What Do Professional Website Builders Use?
Who would be better off hiring a professional web designer?
If website builders like Squarespace, Wix, and Weebly are so affordable, why shouldn't they all be used? If a professionally designed website could cost more than $10,000 and a website builder cost $50/month, don't you save more than $9,000 by choosing a website builder?
Not really. The reason is that this is not how much a professionally designed website costs. It's just how much it will cost you and your business if you don't have a professionally designed website.
So if you run a professional services business with more than $1 million a year and need help with your professional web design services project, you might be much better off hiring a professional.
Warren Buffett, recognized as the world's largest investor, says that the most important consideration when it comes to investing is opportunity-cost.
Opportunity Cost
Opportunity cost is when you consider not only your return on investment for a specific transaction. But when you compare all the options available, you can determine what is the best overall course of action.
So let's say you own a construction company, and your average transaction is worth millions of dollars. In scenario A, you use a 'free' website builder and don't pay for your site. In scenario B, you pay $10,000 to a design firm for a professionally designed site. Which one of them is the best value?
In scenario A, you have the hidden cost of the time your employee used to make the site. If the paid employee has taken 100 hours of time to set up the site and the employee is paid $50/hr, then their time needs to be factored in the cost.
In scenario B, if the business lost even one million dollars of contract it might otherwise have won with a more professional-looking site, that cost must also be taken into account.
Advantages of Hiring A Professional Website Designer
Professional Design
You hire a professional when you hire a website designer. Someone whose job is to understand the design of best practices, fonts, colors, harmony and balance. They also understand the user interface, the information architecture and how design affects the flow of visitors. All these skills are brought to the table when you hire a professional.
Optimized for conversion
Most templates are not optimized for conversion of visitors. They really can't be because they're trying to appeal to a wide range of user types and can't be designed to create a clear conversion path tailored to your specific user path. When hiring a web designer, at least when hiring a good one, they will help to structure the design in such a way that it is designed to optimize conversions – which means more leads and more sales.
Ongoing Support
Have you ever been to a live chat with tech support to talk about how you need to update your DNS when you don't even know what the DNS heck is? Not a lot of fun. When you hire a professional, those problems will go away, and you'll get to pick up the phone and talk to a human being who will solve those problems for you without being made to feel like a simple tone because you don't understand tech jargon.
SEO optimized
A good website designer or firm should have knowledge of Search Engine Optimization and be able to perform keyword research, help identify the best keywords to rank and ensure that your site is tagged and structured to be optimized for those keywords. Most of the website builder platforms have minimal SEO tools.
Unique design
Remember the reloaded matrix? Yes, it was a horrible movie. But remember, when Agent Smith started to clone himself, that Agent Smith's matrix was overrun by the sea? Well, that's how things start to feel about design. All websites are starting to look the same because they are all using the same templates. Hiring a website designer will allow you to have a unique and original design.
Does Your Business Need a New Website That Actually Brings in New Business?
Remember, when creating a website you have two audiences that are equally important: Humans and Google. Most website designers stick to designing for humans. Why? Because the client wants a beautiful site first, and the designer is interested in making that client happy. But unfortunately that’s where most designers stop. Magnified Media designs sites for both Humans and Google. Why again you ask? The reason is simple - if you don’t make your site Google-friendly, it won’t ever get seen by Humans! Interested in seeing what we can do for your business? Schedule your free Online Presence Audit now.