Should you hire a web designer or DIY your website?

In an ever changing digital media landscape, your website it your most important marketing tool.  

You don’t own any of the social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Tik Tok or any marketplaces like Etsy that you are currently trying to build a business on.  

The good news is that we are living in a time now where creating your own website has never been easier.  There are more tools at your fingertips than ever before and you no longer need to hand code everything.

BUT- that doesn’t mean anyone can or should build their own website.

If you are reading this, then you have probably realized that it’s time to get serious about creating a website for your small business – but should you hire a web designer or try to DIY it?  In this post, I am breaking down the pros and cons of DIY vs designer, so you can decide what’s best for you and your business!

Take my quiz below for even more clarity!

Should I DIY my site? The pros and cons

 If you are thinking about building your website on your own, you need to have two main things

1. Desire to learn
2. Time

Are you someone who:

• Enjoys learning new skills and picks things up quickly?  
• Likes working with tech and testing out different things?  
• Has an eye for design
• Loves a new challenge

Or let’s be honest, possibly you are a perfectionist who wants to have control of the entire process?  

If your nodding your head yes to any of these questions, then the desire is likely there and DIYing your own website MAY be the best option for you. 

The advantages of a DIY website:

1. It will be much more budget-friendly than hiring a web designer to do a full custom design for you. 
2. You gain knowledge of all the ins and outs of your website so if you need to change or update things down the line you know exactly how to do it.  

The disadvantages of a DIY website:

1. TIME! You are going to need to learn new skills and the ins and outs of building your site.
2. Risking it looking too DIY if you don’t have any design skills

It can be insanely time consuming to create your own website from scratch, especially if you are not a web designer or you don’t have any prior knowledge in this area. 

As with doing anything new, there is going to be a learning curve.

Not only do you have to take the time to learn all the design & marketing principles needed to build a clean and strategic website, you also have to learn how to navigate a website builder platform and properly use the tools that come with it.  If you don’t have any guidance or someone helping you along the way, this will be a much longer process.   

I have seen people waste months and even years trying to build a website on their own. Please do not do this!

One HUGE thing that I have seen so many struggling business owners get wrong is that they sacrifice their time to save money.

Time is money! You can always get more money but time is finite.

What is YOUR time worth?  

If your hourly rate is $50/hour and you spend 40+ hours building your website, that’s equivalent to $2,000!

Think of how much more productive and profitable you could be if you stayed in your zone of genius to grow your business!

Instead of veering off course and spending time trying to learn a whole new skill set involved with building your own website, you could spend $2,000 and get it off your plate saving yourself frustration and money spent via your time in the end. 

When clients decide to work with me, I can get their site done and launched in as little as one day to two weeks depending on if it’s a VIP day or custom build.  

Think you want to DIY it? Ask yourself these 2 questions:

1. How much time do I honestly have available to dedicate to learning web design and building my own website?
2. How valuable is my time?

DIYing your website can save you money if you don’t spend hours upon hours working on it, getting frustrated, and then making little progress.  

It’s like when people come to me saying they want to try out WordPress because hosting is cheaper than Showit, but I know from working with hundreds of clients in WordPress web design- the learning curve there is extremely steep and ends up costing them way more in time and sanity than Showit ever will. 

It’s why I now design in Showit exclusively and recommend it to all my students and clients. 

If you are going to go the DIY route -Invest the extra $10/month in Showit to get the ease of use, freedom and support you need to get your website up fast and without stress.  It will be 100% worth it!!  

DIYing with a strategic website template

If you have some time and a small budget, but want to try DIYing your site, a website template would be your best DIY option.  

I offer Showit website templates that can be completely customized to your brand and business.  It’s the perfect way to DIY your site without having to start from scratch so you can save some time AND get a clean, strategic site and blog all with a small budget. 

Every template also comes with my Showit Website Without Stress course that has step-by-step videos walking you through each step of customizing your website template! You also have access to the Showit support docs and team, so you are never alone in the design process, which makes the whole process so much smoother!  

Should I hire a web designer?

Just like the DIY option, not everyone is ready to hire a web designer.   For this option you need to have three main things:

1. Good money mindset – understanding that a strategic website is a great return on investment and worth the money. You are also investing in the skills and knowledge of a designer who can deliver a stunning and strategic website fast.
2. Clarity on who you serve and how you help them
3. An offer (In order for your website to be a good ROI, you need to have something you are selling whether that be physical products, digital products, a service like coaching, design, etc. , and/or be an affiliate for specific products or services.

The advantages of hiring a web designer:

1. It will save you so much time and frustration!
2. You get a professionally designed and strategic site that helps you make money!

If you have no time or interest in learning a whole new set of skills, you understand the ROI of a strategic, SEO-optimized website and you are clear on who you serve and how you help them, then hiring a web designer is a great option for you!

A third option: Website template customization

What if you really don’t want to DIY your site, but you also don’t need a highly customized site?  Is there an option for you?  

YES!

Many web designers like myself offer Website template set up services and also VIP days where you choose one of my website templates that you would like installed but instead of customizing it yourself, I do it for you – all in ONE day.  

This is a much faster and much more cost-effective option than a fully customized website design where you are starting from scratch.

Learn more about my Showit Template setup and VIP days here.

Recap: Should you hire a web designer or DIY your website?

If you have the desire and time to DIY your site go with a website template

If you have a clear vision for your growing business, have a bigger budget, and need specific things on your site, but don’t want the headache of figuring it all out yourself, then I recommend looking into hiring a web designer to build a CUSTOM website for you.  

And if you want a middle-of-the-road option where you don’t have the desire or time to DIY your site but also don’t have a huge budget for a full custom design.  A Showit template set up or VIP day like I offer might be the best option for you. 

Ready to work together? Apply here.

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Which website platform is best for you? Take the Quiz!