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D.I.Y Web Design – Do You Really Need a Web Designer Anymore?
Posted by IMer | Posted in Internet Marketing | Posted on 04-09-2009
With so many resources out there, is it really necessary to hire a web design company these days? Just think of all the great resources like WordPress, Joomla, Blogger and so may HTML editors out there that enable just about anyone to create a good-looking website.
Even children can create and upload their own websites these days. So, this brings us back to the question, do you really need the services of a professional web design company today?
The answer is yes and no, all depending on what you are striving to achieve with your website. If the intention is just to have a website where you can upload images of yourself or share some information about yourself, you could very well just create a Facebook profile or set up a Squidoo lens. Tell you friends about it in an email and soon you will even have some traffic to your website.
But this is if you are setting up a website just for fun. There is another side to web design, one that is much more serious and that is web design for business purposes. While these same tools can be used to set up a business website, chances are your business website has been created to serve as a tool to either promote your business or tell your customers more about the business.
This is where things get serious. Not only do you want to promote your business, but you want to do it right. That is not to mention all the things you may want your website to do, such as gather email addresses and even have e-commerce capabilities. This is where a professional web design business comes in.
You see, a web designer is not just someone who can quickly slap together a website for you, no a web designer is so much more. So for example, any good web design company will follow a proper consultation process with their client. They will gather information about the business, the needs of the business, the type of clientele they cater for and lots of other important information.
They will then set out to do some market research on the target market of the client and look at what type of corporate image the client should strive for in their website design. This aspect alone can make or break a company’s website.
On top of that, a client would want their website to rank as well as possible in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERP’s). What is the point of having a website if no one ever sees it? To achieve this, various onsite Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques need to be done and if you are really serious about promoting your business in the Search Engines, you will also need to have an offsite promotion strategy.
A professional web design company should be able to assist you with all of the above, in other words, not just the technical aspects of building the website, but also advice as to the market and how your website should look and also how to promote it, via the internet.
Then you need backup. What if something goes wrong with your website, or for some reason it is kicked off the Search Engines? Chances are that if you have built your website yourself, you may not know how to approach this project. On the other hand, your web designer has probably seen this many times before and should be able to assist you quickly and efficiently.
So, do you really need a web designer these days? The answer is simple, you do not need a website designer if you are not serious about your website, but if your website is a tool for your business and more than just a fun project, you are much better off in investing in the services of a professional web design company.
Rian Schoeman
SilverFox Web Design
