Your website is your face and your first impression to many (if not all) of your customers, which is why presenting a professional web design is so important. Your website says a lot about you and your company. Of all of your business decisions this can be one of the most important. Below are a few reasons why you should hire a professional web design company over one that comes from a mass-producer of websites like a GoDaddy.com, for example.
The Face
What does your company do? Are you a baker who makes the best cupcakes and birthday cakes on the planet? Maybe you want your website to feel whimsical and welcoming to the kid in all of us. Or maybe you offer accounting and business services and you’d like a sober, clean look that will show your customers you take them very seriously. A skilled professional will spend time listening to you and get a feel for your business. They will take the time to carefully craft the message you want to communicate. This would impact everything from color choices to font styles, and even page flow and button arrangement.
An expert web design company would have time and resources to execute this exactly the way you need it. A designer working at a big company like GoDaddy will likely be asked to pump out several websites a day. Also, they’re likely working from a library of templates and styles that make their job as quick and easy as possible, but can leave you with a look-alike site. They will do their best, but they just don’t have the time and resources to give you as much one-on-one attention and care as a skilled professional web design company. With a pro, you will have as much access and time as needed to make your first impression on your customers be exactly what it should be.
Responsive Design
These days many of your customers will be accessing your site through their phone or tablet. Is your website designed to have a clean and elegant display on a cell phone screen? This is what is called responsive design. This means that no matter what device your customers use to access your site, they see something that keeps that good first impression we discussed above, but also flows and works well and provides the intended user experience.
It’s more important now than ever that your site be able to keep up with the constantly changing hardware landscape. Investing in professional web design ensures that you have access to someone who can guarantee you stay ahead of the curve. GoDaddy’s web design, for example, does not offer any such ongoing service.
Search Engine Optimization
This is a big one. You may not know it, but where your site lands on a search of keywords is affected – in part – by many elements of your website’s design. Google, and other search tools are constantly changing the rules on how to make a website show up higher on a search results screen. If you build your site with a one-and-done design from GoDaddy, you will not have access to a professional who can keep up with these changes. When the rules change – and they change all the time – you will be stuck. This can mean losing many many clickthroughs which means losing money! Hiring a professional web designer will keep your search engine optimization up to date.
To Sum Up
If you need a quick and cheap website, GoDaddy can provide you with something very basic. Unfortunately, those upfront savings are going to turn extremely costly over time. GoDaddy’s designers won’t have the time or resources to carefully craft exactly what you need. They also won’t be available when you need changes and updates over time. Customers will likely have trouble with your site on their phones. And worst of all, you are not going to land at or near the top of google searches. Maintaining a working relationship with a talented professional web designer is what you need if you’re serious about building a site that represents you and grabs the attention of the customers you’re after.