your reputation, lower your profits, and reduce your business.
If you are serious about increasing your business and profits, here are some reasons why you shouldn’t build your own website.
Your website needs to reflect your business. It should look professional and welcoming to potential customers. If you have a physical location, people that drive past will look at the building and form an opinion of your business. Your website does the same thing but can be seen anywhere a person has internet access. Your business is truly global when you have a website.
If you use the limited templates supplied by companies that offer DIY websites, your site is going to have a cookie-cutter appearance. A company like WTI will customize the site to reflect your company’s look, feel, and philosophy. It’s more than putting some puzzle pieces together.
It’s a competitive world out there, you need to stand out from your competition. Using a site that isn’t customized means you’ll just blend into the background. A customer should be able to identify your site as soon as they open the link.
We’ve been taught at an early age that we should be wary of anything that sounds too good to be true. Free or “low cost” offers will probably end up costing you more in the long run. Usually, when a website company offers a “free” product, it is actually a free trial which changes into expensive monthly fees or your site may be filled with ads and banners promoting the website company, unless you pay a ransom, uh, I mean a pricey hosting package.
In addition to these somewhat visible costs, you may encounter additional charges for plugins, hosting fees, and domain registrations which are usually billed monthly. These costs don’t even take into account the time and money it will take you to create and manage your own site.
As we stated above, it takes time to not only build a site, but it also is time-consuming to make that site effective. Website companies will tell you that you can have your website up and running in a day, but that speed comes at the price of quality. You wouldn’t put a sign in front of your business that was quickly thrown together or put a commercial on TV that someone made in a few minutes, so why would you not take the time to make sure your website represents your company professionally?
Many times, your website is your introduction to a customer, so you should make sure it reflects your business and how serious you take it. This takes time, not only to build the site but to also keep it up to date and useful to users. This is why so many people hire web companies, like WTI, to take care of this for them. You started your business to do what you know best, however building and running a site is not your area of expertise. Let people that are experts in design, SEO, marketing, and other digital areas do the work for you. The return is well worth the expense.
Your website should reflect your company’s philosophy. Customers should view your business as reputable and trustworthy and your website should reflect your company’s credibility and professionalism. If your website is created with a DIY template, your site is going to look the same as other sites, be difficult to navigate, and will most likely appear amateurish. A custom site from a company like WTI will make sure you not only stand out in a crowded field but look welcoming and professional.
If you go the DIY route for your website you will only have yourself to rely on when there is an issue or question. If website support is even offered, it will cost you a good amount of money to use it. Your other option is to spend a lot of time trying to figure it out for yourself and trying to fix it without breaking other portions of your site.
In most instances, if you can get website support through a DIY company, you will be sent to an international call center. The person on the other end probably doesn’t have any more expertise than you do, in addition to the time it takes to reach someone. Meanwhile, your site is down while you wait for it to be fixed.
By using a company that designs and supports your site, you will be able to work with a person one-on-one who will do the heavy lifting of getting your site back online or working correctly. A dedicated website company can streamline the repair process and prevent you from wasting time and money.
Self-built websites are not designed to work well. They are meant to be quickly thrown together and that’s it. DIY sites don’t allow you to use SEO, which pretty much ensures that your company is invisible to search engines and potential customers. You will have spent the money on a site that no one will see.
If a site does have tools that allow you to apply some SEO tactics, you have to have the expertise to use those tools. SEO is an ever-changing process that takes time and knowledge to understand, let alone master. Most SEO specialists split their time between applying SEO to sites and researching what does and doesn’t work, investigating trends, and reading up on the latest changes and updates from a variety of search engines. If their full-time job is to know and use SEO, how much time do you think that will leave you to run your business?
After all is said and done, it comes down to doing what you do best. Your job is to run your company and provide the services and products that customers want or need. It is impossible to have the expertise and knowledge to successfully build and run a website. Even at website companies, no one person does it all. People have specializations that they concentrate on, providing their clients with the best they can offer.
A credible website design company has the people, knowledge, tools, and experience to provide you with a high-quality site that will drive customers to your business. The ROI of a website can be great if you choose the right company and let them help you be successful.
We look forward to working with you to make your website grow your business.
Andy Snyder | Mississippi Valley Fair
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