Right now, over 1.8 billion websites exist on the internet. Those numbers are growing by the second.
Each website is searching for an audience. Most are trying to make money.
And while you can design and develop your own website, it’s not exactly easy. There’s a lot that goes into a website’s design.
You might know that you need to write something in the meta title, but that doesn’t always mean you know how to do it.
Which is why it’s a smart investment to hire a professional. Let’s go over the reasons why you should always hire a professional to do your website design and development.
Custom Design Versus Templates
Every website design and development site comes with its own templates you can choose from. Some of them are really great and creative templates.
But they are also generic. Your competitor could have chosen the exact template you did.
And you also have to think about what you’ll do when your host company has to change the template. At that point, you’ll have to change your entire website.
A professional web agency will make sure your website is original. It’s created to suit your business and your brand.
They will sit with you and evaluate your business and any products or services you sell. They will have you define your goals for the website.
Then the professionals will custom make a design so you can achieve those goals.
With a DIY site, you have limitations. With a custom design, you have limitless options.
A Visually Appealing Website
Website visitors have certain expectations. We’ve grown accustomed to how we think a website should look and behave.
And with over 1.8 billion sites to choose from, if we don’t like what we see, we can find another site.
The way your site looks is important. How it navigates and what colors, graphics, and photographs are used make a big difference.
Your visitors don’t want to spend a lot of time trying to figure out your website. They want to easily find the information they are seeking.
A cluttered website with loud colors and too much text won’t draw many visitors.
But if you hire a professional website design and development company, they will make sure your color scheme, content, and navigation are all user-friendly and visually appealing.
SEO Ready
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) helps boost your website’s ranking on search engines.
You want your site to be optimized for SEO so that search engines find your site easily. That’s because the easier it is for a search engine to find you, the easier it is for your customers to find you.
While you can do SEO yourself on your website, it’s not always that easy. Google is always changing their rules.
It’s difficult enough for a professional website design and development company to keep up. Most small businesses don’t have the time or resources to keep up with the latest SEO trends.
And if you don’t keep up with them, Google will penalize your site. Be smart and stick with the professionals to ensure your website is listed at the top of the page.
Optimized for Converting Customers
Most websites are selling a product or a service to customers. Which means a major goal of your website is to entice people to take some sort of an action.
It could be anything from buying a product to downloading a free brochure. Whatever the action is, it’s considered a conversion.
Cart abandonment is common no matter how great your website design and development is. Even the biggest companies like IBM have high cart abandonment rates.
But that doesn’t mean there isn’t something you can do to cut down on those percentages.
A professional web development company can optimize your site to make it easier for users to find what they’re looking for. They will ensure your site has the right safety seals so customers know they can trust your site.
A Website Design and Development Company Has Better Resources
Most small businesses wanting to keep website design and development in-house would hire one professional to get the job done.
But one in-house professional means limitations. They can only learn so much. And they can only produce so much work in a specific period of time.
When you work with a professional web development company you get all the benefits of having a team of experts at your fingertips.
You’ll have the benefits of combining ability and vision from different creatives and strategists to create a stunningly visual, high-performance website.
You can also contact them whenever you need small or large changes made to your site. Also, if one person calls in sick, there won’t be any delays, the team can still go ahead and complete the work.
Scalability
When you’re first starting out in business, you don’t need a huge website. Often, you’ll only need a few pages along with a contact form.
But as your business grows, your website will also need to grow. You’ll need to add enhancements such as a blog or the ability to interact socially through video chat.
Perhaps the option of selling real and virtual products appeals to you. And of course, there are the payment options you’ll have to add to your site.
As your site grows, it becomes more complex. You’ll need to make some changes if you want your business to grow successfully.
That’s why it’s a smart idea to start working with a website design and development company from the beginning. As your company grows, they can help your site grow.
And you can do this quickly and easily while avoiding having to redevelop your site.
Cost
Some business owners will only see the cost of hiring a professional website design and development agency. But what they fail to take into account is the expertise and time spent on the project.
Instead, those business owners try to take on the task of becoming their own webmaster. Which means learning new skills you may not enjoy or fully understand.
After a while, most business owners give up. But by then, time and money have been wasted unnecessarily.
Another route business owners commonly take is hiring someone on sites like Craiglist. There’s a good chance these people will take your money and you’ll never hear from them again.
Yes, hiring a professional web design agency will cost you a few thousand dollars. But they’ve designed your site to attract people and convert them into paying customers.
That’s exactly what you wanted in the first place. And unless you need major changes, you won’t be paying out any more large sums of money.
You’ll even be able to make smaller changes by yourself. Which means you’re not paying a webmaster.
Which means you have the opportunity to save some money by adding your own content and doing your own updates until big changes are needed.
Devoid of Mistakes
2.7 seconds is how long customers will wait for a website to load. They will also leave your site if they see it’s not secure.
And Google penalizes you for backlinks that no longer work. And soon they will start penalizing you if your website isn’t mobile-ready.
It’s incredibly easy to have mistakes on your website. It’s not always easy to figure out what they are.
Hiring a website design and development company helps you fix the errors before they start affecting your bottom line.
They will also make sure that your website won’t crash if you receive too many visitors. And if your site does crash, their team will be on it right away so you don’t lose a moment of sales.
When it comes to websites, what you don’t know is preventing you from achieving a greater level of success. Hire professionals to ensure your website is always free from mistakes and running smoothly.
New Technology
Technology is always changing. Take a look at Digitalico Media’s Facebook page and you’ll see that video is becoming more popular as a marketing tool.
It’s impossible to keep up. And with the alarming rate that cybersecurity attacks are rising, you need to keep your website safe from hackers.
That means adding new computer codes.
And the way people interact with the internet is changing.
All of this means you need a professional website design and development agency to help you stay safe and keep up-to-date.
Many DIY sites are not technologically advanced. Some won’t allow you to play videos, add RSS feeds, or even add links to your site.
Do yourself and your business a favor by working with professionals from the beginning.
Educate Yourself to Hire the Right Company
Not all website design and development companies are the same. Find one you like and trust.
A design agency that understands the type of business you’re in and what your brand is can help you create a site that draws in customers.
But first, you need to educate yourself. Learn what you can about website design so you know what you need.
