11 Reasons You Should Not Build Your Own Website

Using an online ‘website builder’ package maybe tempting for cost conscious businesses startups, but there are many reasons why this option is a bad idea.  Website development requires behind the scenes coding and SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)  that requires understanding of coding and internet processes.  If you think of a website like a car, the ‘engine’ is the backend coding and SEO.  Nobody really sees this, but it is essential for your website to work and rank well with search engines like Google.  If your self build website fails to show up in searches, you are just throwing money down the drain.

Below is a list of eleven reasons why you should not build your own website.

1: Customisation
Do It Yourself website builders offer a degree of customisation, but there are limitations and most basic packages lack functionality, originality and are not interactive. If you wanted to add extra features or functionality you will probably end up paying a significant monthly premium.

2: Efficiency
Website development is technical, and it takes time to build a great website that functions well.  If you’re not a professional web developer, the hours upon hours you spend trying to create a website could be more efficiently spent generating business and growing your client base.  Hiring someone with experience and knowledge to build it, will save you time and money and will ultimately look and perform better.

3: Professionalism
First impressions count.  Your website is the digital manifestation of your business. It’s simple, a website made by an experienced web developer will look professional, function properly and will leave a positive impression on your website visitors.

4: Search Engine Optimisation
Your website needs to be appealing to search engines like Google and Bing. The major search engines do not crawl flash based sites which many DIY site builder are based on.  They also prioritise SEO optimised sites and rank them higher. What is the point of building your own beautiful website if it languishes on page 9 of a Google search and gets no views?

5: Not Google Friendly
With a DIY site builder, Google can’t verify your site in Webmaster Tools.  Unverified sites are demoted in Google search rankings.  Google Webmaster Tools and Google Analytics integration is key to monitoring the effectiveness of your website, it can be used to monitor site downtime, crawl rates, bounce ratings, load times, broken links and search traffic.  Google has by far the greatest share of internet searches, at around 90% of total traffic. It also offers the best and most current analytics for your website.  Older scripting/tracking technologies, often used by DIY site builders, have inaccurate and sometimes misleading site analytics, which fail to track accurately the real ‘human’ traffic to your website.  If you are spending money on your website and/or on internet marketing you want to be sure your analytics are correct to properly evaluate your ‘Return on Investment’.

6: When It Hits the Fan!
Things can go wrong with websites.  Browser updates can affect the way your website displays; elements of your website can break and stop functioning; hosting issues can result in significant website ‘down time’.  All these things can be a real headache, even for professionals.  Having a website developer on hand can solve all of these issues without you suffering from the stress.

7: Mobile-Unfriendly
Self-built sites are not ‘responsive’ by design.  Modern websites are, and can detect the size of the browser screen and deliver your content in the most appropriate way.   Websites that are not mobile friendly are demoted in Google search results and with more and more people browsing the internet on mobile devices this lack of responsiveness will result in less visitors to your site.

8: Disability Unfriendly
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), ensures that websites are accessible to blind and disabled users.  If your website is not disability friendly you are breaking the law and Google will also demote you and possibly remove your website from search results.  Website developers ensure that your content is DDA compliant and performs well for disabled and blind visitors.
9: Faster is Not Better
Your website is usually the first point of contact people will have with your business. A quality website, with effective SEO can take several days to build, depending on the size and scope of the project.  You can build a DIY website in about an hour.  Why?  Because it lacks the functionality, SEO and backend coding necessary for your website to be an effective presence on the internet.  There are some things you shouldn’t rush, surgical operations, good food and your businesses website are to name but three.

10: Advertisements & Footer Banners
If your DIY website has their name in your websites footer it is bad news.  It looks unprofessional and makes your business look cheap.  DIY labels can make your operation look ‘tin pot’ and can raise suspicion as to your businesses reliability and trustworthiness amongst website visitors.

11: Experience
An experienced website developer knows they have a vested interest in your success as a business.  If your business does well, and the website performs well, they benefit from continued custom and positive reviews.  Long term mutually beneficial relationships are the key to business success.

If you are a small- to medium-sized business owner looking for a more robust, performative, and custom solution for your web presence, head on over to https://en.zaferhammour.com/ to request a free quote for your next design project.