Taking your business online can be a scary venture, and it makes sense to try to do it right the first time. Today, there are many options available for building a website, and building the right website can make a huge difference for your business. Web designers can seem like an optimal solution, but you have to wonder if they are worth the cost.

Hiring a web designer can absolutely help your business. Web designers can improve the format of a website and make it more attractive. Many web designers are also equipped to help through search engine optimization, which greatly improves website traffic.

Web designers can do a lot to improve a website, which we will be covering in the remainder of this article. Self-designed websites can work nicely, but web-designer-made websites can take your internet presence to the next level.

Design is Key to Making Your Website Succeed

 

Most people can relate to the experience of looking for the best deal on a product, clicking on a website that looks like the cheapest option, and choosing not to buy it because of the way the website looked. Maybe there was a spelling error, or maybe the spacing on the website is just a bit off. Either way, the result is the same: you do not buy from that website. You may worry that it is a scam or that you are buying something second-hand, so you do not risk it.

This is not to say that all self-designed websites are bad or that they are all scams. A self-made website can appear to be a perfectly legitimate business–but a good web designer can guarantee that your website will not fall victim to mistakes people who aren’t experienced in web design will commonly make. I have multiple posts I’ve written on bad web design and even these only cover some of the most common mistakes.

You should avoid these common bad web design errors if you make your website yourself. If you’re hiring a web designer you should educate yourself to make sure you’re getting your money’s worth and work with a web designer that will provide the best results for you. To do that check out my list of 20 common examples of bad web design here.

It can be difficult to know all the ins and outs of the website design world. You cannot help but be hounded by thoughts like, “What should my spacing be like?” “Should I use a serif or sans-serif font?” “What font size should I use?” “Should I use ads?” “What colors are best for the website?”

There is so much to juggle in website design, and even the smallest details, like a red ‘Add to Cart’ button, can have a major impact on the success of your website. People will not buy from your website unless they are comfortable visiting your website and trust it enough to give it their credit card information.

Forget buying, people won’t even engage with the rest of your website if they don’t make it past the homepage. It’s so easy to make mistakes on your homepage that cost you all your traffic.  If you insist on designing your site yourself or hiring a professional make sure you read this post. The whole post is on the importance of your home page, its design, and the elements you need on it to make it successful.

If you still are not sold on the importance of design, you can read this blog post. It goes through the various designs used by Amazon over the years, and the differences are staggering. My post linked above is most likely more relevant considering the goliath Amazon has become but keep in mind they started as a new site too. Their website has only improved over time, and we would much rather shop there now than at any point in the website’s history.

Search Engine Optimization

 

A representative of Website and SEO Experts explained the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is one of the primary advantages of using a web designer. SEO is the process of increasing the number of visitors a particular site receives by making that site appear higher in search results.

Basically, SEO makes it so a website can appear on the first page of Google search results, rather than the second page or later. This alone is a powerful tool and one that can dramatically improve a website’s performance.

This is really all about making your website discoverable for new visitors. Odds are, there is someone out there searching for your product but is not willing to go searching through dozens of pages of Google results to find the perfect product. SEO will make it so that person will be able to find your product.

Why You Might Want A Web Designer

 

You may have read to this point and be thinking, “A person can do SEO and make a beautiful, friendly website without the help of a web designer, so why waste the money?” While it is technically true that a person could feasibly manage to create a perfect website on their own, there are other reasons you might want to consider hiring a web designer.

The first and most obvious is time. While it is possible to build an optimized website yourself, do you really have the time set aside to make it happen? Building a website takes time, and if you have to work your normal job on top of it, it can be really tough to manage everything. Web designers design websites for a living. It is their job, so they have the time to make it happen.

Additionally, if you do not have the experience or knowledge to serve as a background for your website building, you will have a harder time. First, websites are rarely a thing of beauty, and if you do not have a background in web design, things will be rather difficult for you. A web designer can take that difficulty away.

How To Find A Web Designer

 

If you have decided to hire a web designer, read on to learn about finding the optimal web designer for you. The first question you should ask yourself is how big your budget is. Determining your budget will go a long way in narrowing the number of possibilities for web designers. The average cost for a web designer is $75/hour but can go much higher than that, depending on the designer.

Next, you need to pick the type of designer that you want. Freelance is generally the cheapest option, with design firms and full-service agencies following along at increasing costs. Freelance designers can have any level of experience, so it is important to pick one that suits your needs. Look at the portfolio of anyone you intend to hire to make sure their style and expertise fit what you are looking for.

It is generally a good idea to look at multiple designers and compare their work against your own needs. Some designers will be a better fit for you than others. Once you have narrowed down your search, you can start asking for references to make sure the designer is someone you would like to work with.

Above all, take your time in finding the right web designer. You want to work with someone who understands your needs and is willing to work with you. It is worth taking the time to find the right one.

Designing By Yourself

 

If you have read through to this point and you still are not sold on the idea of hiring a web designer, and you still want to give designing your own website a try, that is okay, but there are some things that you should know and do to make it the best website possible.

First and foremost, research, research, research. For a moment, think of web design like the fashion industry. Fashions come and go, but if you want to be fashionable, you have to keep up with the current fashions and be ready to drop the old ones. Much like the fashion industry, trends come and go in web design, and if you want to maximize your success, you will need to model your website after current design trends, which you can find by doing lots of research.

The software or platform you use to design your website will likely contain templates that you can use to get a jumpstart on your website’s design.

Once you have the bones of your website set up, you can start to fill it in with all of your information. At this stage, it is crucial that you double and triple-check all your spelling and grammar–nothing signals an incomplete website as quickly as basic grammar and spelling mistakes.

Once you have filled in your website, you will be ready to publish, but the journey will not stop there. Once your website is available to the public, you will be able to analyze the data from your website, see which pages are getting the most hits and having the most success, and from there, you can adjust accordingly.

The one problem that you may have more difficulty overcoming on your own is search engine optimization. SEO is researched by experts who have spent years perfecting the craft of making websites more optimized for search engines. Because of this, it can be difficult to learn what you can do on your own to optimize your website.

You can use basic methods, like using keywords that are common in Google searches or otherwise optimizing your website. But there is a great deal of complexity to SEO, and there is a constant conversation about it online. When it comes to SEO, you really may be better off going to a professional or taking a professional course on how to do it.

When it comes to building a website, web designers can be a monumental help, and they can help you improve your business. While the idea of designing your own website may seem attractive, looking to a web designer could make a world of difference.