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As a small business owner, the question of whether to you should do a DIY website versus hiring a pro is often a dilemma. How much should you spend? What kind of website platform should you select?
So many questions and no straight answers because the answer is always “it depends”…
- Websites should be a key asset in your marketing plan. This means they require some strategic thinking before deciding what, who and how much.
This article will address the key question of DIY website and working it out for yourself or hire a web developer. We also look at what other experts you may need.
The DIY website vs Pro building decision matrix
It all starts with understanding what you need the website to do, how much your budget is and what your skill set looks like.
The following is a list of the key website builders, what their functionality suits, costs and other notes to help you decide which one is good for you.
WordPress
Considerations
Requires some technical knowledge and comfort with learning new technology
Very flexible for long-term growth and expanding with new functionality
Has a huge market of ‘plugins’ to customise your website with additional capabilities
Needs attention to the site setup to be technically compliant for SEO
May need design help to get the look and feel you want
Requires ongoing costs related to updates and security patches. Developers will typically want a monthly retainer to help with these things
There will be hosting associated with your website
- If you are not familiar with websites, this is not a good choice for the DIY website approach
Cost items
Template, unless using a free on
Plugins if required
Web developer (if not doing yourself)
Web designer (if you feel it's needed for the right look and feel
Annual hosting costs
Ongoing maintenance, support and patch updates from a web developer if not managing yourself
A good quality, well-designed site that is search-optimised will cost at least $1000 and up
Squarespace
Considerations
Easy to learn for yourself so makes it a good choice for the DIY website approach
Excellent design templates to help you create a professional website
Flexibility to do eCommerce or integrate with booking systems or forms for lead magnets
Fully hosted and no need to worry about technical or security upgrades
Great entry-level solution
A community of Squarespace experts is available if you end up wanting someone to build it yourself. Expect to pay similar to a WordPress website
Cost items
Subscription cost starts at AU$22 per month
Discount available for an annual subscription
Wix
Considerations
Easy to learn and offer low-cost entry points - a good choice for the DIY website approach
Not as well optimised for search
Cost items
Wix AU$15 per month
- Discount available for an annual subscription
Free versions are available with cut-back features available
Shopify
Considerations
Dedicated Ecommerce only and depending on your technical skill, can be a DIY website option
Well-optimised for search – the key is making sure the descriptions of your product listings are aligned to the keywords being searched
Easy to create yourself, but those not technically savvy will find it a challenge to do more than the basics and the look and feel may be less than professional.
Recommend you take advantage of the free trial to determine if the DIY website approach is good for you. Don't forget you can do the bulk of the work and then hire a developer to fix any issues you've run into.
Easy to integrate with key platforms like Facebook's catalogue for tagging your products in FB and Instagram posts and shopping listings on Google.
Cost items
AU$56 per month
OTHER COSTS TO BE CONSIDERED AS A DIY WEBSITE?
Website Developer
Are you technically capable of building your own?
If you have complex and custom requirements, a website developer will be required
If search is a critical component of your marketing strategy and you have decided to use WordPress, then an experienced developer with SEO experience is worth their price in gold in the long run.
Some developers are good at design but not technically trained. This Website check and briefing document provides a step-by-step on how to assess your web developer
Understand that a website developer is usually a long-term relationship.
Website designer
Often the terms website developer and designer are used interchangeably. The key difference is that tone is focused on the design and the other is technically minded. Be sure you are clear on their strengths before you engage.
A website designer is often needed when you want a branded and polished and distinct look and feel. If you decide to do a DIY website, you could use a designer to help you with the look and feel.
If you are building on WordPress, a designer can help with making sure the site looks slick and aligned to your website
A website designer is not a developer. Sometimes they cross over, but if you have other strong technical requirements like customisation or search optimisation, you must be wary that you are not engaging a designer/ developer with 'light on' technical skills.
Content writer
Words sell, and if you don't put effort into getting this right, your website may not deliver results
If you need a site firmly focused on search, then the content is critical.
Content not aligned to the right keywords and structured correctly on the page will not deliver the results. Underestimate the impact of the right words on a website.
- If you are not confident with your content writing skills for your DIY website, then you might consider buying in this skill set.
Keyword analysis/strategy
- If search / SEO is important for your DIY website, then you will need to either invest the time in learning how to do a keyword strategy and apply it to the site or buy in the skills.
Your content writer or developer may be able to also provide the search keyword analysis as part of writing content that will help your site rank
Keyword research and aligning your content should be done as part of the writing stage and can influence what content and structure of your site eg. dedicated pages to certain topics or keywords.
Website hosting
This is only applicable if you choose a WordPress site for your DIY website
You must have a 'server' that will store and make your website available to everyone
Low-cost hosting may result in a slow website which will negatively impact your ability to rank well on search (i.e. speed to load a website is vitally important to the search engines, i.e. Google).
Photography
If you are selling products, great photography is key to helping make the sale
If you are building a brand, a professional photoshoot can be good for getting your website's right look and professional feel.
Can help you stand out and avoid the overuse of stock shots.
Domain registration
Purchase URL to align to your website eg. www.yourcompanyname.com.au regardless of whether you are doing a DIY website or hiring a developer
Will need to direct this to your website when it's ready
It can be complex, and you may need technical assistance if you are not using a platform such as Wix or Squarespace that makes this very easy.
If you need more help here are some additional resources that may help:
