Should You Work With a Professional Designer Right Away?
Being the savvy human you are, you probably already know that in today’s world having a website is crucial for any type of business wanting to create a strong online presence.
You probably also know that there are several great platform options when it comes to DIYing your own website. But designing your own site can feel like a daunting task for some.
A healthy array of options means a healthy amount of extra decision making on your part. What if you’re already busy making hundreds of other decisions for your business?
This is where the question arises: should you work with a professional web designer right away or DIY your little heart out?
As you’ve likely guessed the answer isn’t so simple.
It will depend on several factors such as the complexity of your business/website, your budget, and your time constraints to name a few.
Whether you’re looking to start from scratch or revamp your existing website there are certainly pros and cons to both options. Let’s dive in and figure out which one is best for you!
Pros
I try to be a positive person, so let’s start with the pros of working with a professional web designer.
Time: Designing a website from scratch can be a time-consuming process, especially if you’re not familiar with your chosen platform or the basic concepts of web design.
It can entail many hours of Googling, learning a completely new system, and spending countless hours watching tutorial videos on how to get it just right.
Not to mention all the behind-the-scenes portions like connecting links, planning out page flow, researching and entering keywords, etc.
It can be tough when you don’t know what you don’t know!
It’s also easy to get caught in endless cycles of revisions to your overall design.
You see something you like, implement it, but then it clashes with an element you picked out before. Or you see someone else’s website and like it better, causing you to rethink all your life choices.
Working with a professional means you get to spend your precious minutes and brain-space focusing on other aspects of your business.
Professional designers can create your website in less time than you would have spent on it. I personally create all my clients’ sites in just 2 weeks.
All of that means you can launch your site faster and market your business that much easier!
Customization: Second to saving you time, the next best advantage to working with a professional designer is the level of customization they can offer.
Professional designers can tailor your site to suit your specific needs, branding, and goals. They can create a unique website that stands out from the competition and resonates with your ideal clients.
When working with clients I like to have them create a Pinterest inspiration board so I can see the general vibe they’re going for.
I also like to have them send me links to their competition’s websites or even just sites they like.
I pull different elements from each of those places to make sure they get a website they love that also sets them apart from everyone else in their field.
Working with a professional web designer also means you get access to their wealth of experience.
You get to benefit from their valuable insights and recommendations from all their collective projects and time in the industry - definitely not something you can replicate on your own.
By pulling from their design knowledge, a professional designer can improve the functionality and effectiveness of your website.
Quality: As we just discussed, a professional website designer has the expertise and experience to create a beautiful, high-quality website for you.
They can make sure your site is aesthetically pleasing, user-friendly, and optimized for search engines.
Basically they take care of making it pretty, easy to use, and set up to attract visitors.
Now I do want to get into the SEO (search engine optimization) aspect for a minute.
When I was starting out in my web design career SEO was this big, scary term and that was kinda nebulous and hard to grab onto.
It seemed like the requirements were always changing, and that’s likely true. (You know how the internet likes to change its algorithms all the time!)
Over time I learned there were some basic rules you want to follow to get ranked higher in searches, but if you’re anything like me it can be confusing to know which recommendations are trends and which are general rules.
You might be saying,
“Umm… why is SEO even important to my site?”
Great question! I’m glad you asked!
I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume you started your business in order to make money (I know I did!).
Well in order to generate revenue you need customers. How will customers find you? Likely (at least partially) through the internet!
Which is why you want your website set up to attract your crowd and get found in Google searches.
All that to say, if you absolutely love research and have the time to do it, then I say go for it and optimize your site yourself! But it could well be worth it to hire a professional if only for the SEO aspect.
Technical Expertise: Another advantage to working with a professional website designer is that they are familiar with the latest web design trends and technologies.
A pro can ensure your website is compatible with different devices, browsers, platforms, and will look good on any size screen.
They can also integrate various features and functionalities like e-commerce, social media, contact forms, etc.
Let’s say you’ve designed a site you’re visually happy with, but realize you want to be able to sell products on your site.
Depending on the website building platform you’ve chosen, this could be a simple addition or a more complex one.
You may need to spend a day or two researching your options and deciding if you want to pay for a plugin or try and code it out yourself.
A good web designer will ask you up front about all the features you want included in your site and will recommend the best platform based on that, saving you another headache.
Cons
All right, now for the downside.
Cost: One of the main disadvantages to working with a professional website designer is the cost.
Hiring a pro can be expensive, especially if you have a limited budget. The cost of a web design project can vary greatly depending on the complexity of the website, the designer’s experience and expertise, and the scope of the project.
There are tons of options when it comes to choosing a designer, and you will likely find a vast difference in the price of their projects.
Newbie designers often charge less, and you can find quite a few web designers offering their services for what can seem like a great deal on sites like Fiverr and Upwork.
If your budget only allows you to work with this type of designer, I would recommend getting a few quotes before settling on one.
The problem with web designers on these sites is that they often limit what services they offer (because their prices are so low).
It’s also a little harder to tell which designers are a diamond in the rough and which ones are perhaps less than stellar.
If you want to know what’s normal to spend on a web designer check out my blog post on that here!
You may find that working with a professional is just too costly for you at this time, and that’s ok! Just make sure to do your research thoroughly when DIYing your site.
Lack of Control: Personally I don’t believe this should be an issue with any reputable web designer, but some people may see it as a potential con so let’s discuss.
Playing devil’s advocate here, working with a pro means you have to rely on someone else to bring your vision to life.
While professional designers do provide valuable insights and suggestions, they may not always share the same vision as you. This can lead to disagreements and a lack of control over the design process.
Speaking from personal experience as a web designer, I would never operate this way, and no other web designer I know personally would either. YOU are the client, so you should have final say on any design decisions.
For reference, I give all my clients unlimited revisions during our 2 week time frame so they can rest assured their website will accurately reflect their vision.
I do offer suggestions as we go, but ultimately I want the finished product to be something my client is happy with, not something they’re settling for.
They’re the ones paying for it after all!
This is another reason I ask my clients to complete a Pinterest inspo board for me to review, and for them to show me other sites they like the look of.
It helps me tremendously to see the vibe they're after so I can create an initial design that hopefully gets close to the vision in their head on the first draft.
Communication Issues: Clear communication is crucial when working with a professional web designer.
If there are communication issues between you and the designer it can lead to misunderstandings, delays, and a final product that doesn’t meet your expectations.
It’s absolutely important to make sure you and your designer are on the same page throughout the entire design process.
This includes all the prep work before the designer has even begun creating anything. As the client, making your vision as clear as possible to the designer will help eliminate some of these communication issues.
I like to send my clients short screen-grab videos when I’m working on a particular design element if I have questions.
That way we can both see what the other one is talking about and reply accordingly. I’ve found this to be easier and faster than trying to schedule multiple video calls during the design process.
I also create a Google folder for my clients where they can drop any pictures, files, or general questions they have.
Not everyone likes the same communication style, so I try to cover as many as possible (text, email, video, etc.)
If you feel like your designer isn’t quite catching your drift I would recommend trying an alternate communication style to see if that helps.
**Sidenote: this is why you should interview your potential web designers and ask questions about their process!
Maintenance: Once your website is designed, it requires ongoing maintenance and upkeep to ensure that it remains up-to-date and secure.
You may become dependent on your designer for these updates and maintenance, which could be a disadvantage if you want to make changes to your site quickly or if you want to work with different designer altogether. Or even if you don’t want to continue paying a monthly fee!
To avoid this I would ask your designer up front if they are willing to teach you how to run at least the basics of your site (unless you already know you want to hire someone to maintain it.)
That way you’ll know up front if you should budget for a monthly maintenance fee or not.
I provide all my clients with a one hour video training call where I show them how to update all the sections of their new site.
This video call gets recorded and stored on a private page on their site so they can always go back and re-watch it if they forget how to do something.
My ultimate goal is to make each of my clients self-sufficient so that when we’re done they have all the tools they need to run their own website.
Of course, there are plenty of people who just plain prefer to have someone else do it, and that’s ok too! Just know what you’re getting into up front.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the decision to work with a professional web designer right away depends on your specific business needs, budget, time constraints, and expertise.
Working with a pro can provide significant benefits including time savings, expert customization, ongoing maintenance, and a more professional-looking website.
But if you have the time, skills, and resources to design the website yourself, it might be worth attempting to do just that.
Take some time and think through each of the pros and cons and make the decision that’s best for you.
