Do I Need to Pony Up for a Pro Website?

A website is an essential asset for any business. It’s out there twenty-four seven representing your company and winning new customers. Or, at least, that’s how it’s meant to work. In reality, no site, no matter how perfectly designed, is any good if no one can find it.

This is why it’s important to consider getting professional SEO Vancouver WA & Web Design by Driven Web Services.

Is this the right option for you? Do you need a website professionally designed with the best SEO practices in mind? Or, can you use any of the free online templates and do it all yourself? In this post, we’ll strive to answer each of these questions in full.

SEO-5tips

What Are Your Goals?

Realistically, what is it that you’re hoping to achieve? Do you want to keep a basic blog so that you can record your feelings or thoughts on an issue that’s important to you in your spare time? If that’s the case, your primary aim is to have a place to express your thoughts, so the professional design is not necessary.

If, on the other hand, you’re running an e-commerce store, and that’s your bread and butter, you’ll need a steady flow of traffic. For that to happen, you need to think about SEO factors from day one. Every piece of content that you publish should be produced with the goal of driving traffic.

How Technically Adept Are You?

If you’re a computer programmer, designing your own site will be simple for you. If you’re like the rest of us mere mortals, though, it’s a lot more difficult. And, while many web hosting packages do include free software to get your site built, using that software takes a bit of know-how.

There’s a lot more to creating a successful website than just posting some pretty pictures and great content. You need to make sure that the site works flawlessly, that it is easy to navigate, and that it loads as quickly as possible.

As if that wasn’t enough, you also have to consider how the site will look when accessed from a mobile device, and this is where you might start to run into issues. It could look fantastic on a desktop, but what about a smaller screen like an iPhone?

Will people be able to read the font? Will the site function as well on mobile as it does on a larger screen? If you don’t know how to tell what will work on mobile, you’ll need a bit of professional help.

But I Can Do It Myself for Free

Sure, you could. There are plenty of programs out there that provide you with a ready-made template. A lot of these can be used simply by dragging and dropping elements into the site. But there’s a downside. The templates are generic, and customizing them fully is extremely difficult.

You could very well end up with a mediocre site that just doesn’t quite cut it. Then you’ll have wasted the money for the program and the time you spent designing the website.

Wrapping it Up

Professional web design doesn’t come cheap, but it should be seen as an essential expense if you want the best possible results for your site. In this day and age, coming second or third win no prizes. If you’re going to win, you have to put in the extra effort.

Adam Hansen
 

Adam is a part time journalist, entrepreneur, investor and father.