If you’re thinking about having a website made for your business, it might be tempting to do all the work yourself. It can’t be that hard, right? After all, you’ve built a business from scratch – nothing seems as difficult anymore. Plus, you’ll also save yourself a few quid!
Sounds appealing, doesn’t it?
A website establishes your presence online and also shapes people’s perception about your business more than anything else. It is arguably your most important marketing tool, so avoid cutting corners with a do-it-yourself website, and instead, invest in a professionally made website that will work much harder for you.
So, what are the benefits of hiring a professional web design company?
1. You’ll increase conversion rates
A professional web design company that knows what they’re doing will pay for itself again and again. Expert team members who are responsive to current market trends and technologies will ensure that your website is both well designed and highly-optimised, meaning your conversion rates will skyrocket. If you need an e-commerce site, optimising for conversion is especially critical.
Your homepage needs to grab people’s attention and the website structure needs to be spot-on, otherwise people will not stay long enough to find out more, and may not know how to figure out what to do on your site, even if they are interested.
A professional web design company on the other hand, will ensure that these things don’t happen. They can position calls to action and relevant links on each page so visitors don’t miss what they came to your site for in the first place, and ensure that your bounce rates decline and visitors stay longer on your site – meaning Google likes you, helping your website to appear higher in search engine results. And trust us, all this is only possible by hiring a good web design company.
Your website also needs quality content to be able to capture and convert visitors into clients. Well written copy and eye-catching graphics are therefore essential.
Most professional web design companies have talented, professional copywriters and graphic designers on their team, which means all this can be taken care of.
2. You’ll have a clear online strategy
A professional web design company can create a solid strategic plan for your website from the get-go. They will design your website keeping your business model, brand personality, and goals in mind. By doing so, they can ensure a strong foundation upon which your website will prosper in the future.
A website determines how your brand is perceived, which is a huge playing factor when it comes to converting visitors into potential customers. Expert web design companies have the capability and know-how to create a positive perception and strengthen your brand. No-one wants their site to look like it was created by an amateur!
Remember, first impressions are everything. If people come to your site and it looks cluttered, out-dated or unprofessional, they may not trust that you can deliver quality goods or services.
3. You’ll have a competitive edge
With most businesses advertising their services online nowadays, it’s more important than ever to make sure you stand out and be seen as among the very best in your industry. That is where a good web design company comes in.
There are two main factors to consider. Firstly, customers tend to avoid browsing sites with flash content nowadays, as they are aware it can be bad for their security. This means that if your website uses flash content and pop-ups, it could drive down traffic.
Secondly, responsive design plays a huge role in how customers view websites, because mobile accessibility has increased hugely over the years. Therefore, non-mobile friendly websites are losing a lot of traffic because Google suppresses those sites when returning search results to the mobile devices. Having a mobile-friendly site also means that the customer experience is better. Your website can easily stay ahead of the competition if it’s created to be mobile friendly and work seamlessly with any Wi-Fi platform.
Another way a web design company can drive traffic to your site is through its SEO impact. Websites that are designed professionally generally rank much better in search engines. This higher ranking can significantly boost your traffic. A professional web design company will make sure your new website is optimised for search engines, which will bring in more traffic.
4. You’ll save time and effort
Let’s consider you wanting to create a website yourself, without any professional help. You have zero idea about coding or design – or about anything at all when it comes to web development. While learning everything from scratch is definitely possible, it is extremely time consuming and often results in an amateurish, average website.
The problem with most small business owners is that when budgeting for a site, they tend to focus solely on the initial investment without looking at the big picture. Novice web designers and web builders don’t have access to SEO, good copy, and professional graphic designers. Having a professional web design company create your website will save you time, and make you money. While it may seem like you’re saving money by designing your own site at first, in reality it often costs you more in both time and effort and won’t deliver as much ROI, than if you hire a pro.
5. Prevent your website from being outdated
Websites should be constantly maintained and monitored to get rid of any matter that is irrelevant and replace obsolete technology with newer and more user-friendly options. No one likes an outdated site, and it is of utmost importance that you keep your website regularly updated so that your visitors have the best experience possible.
Alongside this, websites stop functioning properly, and sometimes, stop working altogether on certain platforms if they have not been updated with the newest technology. For a website to run smoothly across all platforms, you need the service of a good web design company to constantly keep it updated with the technology.
You may be able to update the content yourself, especially using web builder applications, but re-structuring websites & web pages is not a child’s play. Sometimes the entire website needs an overhaul to keep up to date. A professional web design company can take care of all this for you.
If you want to read more about the benefits of keeping your website up-to-date, you can read them here .
In essence, a great, professionally designed website should work hard for you and gain you more customers. Having an average or worse, badly designed website will lose you customers.
Would you like to find out more? If you’re not sure what to do, or how to get started, check out our bespoke website service.
