Hiring a Professional Web Designer vs Building Your Own Website

Ah, the endless debate. The question of whether it's better to hire a professional website designer, or build your website using free online templates, comes down to these considerations:

Cost
This is everyone’s #1 motive for using template websites, which are unusually much cheaper up front. The options are:

Do-it-yourself Templates

• Free websites with ads
• Free websites with a yearly charge to get rid of the ads, which I have seen as low as $15
• Template websites that have all the goodies: Google Adwords, contact forms, lead capturing, etc for about $30 a month
  

Hiring a Designer

• Website designers generally charge you for their services upfront or over the course of your project and depending on its complexity, the fees will vary from designer to designer.
• The only other out of pocket expensive is to pay for hosting and your domain every year.
• If you choose not to pay for hosting annually, you can get your website hosted for as little as $5 a month.
  

It is more expensive over a short period of time to hire a web designer, but you get what you pay for, which leads into my next consideration:


Your Company Image
For me, this goes far beyond having a unique image, which you won’t receive with template websites.

Do-it-yourself Templates

• Businesses have limited options as to what templates they can use and how they can modify these templates.
• It is not uncommon for several companies to have the same website, sans of course what’s written on the pages and the name of the company.
  

Hiring a Designer

• Some website designers do offer template-based websites because it allows their clients to see the end result, plus it cuts down their labor costs. And naturally, they are less expensive. The one thing these companies can provide you with that the do-it-yourself templates can’t is actual marketing. They will edit and format your content so it gets attention.
• And, of course, you have your fully customized website. Web designers will usually research your industry and come up with a unique approach that will not only best represent you, but will be memorable in the minds of consumers. The overall appearance and quality of these websites are undeniably superior.
  
  
  

Site Ownership
When you create a do-it-yourself website, you are basically bound by the terms of use of their hosting website.

Do-it-yourself Templates

• If you do decide to host your website elsewhere, you cannot take your website with you; you cannot use their graphics elsewhere.
  

Hiring a Designer

• A good web development company will provide you with all the files you need in order to edit or transfer your site as you see fit.
  

Whether you should choose a template-based website or a professional designed website is all about what you feel comfortable with. I urge you to review your options before making a decision and hope that no matter what choice you make, it’s one that allows you to maintain your company brand no matter what web service you are using. Goodluck and happy hunting!

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