When to invest in a professional website package

I know what everyone says... "don't waste your money, do it yourself, it's easy, my cousin made her own..." etc etc. Yes amazing platforms like Wix, Squarespace, Rocketspark are designed with templates and use friendly drag and drop tools that mean in theory anyone can build a website. If you have a hobby business, or are starting a side hustle this can be a great way to get started. But investing in a website package ensures you are a step above the rest! However if you are serious about being competitive in your respective market, a home-made website is not going to cut it. Here's my top 5 reasons to build with a professional. 1. You don't know what you don't know There are a lot of parts to building a website. The way it looks is only one small part. There's also a lot in the backend in regards to SEO ( search engine optimisation) admin, loading time, additional plugins, marketing integrations, systems and processes, responsive design, the list goes on. Basically you will make something that does the job but it probably won't do it well and will be missing lots of opportunities to capitalise on your investment in a Wix or other plan. 2. Sitemap and Planning, your website package inclusions For most of my clients that have come to me for a Wix re-vamp they have hashed together their site on the weekend and loaded it live tired and frustrated on a Sunday night thinking that will do for now and never looked back at it. When you work with a professional that builds sites regularly you are going to get their years of experience and know-how from the beginning. This includes planning and discussing what features your site could have, working out which images you have and what you should probably get done for your site how these should look, the admin plugins and other features that could assist you with your marketing and also the daily running of your business and then working you through how to write the copy ( text) or who to hire to do this for you ( highly recommend this option if it's in your budget). 3. Site Speed and Points of Interest The layout, functionality, image sizing and more can all affect how fast your site loads. Any more than a few seconds and you might find you lose your customers before they even arrive. The next key feature to keep in mind is how your site design is structured to keep the visitor interested as well as how the design lends itself to multiple devices including iPads, phones, and desktops. In the backend of website builders such as Wix it is almost a completely new design on mobile as you are switching from a very wide horizontal layout to a very narrow vertical or 'portrait' layout. This means your images need to adapt in size and scale and the elements on the page adapt. 4. Testing and refining Ensuring your site is working effectively, ironing out the bugs and repairing and reworking parts of the layout are all the revisions undertaken by a professional designer to ensure your site works in a smooth and effective way. You might have an idea for something you saw on another site and want to recreate this. Your professional designer will be able to work out a way to do this for you in a fraction of the development and frustration time it will take you. Don't be fooled by slick advertising - every website takes more time to build than you would expect to achieve an excellent result. Parts will need to be re-worked and edited and that's where your site will stand out above the rest. 5. Originality and Brand Authority Yes with a template website you can add your branding colours and fonts (most of the time) and a logo but you will be constrained by the blocks and sliders provided. I personally design all my websites from scratch. to create a truly unique and original experience for the site visitor we let your brand take precidence over the layout. For example I have a few very different styles as shown below that you will never find in a template design. They all have creative and eye-catching features that make them stand-out as professionally designed sites including custom illustration. So why you might ask when it's so important to have an original website, do I use the Wix platform to design the sites ? The key here is that for many SME's at the end of the day to keep their site content fresh and relevant, to ensure their SEO is working effectively, they are going to be the ones maintaining the site. Wix offers an easy to use backend experience so you can update blogs, write newsletters, post ot social media, answer emails, send invoices and much more all from the one place. Once I have you setup with a professional site you can then manage it yourself without fear of 'breaking' the site or getting lost in the backend. However I'm always an email away if you get stuck or can't figure out where to change that piece of text that comes up when you share your website to social media platforms, or how to access your billing information. If you're interested in finding out more about the process or wanting a quotation please get in touch. We offer a 2x or 4x part payment plan to help you build the business of your dreams. If you would like any further information on working with a branding and website designer with 10+ years experience working with start-ups please get in touch