DIY Web Design- and When to Avoid It
There are times when doing it yourself is beneficial and can even save you money (your wooden fence needs a new coat of water sealant). Then there are other times when you’re better off just hiring a professional to do it (the wiring to your ceiling fan/light is going bonkers). Sometimes people try to do it themselves and they make more of a mess of things than if they had just hired a professional to do it from the start. Sadly, this is also true with web design.
So let’s take a look at DIY web design and when you should avoid it.
First, don’t attempt DIY web design if you don’t know what you’re doing. This should be a given but too many people today have been told “it’s easy” and “you can do it and save money” and then they get themselves into a mess.
There are some sites out there that allow you to build your own website and if you’re even fairly tech-savvy and looking for something simple, you can probably do an alright job with it. Just keep in mind that there are limitations to these sites and one of the biggest limitations is design. Because these sites use templates and a standard set of parameters, most sites built with them look similar. If you’re going for something really unique, then you might not be satisfied with the results.
Here are some sites that allow DIY web design:
Of course, these sites are not all created equal so it’s very important that you do your research and see what features they offer and compare this to what features you need. Make sure that you fully understand the capacity of the site’s features before signing up, especially for paid ones.
Now let’s look at when you want to avoid DIY web design:
- When you don’t have a clue what you are doing
- When you don’t have the time to do it correctly
- When you want special features
- When you want specific, tailored branding you won’t get with templates
These are just a few examples. There are many, many additional reasons to not do your own web design. When you are not trained in design, you won’t understand many things that a designer would know to avoid. You might make common faux pas in your web design or even worse, you might mess up your SEO and search placement because of a mistake in code or design. This is why it is typically recommended to leave your design to the pros- especially if this is a business website or something else that you take very seriously. Use the DIY stuff for your personal projects.
If you want to DIY because you want to be able to control your content and not have to hire a designer every time you make additions, then a custom CMS (content management system) will do the trick. WordPress is incredibly popular but the sites listed above will also offer the same features.
Basically, you get your web designer to give you a classy, professional design that meets your needs and you can use the CMS to log into the dashboard and add content, blog posts or make changes to content. A professional designer is just there to give your site the look and feel you want. From that point on, you can still do what you want with it.
Let us know if you have questions about DIY web design, CMSs or custom website design today.
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