Sure, you can build your website, but you can also cut your hair. Still, that doesn’t mean you should. Yes, there are DIY website builders available, but nothing beats hiring a freelance web designer to do the job for you. For instance, they can create an online casino site that features free bingo.
As you focus on having an online presence for your business, coming up with a website makes sense. In this article, you can learn more about why a freelance web designer fits the bill when you want the best results. Read on and make an informed decision afterwards.
Price Comparison Chart
DIY membership web builder platforms make it seem like their services are pretty affordable. But, this is far from the truth when you think about the long-term cost considering the time you will spend building the website, the cost of fixing issues you can’t accomplish alone and the costs associated with migrating away from these platforms in the future. It will cost you so much more to do the site on your own than it will when you hire a freelance web designer.
 | Price for 5-page Brochure Website | Price for e-commerce Website |
Freelance Web Designer | £750 (one-off) | £900 (one-off) |
GoDaddy Website Builder | £5.59/month £6.99/month after renewal |
£9.99/month £19.99/month after renewal |
Shopify | £21.75/month | £59.25/month |
Wix | £10.5/month | £13.5/month |
Squarespace | £9/month | £30/month |
Weebly | £6.75/month | £21.75/month |
Pros of Freelance Web Designer vs using a DIY Membership Website Builder
As you contemplate having a website for your business, it’s best to consider a freelance web designer. This comes with many advantages that are worth delving into, like:
Continuous Guidance
The minute you realize your business needs a website, you have to find ways to create one. The best option on the table is hiring a freelance web designer for this job. Freelance web designers today use so many creative CMS like WordPress + The Divi Builder.
These CMS continue evolving each day, making it easier for you as the business owner to run your site. If you run into any issues at any point, you can contact the web designer for immediate assistance. The job doesn’t just stop by creating the site and the tags.
However, you are in charge of it all with membership website builders. It might be pretty cumbersome to get help if your site has an issue. Some people who’ve used DIY membership sites have been forced to spend more hiring a freelance web designer to sort the specific problems out.
It’s better to work with a freelance web designer from the beginning to avoid the extra cost. Some DIY membership website builders charge members a hefty fee to correct these mistakes. You can even end up paying a high amount to create a new site.
Personalised Creative Approach
Websites are pretty personal and should manage to reflect the image and vision of a business using tags. When you hire a freelance web designer, they consult you about the creative approach of the site. Only what you want is featured on the website and nothing else.
A freelance web designer is also an excellent sounding board for ideas. They can help you get a direction with your vision for the website. The personalised creative approach means you get to create something that works and not rely on pre-made templates.
This is the issue with DIY membership website builders. You have to use what’s available on the site for the price you pay each month. It becomes an issue when the templates and themes available don’t match your vision. Plus, there’s no one there to share ideas with.
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
Every company must understand the importance of SEO when it comes to Google ranking. Google is the most popular search engine in the world. Those sites that rank high are search engine optimised and get lots of traffic each day.
For any person not familiar with SEO, it’s better to consult with a freelance web designer who can guide you. The best ones understand what it takes to rank your site and the perfect tags to use. It’s more than just making it look the right way. It’s about the quality and originality of the website’s content.
A website for a business can be an immense source of income. So, it makes sense to seek a professional to do it. This way, you get a higher chance of having many people visit the site and make purchases. With a DIY web builder, it’s harder to grasp what SEO is and how to apply it to your website.
Customised Websites
Websites aren’t fixed in time. They keep changing. You might not have time to keep updating your DIY membership website as you get busy. It’s why having a freelance website designer do it for you makes more sense.
The designer will always make it a point to customise using tags and change your website every step of the way. It gives the people visiting your site fresh content about your company. For instance, if something is out of stock, this must reflect on the site. If it’s restocked, the same applies.
No business owner wants customers to send messages complaining of misinformation because the site isn’t updated. Hiring a web designer makes customisation much more straightforward and efficient.
Better Time Management
Truthfully, running a website for a dynamic company is a full-time job. As mentioned above, you always have to be on your toes to update it using tags. Having incorrect information on the site can have severe consequences for the enterprise.
So, it’s better to hire a freelance web designer to work on your site. This frees up your time to handle other issues in the business. Better time management is a crucial part of a successful enterprise, and part of it is hiring the right person for a specific task.
Cons of Freelance Web Designer vs Using a DIY Membership Website Builder
Honesty is crucial; hence, it’s essential to look at the cons of hiring a freelance web designer.
Commitment Issues
What do you do if you have an issue and can’t find your web designer? This is an issue many businesses face when they give freelance web designers one-off projects. The designer moves on to other projects once they complete the task.
It then becomes a question of time when a business owner has a matter to handle. It’s why freelance web designers offer permanent contracts to business owners to continue working on the site indefinitely. Instead of a one-off project, they get paid an hourly rate for the days they come in.
Faulty Communication
Some freelance web designers will reply to your emails within 24 hours (such as myself, as you’ll find out after reading my client testimonials) and always work with clients to build the site they want. They follow set guidelines and always consult before making any changes to the pages. However, if you’re not lucky enough to hire the right freelancer and there’s a communication breakdown, the results can be pretty devastating.
For instance, a web developer misses the email communicating to take down a particular product or service. The longer this remains on the website, the more challenging it is on the business. This is why having clear lines of communication between the client and freelance web designer is essential.
Lack of Resources
Some business owners prefer DIY membership website builders because of their resources. Today, they not only have thousands of templates and themes but there are also many other support services available to members.
Those who’ve tried freelance web designers before, with fewer resources, see it better to turn to the builders. DIY services tend to have better and advanced software, support staff, and technology at hand.
Freelance Web Designer vs GoDaddy Website Builder
GoDaddy is a DIY website builder that business owners use to create simple e-commerce websites. Like many other website builder platforms, it makes it easier for anyone to create a website at a price.
This website builder provides modern templates accessible on a laptop or mobile phone together with professional images. There are inbuilt SEO tools, email marketing, and social media capabilities to help creators engage and grow audiences.
You can choose from the different plans available depending on your budget and requirements. There’s even a chance to hire an expert to build the site for you. However, there have been some concerns about GoDaddy because of a recent security breach.
Apart from this, the DIY website builder also has lots of basic designs. Yes, there are hundreds of templates available. But, they all tend to blend, which doesn’t give you much variety to work with.
With a freelance web designer, you have a greater chance of getting variety in themes and templates. You can also switch themes working with a designer while retaining your content, which isn’t the case with GoDaddy.
Freelance Web Designer vs Shopify Website Builder
Everyone has heard of Shopify. It’s the latest craze when it comes to DIY website design for online stores. Shopify’s motto is ‘Fast, Responsive and Reliable,’ which many web builders want to hear.
You can now build a site for your products or services when you get a Shopify account. The web builder has customizable templates, plus a chance to market and get payments for products. All this is under a safe and secure platform.
That sounds like every developer’s dream when you want to have a simple and effective online store. However, it’s worth noting that you have to pay for many things, including logging into your social media platforms.
In addition, your annual charges keep growing as time goes on. This is much more expensive than having a freelance web designer build the site for you and provide hosting services. Also, it’s much harder to change certain functions on Shopify.
Freelance Web Designer vs Wix Website Builder
Another quite popular website builder is Wix. Many people turn to this platform because it has simple features for a DIY site. For instance, you can use the drag-and-drop feature to input content from your device to your page.
In addition, there’s a free-plan option that you can use to test out the platform. Once you get the hang of it, you can opt for another plan with more options. It has a practical and intuitive interface for anyone seeking to make a simple site.
But, the back-end interface doesn’t meet expectations in terms of design and setup. This could be more advanced, which is why hiring a freelance web designer comes in handy. You end up with a detailed site with a better interface to meet your needs.
Not to mention, you can have an ads-free website when a designer does it for you. The Wix free plan won’t give you the option of turning off the ads. Even the basic plan still features ads that you can’t remove unless you pick one with this option. That comes at a higher cost.
Freelance Web Designer vs Squarespace Website Builder
Squarespace is a website builder that targets small business owners selling their products and services online. Anyone who wants to create their website can log in and make an e-commerce site. The web builder has marketing features that you can use.
There are different plans you can use and pay monthly or annually. It’s a user-friendly platform that’s simple to understand, but you have a hard time switching templates like other web builders. If you want to use a different template, you must start over or risk losing your content.
It’s the reason why hiring a freelance web designer is beneficial for your business. It’s easier to change themes and templates without losing content. A web designer helps you figure out the best and affordable customization of your site when you need it.
With a global audience, you also expect to transact using multiple currencies. The multi-currency selling option isn’t there in this DIY web builder. But, it’s a function your web designer can add as part of the customization of the site.
Freelance Web Designer vs Weebly Website Builder
Among web builders that you come across is Weebly. It has various plans that you can subscribe to and build a platform. What’s interesting is there’s the drop and drop feature that you can use to transfer content. Also, the pricing and terms of each plan are easy to understand.
However, Weebly has such a small collection of templates to use when creating a site. There’s also no easy way to customize the site, and even some options aren’t possible. Uploads always limit what you can do on another page because you have to wait until each is complete.
When you hire a freelance web designer, such issues aren’t a concern for you. They can come up with any theme you want and make it customisable. Apart from that, you have time to handle other parts of your business while they take care of the website.
Conclusion
DIY web builders are pretty popular across the world. However, they don’t beat having a web designer create a site for your business. Many advantages come with having a designer work on your site, like personalisation.
The web builders have limited themes and templates, plus they don’t offer proper customisation. But, this is an option you can get from your web designer. The designer charges you a set fee that won’t keep changing each year.
Have you ever hired a freelance web designer or done a DIY website? Let me know in the comments below. Also, if you are thinking about taking your business to the next level, request a quote today: I can help you by designing the perfect website for your business!
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