Diy Versus Pros Web Designers

By Author: unknownmem
Total Articles: 49
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Almost every company these days can benefit from a properly executed web presence, in fact, consumers expect it. For a new, small or struggling business, however, the big decision is whether to take a do-it-yourself approach, handling the planning, graphic design, coding, search engine optimization and implantation on your own, or to invest in the services of a professional website design firm.

It's more than simply a question of money though. It's also a question of time, your capabilities and desired outcome, and several additional details. Before deciding which option is best for you, be sure to analyze all of the details that should impact your decision.

Cost

At first glance, it might seem that the do-it-yourself option is free; it's not. Even if you do understand how to design a website, you still have to sit down and do it, which takes time. If you choose this option, estimate how long you feel it will take and compare that to the value of your time. If you know that you can earn $75/hour by focusing on your core business, and you feel it will take you 40 hours to finish your own website, you ...
... will be using up $2,960 worth of your time. Something else to consider - even those of us who design websites for a living sometimes underestimate how long a specific project will take. Since you don't design websites for a living it will likely take you longer than you first estimate.

The cost of hiring a web design firm can vary considerably. You may find some firms offering to design a website for a few hundred dollars, and you'll likely come across an equal number of firms charging several thousand dollars. As with anything else, you get what you pay for, so if you do hire a web design firm, you should avoid those with basement level prices. You shouldn't take that to mean that you should necessarily look for the most expensive firms either. A truly professional and skilled firm will spend some time to learn about your needs and goals before starting any work on your website.

Capability

Is designing your own website is just as simple as picking up a copy of Photoshop and Dreamweaver, right? The short answer is no. Access to, or even mastery of these powerful programs doesn't mean that your website will work properly. There are many more issues that if overlooked, can have a dramatic and detrimental impact on the effectiveness of your website. For example, a WYSIWYG code editor, such as Dreamweaver or Frontpage will almost always produce sloppy, invalid code. While this might not seem like a big deal, especially when everything displays fine in your web browser, there can be a vast number of issues going on {{{under the hood|behind the scenes. A poorly coded website can display improperly in other web browsers, prevent search engines from spidering your content, or load slowly, to name just a few possible problems.

One of the key advantages of hiring a web design firm is that they already understand the potential roadblocks that may come up and how to avoid them. This means that in addition to a better end-result, your website will be finished more quickly. They can also advise you if an idea that you have may be ineffective, or even detrimental to your online goals.

Support

If something stops working with a website that you've designed yourself, you may find yourself in a situation where you have to quickly find a web design firm to fix it right away - which usually means rush charges! This can happen more frequently than you think; websites that worked perfectly when they were first designed can suddenly stop working or display incorrectly when a new version of a web browser comes out. If you've designed your own website, you don't have anyone to turn to if this happens.

Your website itself is only one factor in your online presence, and if you don't know what else you need, you might find that you don't know what questions to ask or who to ask them of. It doesn't take long to get confused, frustrated and even overwhelmed.

Working with a web design firm, however, means that you have expert support by your side at every step along the way. They can recommend a reliable, cost-effective web host and domain registrar. They know if you need a dedicated IP or an SSL certificate. They will be able to help you set up a merchant account.

The bottom line is that there are pros and cons to either choice. You'll need to analyze your circumstances, finances and available time to determine which is the best for you.
If you're not getting the progress you need online, check out one of the top web site design agencies, Wildfire Marketing Group! And if you're looking for a reputable web host, see the reviews of Hostgator, on Ace Web Hosting Reviews.