Hiring Professional Web Site Designers Vs. Building Your Own Website

Build Your Own Website vs. Hiring a Professionalhave complete control over what you do with your
Website Designersite after it is completed.
The question of whether small business owners3) Uniqueness of your Company Image: One of the
should hire a professional website designer or buildkey drawbacks of do-it-yourself websites is that
their own websites using do-it-yourself software boilsbusiness owners are often given limited options as to
down to four primary considerations:what templates they can use and how they can
1) Site Ownership: Generally speaking, when a personmodify those templates. This can result in two or
creates a do-it-yourself business website they aremore different companies having essentially the same
bound by the terms of use of their hosting website.website.
In most cases such sites stipulate that all rights toThis issue is not all-together remedied by using
the materials on the small business owner’sprofessional web designers. Many companies provide
website actually belong to the host! That means thattemplate based products because it allows their
if the business owner ever wanted to upgrade his orclients to more easily envision what the end product
her site to a custom design or migrate the sitemight look like. Template based sites also tend to be
material to a new host they would not be allowed toless expensive to customize and thus the clients can
do so!have them designed at lower prices.
When you build a do-it-yourself website you areYou as a buyer should always pay attention to
locked into the site and the host contractually andwhether you are receiving a ‘customized’
the provider never has to let you transfer yourwebsite or a ‘custom’ website. Customized
website contents. In fact, there are often servicewebsites are template based. There is nothing wrong
cancellation fees of up to $300!with starting from a template but generally you
This is not the case with custom designed websites.should expect to pay less for this service than you
A good web development company will provide youwould for a fully custom website design.
with all the files you need in order to edit or transfer4) Appearance and Quality: If you secure the
your site as you see fit at no charge to you. Youservices of a skilled and reliable web development
should not generally be required to pay any feescompany then you should almost universally receive a
beyond the design and setup price.higher quality, better looking, website via a
2) Price: On an upfront cost basis do-it-yourselfprofessional design than you would using a
websites are cheaper. Business owners can enroll indo-it-yourself website. There’s virtually no
most build-your-own-website service plans for aboutdebating this matter.
$20 to $30 per month. In many cases there are noIn the end, whether you should choose a
upfront charges and you only get hit with big billsbuild-it-yourself website or a professional designed
when you opt to cancel later on down the road.website is a matter of personal preferences. You
On the other hand, website designers generallyshould review your options and your circumstances
charge you for their services upfront or over theand then make the decision that best suits your
course of your website, logo or graphic designneeds.
development project. Web design fees will varyThis article was written by Ink Blot Design Studios.
widely from one provider to the next and from oneInk Blot Design Studios is a High Quality, yet
project to the next. The benefits of having a customAffordable, Website, Logo and Graphic Design
site build that you own are that you won’t haveCompany.
to pay the designer a monthly fee and you should