The Pros and Cons of DIY Web Design

Whenever web design is needed to create a new website, and in most cases, that will be for a business website, one of the choices that have to be made by the business owner is who is going to be responsible for it. In other words, who is going to design and build the website?

For the most part, there are three options: a web design agency, a freelance web designer, or the business owner, who may have some knowledge and even experience in website design, may choose to build the website themselves.

There are advantages and disadvantages to each of those options. Still, eventually, the choice will be between a “Do-It-Yourself” website design or hiring someone to do it, such as a web designer or a web design agency. This decision should not be taken lightly, especially if the website is for a business. That business’s success could greatly depend on how much revenue their new website helps generate.

For this reason, we thought it would be prudent to go through some of the pros and cons of DIY website design and highlight the main reasons why you could go for this option, and equally importantly, the reasons why you should not.

The Pros Of DIY Web Design

  • No Website Design Fees: One of the most common reasons business owners will decide to try and build their website themselves is that they do not have to come up with the fee to pay a web design agency or freelance web designer. It does not mean they will have no costs at all, but these are likely to be less than paying for professional web design.

  • You Have Total Control Over The Design: A web design agency or web designer is going to give you recommendations about your website, and they will have their own ideas about how your website should be designed. However, you may have strong views on this and insist upon a different design that you want, In that case, DIY web design is the answer because you can design and build your website any way you wish.
  • Maximum Flexibility: By not relying on a third party to design and create your website, you have maximum flexibility over the entire project. This not only includes how you design it but also the images you use, the content you create, the layouts, and even the timescales that you work to which you can make as flexible as you wish to suit your schedule.
  • It Is A Fantastic Learning Opportunity: By taking on a web design project yourself, it presents you with a fantastic opportunity to expand your knowledge of building websites. Doubtless, you may make some mistakes, but when you discover how to fix them as well as learn other web design techniques, it is a highly rewarding experience.
  • A Sense Of Achievement: Staying positive, and assuming you complete your website’s design and creation, at the end of that project you will have a genuine sense of achievement. Taking on a task that is not your everyday role can be daunting, but think of the plaudits you will receive and the pride you will feel when your website goes live.

The Cons Of DIY Web Design

  • Lack Of Experience: Assuming you are not a professional web designer, then it is highly likely that you do not have massive experience in building websites. This can cause so many problems when trying to design a website given that there are multiple strategies and techniques that web designers would use, which, given your lack of experience, are going to be beyond your knowledge.
  • No Access To Web Design Tools And Software: Master chefs use pots and pans and renowned artists use paintbrushes and easels, just as top web designers use web design tools and software to help them build stellar websites. Building your website yourself means you are unlikely to have access to these tools and software, and even if you decide you want to purchase them, there is a cost plus time needed to learn how to use them properly.
  • It Can Take Longer To Complete: As you are likely to be trying to run and manage your business at the same time as you are designing and building your website, we assume you are not going to be focusing on your website’s progress every minute of the day. This means it can take longer, especially when you consider a web design agency will have an entire team of experts working on various aspects of a website’s creation.
  • Design Can Be Inconsistent: One of the most common issues we see in DIY websites is that their designs are inconsistent. Instead of a website that is coherent and consistent so that visitors feel at ease moving from page to page, DIY websites often lack these, and it is often obvious from the moment visitors land on the website.
  • No Technical Support: This is an issue you will encounter both during the creation of your website and after it goes live. With limited technical knowledge, you may struggle to get the functionality of your website to where it should be. Even if you get it live, if any technical problems occur thereafter, it can be a nightmare trying to put them right without the proper technical support, which you would have from a web design agency.
  • Potential For Poor SEO: if you want your new website to rank well on Google then you need to ensure the website’s onsite SEO is in place. If SEO is another field where you lack knowledge and experience the risk is that your website is not optimised for search rankings and thus it fails to gain significant organic traffic.
  • Risk Of Poor User Experience: This can be a huge issue given that Google makes the user’s experience one of its most significant ranking factors. If, despite your best efforts, your new website does not give the people who visit it a great experience, this is noted by Google and unfortunately, they are likely to keep your website’s rankings lower as a result.