// WIDSIX WRITTEN WORD //

Why Hiring a Pro is Better Than DIY WordPress Website Creation

“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, just wait until you hire an amateur.” — Red Adair

Over the past few years, there has been a rise in DIY-style website builders that cater to anyone from the everyday individual to massive companies. And it makes perfect sense why these tools would catch on. They’re simple, easy to use, sharp looking, and they save you a whole lot of money. At least that’s how it would go down in a perfect world. Unfortunately, this is the real world. These websites promise you a stunning website without having to go through a professional, but there’s a catch. There are professional website developers, designers, copywriters, etc for a reason. And that is: They know how to get the job done, and they know how to do it well. And you? Well… you don’t. And while you may be familiar with some aspects of the process, if you don’t have “website developer” or “designer” in your title, you’d be best advised to take the backseat and let a professional do the driving. Here are some reasons why:

Cost (Time AND Money)

Yeah, we know it’s cliché, but it’s true that time IS money. If you’re trying to run a business, the last thing you want to sink your time into is building a website when you have no clue what you’re doing. Not only will you have to spend time on the actual structure and design, but you’ll have to pour hours into researching how to do everything from layout to readability to coding to SEO and beyond. By the time you even get around to starting to construct the site, you might be completely burnt out. Bigfoot Web shared an anecdote from a doctor the author met at a conference that sums up the problem perfectly: “[He] showed me a website he had been working on for over year. Instead of paying an expert to execute the doctor’s vision, he spent countless hours at night and on the weekends learning JavaScript, Ajax, and HTML5 to try and bring his vision to fruition. If he spent just 10 hours a week working on that website over the course of a year that’s over 500 hours. That equates to 3 full weeks, 24 hours a day that was lost to this project.” If you factor in that the average physician’s hourly pay is around $89 an hour, the doctor likely lost roughly the equivalent of $44,500 tinkering with WordPress. And to boot, he had an outdated, unresponsive website that was losing him valuable revenue during that time. This guy spent an more than an entire year working on a website that still had major issues, whereas web developers can have your site designed, built, and up in running in 12 to 16 weeks. 

Remember, it’s your brand on the line. A website riddled with design flaws and glitches galore is going to hurt your professional image and turn otherwise interested potential customers away. Professionals already have the necessary knowledge, training, and experience under their belt to help you get started right away. And the best part is, all you have to worry about are the fun parts like directing the design and feel of the site.

Design

There’s more to the design of a website than just pretty pictures and eye-catching colors. Deciding on a layout for a website isn’t as simple as picking something that looks nice, you have to factor in your audience, readability, functionality, purpose, and so much more. A designer will know exactly how to format your images and content for maximum readability, which is essential for securing lifetime followers and fans for your brand.

Development

The more complex your website needs are, the more crucial it is that you need a professional web developer on your side. It’s one thing to build a website for the simple purpose of posting blogs and the occasional image, but if you plan on doing e-commerce or anything that requires coding multiple moving parts such as accounting and inventory management, having a professional set this up is more than just wise, it’s almost required. Remember, coding is basically a whole new language you have to learn before you can even begin building and managing templates.

Maintenance

Many people seem to think that all it takes to have a great website is putting in the intense effort for a week or two designing and building, and once it’s done they hit publish and ta-da! Your work is done! …Not quite. Fifty percent (or more, depending on how long your site is up) of having a website consists of continuously adding content, updating regularly, fixing bugs and glitches, optimizing the site to perform well in search results through SEO and keyword placement, and more.

Yes, hiring a professional to design, build, and manage your website costs money. All things worth having do. And you’re perfectly entitled to use a website builder if you’re looking for a cheap placeholder that won’t stand the test of time. But take it from us, hire a professional when you want to see a return on your website.