With a whopping 87 percent of consumers now begin their shopping journeys online, having an online presence for your business has become essential to staying competitive within your market. But, let’s be honest: not all websites are created equal. We can all think of at least one instance in the not-so-distant past where a website totally turned us off from making a purchase, either because it was poorly designed or didn’t load quickly enough.
Your website is often the first impression that consumers get of your business, and your best chance to draw them in to completing a purchase.That’s why it isn’t enough to just have a website – you need to have your site designed by a professional who knows what they are doing. Web design isn’t a simple task; it takes training and experience to be able to do it effectively and efficiently, and to know how to deal with things like hosting and regular maintenance.
Here are our top five reasons why you should hire a web designer rather than trying to DIY it.
You’ll get a much better quality site.
Sure, there are dozens of different sites that help you create websites with just a few clicks thanks to template designs. But how many other people are using those same templates – and how much can you actually customize them? Having a cookie-cutter website just doesn’t cut it these days. People expect your site to represent your business, your brand, and your messaging. And if it doesn’t, they’re far more likely to move on to someone else.
A web designer doesn’t use generic templates. Instead, they build you a custom site that meets your specifications to ensure it is an accurate representation of your brand. What’s more, they can add all sorts of features, from buttons to forms, to make your site unique and encourage users to get in touch or make a purchase.
You’ll see an increase in web traffic.
It goes without saying that if consumers can’t find your website, your business isn’t going to grow. That is why it is so important for your site to have a strong presence on search engines. And it isn’t as easy as simply building a site – a site needs to have search engine optimization (SEO) techniques layered within it to make sure search engines can find it and understand what your business is all about.
Web designers are experts at SEO, making sure that all areas of your website are optimized to increase your organic search result rankings. The easier your site is to find, the more traffic – and conversions – you will get.
Your site will be user-friendly.
There is nothing worse than visiting a website only to find that it is difficult to navigate or loads very slowly. Sites like these have a high bounce rate, meaning users leave your site without doing anything, which lowers your site’s quality score on Google. The lower your quality score, the lower your ranking in search results.
By optimizing certain aspects of your website, a web designer can ensure that your pages load as quickly as possible. They’ll also spend the time needed to ensure that users are able to easily find the information they are looking for, increasing the amount of time they spend on your site and the chances they’ll turn into a conversion. One of the most important aspects of user experience is your site’s ability to load on mobile devices. With well over half of all website visitors interacting via mobile, making sure your site can adapt to all devices is extremely important.
A web designer will save you time.
The old adage that time is money may sound a little dated, but in the world of business it still holds true. Designing and maintaining a website is both time consuming and difficult. Choosing design elements, optimizing for search engines, ensuring that your website looks good on all devices, and executing updates on time can easily become a full time job.
It is very easy as a business owner to get in over your head when it comes to trying to juggle everything that comes along with web design. Web designers do all of these things on a daily basis, which means that it is second-nature to them. What might take you a week, they can do in a day. This means you aren’t wasting valuable time – and you’re getting a much sleeker and more professional end result.
As a small business, you can stay ahead of your competitors.
For many small businesses, websites often get left to the wayside in favor of other tasks or marketing schemes. Many start out with a generic or free website, and fail to ever make the effort to improve it. And because of just how quickly everything online updates, from design preferences to hosting speeds, these sites can quickly become outdated – which is a huge turn-off for consumers.
Hiring a web designer to create a professional, functional, and user-friendly site for your business doesn’t just make your website visitors happy, it also makes you look better than your competition.
It doesn’t have to cost a small fortune.
One of the biggest concerns we hear from business owners, especially small business owners, is that having a website built will be too expensive. That is why we offer a range of package options to suit every budgetary need, from simple 3-page sites to more elaborate 10+ page sites. And you can rest assured that, no matter how small or how big your project is, you will receive the same level of care and attention to detail to ensure your website is everything you want it to be.At Gulf Coast Web, we have over 25 years of experience in managing all types of digital design and marketing campaigns – even for companies outside of our immediate area. Our staff consists of highly-trained digital design advertising professionals who are both passionate about their jobs and excel at what they do. Contact us today to book a consultation with our team. We look forward to outlining exactly how we can help you grow your business with our digital media agency services.