Lately, we have been hearing from potential clients who want to know whether they really need to pay for professional business web design when there are so many DIY website templates available at little or no cost. Why hire a web designer or creative team when you could build and host your own pages for just a few dollars per month?
The simple answer is that DIY web templates end up costing you more than you might think.
In this case, we aren’t talking about the add-on expenses you might face while getting your website online, although you do need to look out for those. Neither are we referring to the lack of customization, the extra coding that will be hidden in your pages, or the fact that you might not own the resulting website if you use a DIY service? These all factor into the value of one solution versus another, but they shouldn’t be your primary concern.
In fact, to understand why DIY websites cost a lot more than advertised, you just have to grasp something a little more basic…
Business Web Design Comes Down to One Thing
Although it’s easy to focus on things like layouts, content management systems, and SEO plans when thinking about business web design, those are just details. Your main concern should be earning a positive return on investment through the project.
In other words, the point of your business website is to help your business grow. It’s true that it needs to look good and function correctly for that to happen, but you should never lose sight of the fact that the website’s sales, marketing, and cost-cutting power are what make it so valuable.
With a DIY website template, you’re getting the appearance of a custom website without any of the underlying benefits—like a unique design, messaging that appeals to your customers, and plugins tailored to your business model—that actually help you generate results. It’s the online equivalent of spray painting something gold and hoping it will suddenly have great value.
The Math of DIY vs. Professional Web Design
To understand how this dynamic plays out and affects your bottom line, we can turn to some simple numbers. Imagine for a moment that your business website receives 100 unique visits per week. That would be very low for the clients we would work with. But, it makes the math easy, so we’ll stick with that figure.
100 visits each week turns into 5,000+ opportunities to make an impression on new customers roughly every 12 months. If 1% of your traffic converts after visiting your custom website, that’s only 50 new customers per year. You’ll pay more long term versus what you would spend with a website design team. A proper web design team will help boost your PR, recruit, and much more.
The average client might see 10 times the traffic to their website, of course, and get 10 times the return. But the simple math helps put the costs of a custom web design in perspective… along with the risks of a DIY template.
Do You Want a Business Website That Pays for Itself?
Your website and online presence is your investment. The cost won’t matter as long as you are receiving a positive ROI. Websites take time, skill, and money. Don’t build a DIY website on your own. Put your investment to better use when working with our web design team. We help you achieve the positive result you’re looking for. Any money you invest that isn’t getting you positive results is money wasted.
If you found this article helpful, check out our similar blog on website diy templates