Small business owners often think that getting a bespoke website made and sometimes maintained by a web designer or developer is the only way forward in terms of marketing their business.
We may also think that it is going to be expensive. Neither of these things are entirely true.
Building your own website is not that hard and as long as you are willing to learn a few new skills….nothing too overtaxing mind. You should take a look at the Wealthy Affiliate University. Whilst it’s main focus is affiliate marketing, it is still the place to learn how to build and maintain your own website.
Not all web developers and designers are over priced. Take a look at Fiverr or Upwork which is where I would go to find people with more specialist skills than myself, when needed. You will definitely find freelancers that are cheaper than you may imagine.
This being said sometimes you do get what you pay for and getting your website right and working for you and your small business is vital to success in today’s technological world. Many of you will have a small business based on a website with no premises or stock holding so it has to be right for your potential customers.
WhatDoes A Website Need To Achieve For You?
When a customer arrives at your website, their needs are simple. They want the process of getting what they want from their visit to be seamless and to make sense.
The whole point of a website is to provide a set of tools for customers to effortlessly interact with your company and get what they want. If possible, they would prefer not to turn up at your site thinking that they can do something, only to find out that they have to pick up the phone and speak with you anyway.
There are all kinds of examples of where companies make exceptional use of their websites and whether you are building and maintaining yours yourself or are thinking of going bespoke with a web developer you should do some online research yourself. Always know what your competitors are doing.
Take a look at IG investments, for instance. You can hop onto IG’s website, set up an account, and then start transferring money, buy stocks and bonds, and put money into a savings account, all right there in the website itself. There is no need to call anyone or send messages and emails. The site has the functionality built in.
It is the same with Dominos pizza. The website doesn’t just show you pretty pictures of pizzas and then implore you to call to place an order, you can put together your order through the website and pay online. No hassle. No fuss.
Going bespoke, may be essential or sensible for your own small business but you need to know that it can be hard to do.
A web developer will probably be able to offer you more than the basic templates available to you or I. This is because they understand code. I do not and neither do many other successful small businesses owners but employing someone who does, has been the making of many others?
If you are thinking of going Bespoke then, below you will find the things a web developer would point out to you in an effort to help you decide if it’s for you or not or their sales pitch if you if like?
You Need To:
Future Proof Your Business
One of the biggest problems with basic template design websites is the fact that you don’t have much flexibility if you ever need to change anything about your website. Templates often don’t have the functionality to adjust your business model or provide users will new tools to discover more about your firm. If you need a bespoke website, it’s often a good idea to speak with a specialist consultant who can advise on the correct software strategy both now and in the future.
You want to know that your approach to website design can future-proof your company.
Get Better Mobile Performance
Almost every single number one result on Google is a mobile-friendly website. Today’s businesses can’t afford to ignore mobile anymore. It’s what users want and expect.
Template builders have become better over the years at providing a great mobile experience. But for many companies, they are not ideal. They shoehorn you into compromising on specific aspects of the user experience, which is something that can give you a competitive advantage.
What is the solution? The solution is to create a bespoke experience that makes sense for your product. No amount of fiddling with a website builder is likely to produce the same results.
Get Custom Web Apps
Many companies are abandoning the browser and trying to get customers to use web apps, even on the desktop. The masters of this are the video games vendors. Instead of funneling people through to a site where they can buy games, these apps sit on the desktop like regular programs but are entirely cloud-based.
The apps provide an uncluttered experience that delivers superior sales to the browser environment.
TimeTo Decide
I personally do not use a web designer but my business is not your business. We are all unique in our needs.
If you want to build your own website then you have lots of options but I personally recommend Wealthy Affiliate.
If you want a cheaper freelancer then check out Fiverr. Or maybe you now realise you need something bespoke and a web developer is required.
How I Make A Living Online
I make my living online, through affiliate marketing and I have learnt everything I needed to know about building such a business through Wealthy Affiliate.
Wealthy Affiliate is a comprehensive training platform for anyone wanting to either start an online business or build upon an existing one.
If you want to check it out for free with no credit card required click on the link below.
Final Thoughts
Whatever you decide I wish you every success with your own small business and a website that serves you well.
If you have found this post useful then please do me a favour and give it a share on your favourite social media platform. Sharing is Caring.
As ever if you have any questions or want to share your own thoughts or experiences, please leave a comment below and I will get back to you as soon as I can.
With Grace and Gratitude
Karen
Please be aware that this post may contain affiliate links which means that if you click on one and then make a purchase, I will earn a commission but it will not cost you any more.@We hope that you have found this article helpful, and will use this advice to make sure that your business has everything it needs to succeed.
Love your site and this post in particular. It is very true that the Wealthy Affiliate University will hand hold you through all the steps to create a functioning website for your business. The best part about it is that you are able to create the site you want. You can make it what you want it to be.
An amazing contribution to small business owners and entrepreneurs. Thank you for sharing
Hi Jane and thank you for the read and your kind comments.
Owning a website means you have a business and everyone needs some small business advice especially if it is your first business adventure. Hence the focus on this on my website.
Wealthy Affiliate is a University and whilst I know how to run a small business I definitely didn’t know how to build a website until Wealthy Affiliate was discovered in my search for help.
Wishing you every success in your own small business.
Thank you for your post. I started my online business for a while now. Before I found Wealthy Affiliate, I hired IT consultant with web development. The price of the service is so high that it led to shutdown my website, since I could not afford to maintain my website.
With Wealthy Affiliate, the annual cost for me is about $299, which is about one month’s cost of hiring professional IT personnel.
If you are pursuing online business, I strongly suggest that you join Wealthy Affiliate and use their service, which will save your a lot of money.
Many people forget that when you use a web designer or developer, they are the ones who know how it is built and therefore will be the only ones who can keep it updated properly. You cannot Just build a website and leave it as is for any length of time which means monthly bills for the maintenance.
I urge anyone who needs a website to build it themselves. It is less costly, more rewarding and therefore more of an asset to your business rather than a burden as you discovered for yourself.
Karen thanks for the info and tips. I am new at building my website and I agree that I have learned some new skills in the process. I am still trying to figure out how to do certain things on my website; example: get people to sign up for the newsletter and get more traffic to the site itself. Just curious, how long (hours) did it take you to get your website up to your satisfaction?
In answer to your question; “Are any of us entirely satisfied with our websites?”
Maybe it’s just me but I am always updating and adding and creating stuff for my websites. Technology moves fast so I try to keep up with it all. That’s not to say that some stuff gets ignored as it serves no purpose in helping me develop my own sites. However I have been doing this for 2 years and learnt everything I know through Wealthy Affiliate.
Getting people in your email list can be done in many ways. However start by reading my post on the subject to give you some great ideas.
Getting traffic is like the holy grail but you have to work at. Take a read of my post for the things you need to be doing to get more traffic. Oh and this one may be helpful too.
Wishing you every success in your ventures and if you want to join me at Wealthy Affiliate I would be pleased to help you even further.
My business is not your business, lol I like that. I personally started a website a couple of months ago, seemed intimidating at first but thanks to the wealthy affiliate for simplifying everything. I’m not a pro obviously since I have a lot to learn but I’m proud of how far I’ve come.
Hi Hope, really pleased I brought a smile to your face with this article.
Congratulations on the decision of starting your own website and business. I wish you every success and you definitely have the best chance of that as you have already discovered Wealthy Affiliate.
I look forward to connecting with you in our fabulous, helpful and supportive community.
Hey Karen! Thanks for writing this detailed discussion about the pros and cons of hiring a web developer or building your own site. I read that you mentioned apps. Apps are not websites but are becoming more popular options especially with mobile devices taking over. Do you think it is more advantageous for a business to build an app or a website?
You are right Apps are not websites but are a brilliant tool for many businesses, but not all.
Some people will get carried away and have an app created for them as it seems to be a new trend. Often it is just a costly ego trip and adds nothing to their business.
Most App owners will always have a website first. So in answer to your question, build a website first and use it to the best advantage in terms of marketing your business.
Hey awesome site, I am working on my website, but I am never 100% satisfied with the design, but maybe it is just me looking for perfection. but 1 month ago I did not know anything about building a website and now I have managed to build one, and I think it’s pretty good so far. Do you know about any specialist consultant that you can recommend? I might try that out to find my perfection 🙂
Hi Simon and thanks your your kind comments. If you are just one month in, then let me tell you that you are likely to change your design, template, logo etc etc a few times! Maybe many times ,if you are a perfectionist.
You don’t need a specialist consultant. Leave all of that until your website is earning you the money to pay for it. Unless your pockets are very deep.
Perfection to you may not be necessary to impress your readers. Don’t be a style over substance website owner. That never ends well.
Give yourself a big pat on the back for what you have achieved so far and if you are struggling, give Wealthy Affiliate a shot. They taught me all I needed to know.
It is not always convenient to hire a designer to build a website for us. The problem is that there are people who need a designer because they have no idea how to create it.
Of course, you would recommend people to Wealthy Affiliate since the company provides excellent training if you are a beginner.
I think that we could also offer that service, I think it’s great to be able to provide it in the future.
You are totally right that it is not always convenient to hire a web designer. The process of finding one can be just as difficult as building one yourself.
I have a friend who is now on their third web designer !
I obviously recomended Wealthy Affiliate but he thought a web designer would do a better job. This is definitely not true as sometimes it is hard to portray your vision for your site to others.
If you have the right training like you get with Wealthy Affiliate the process of creating your own website is as easy as ABC.
I also learned how to create my online business (my website) through wealthy affiliate. This I also recommend because you get all the things you may need, the training, a website isn’t something that you can just create today and that settles it, you will need plugins and updates and many other things so better get to know how it’s done on your own because the web designer won’t be there forever to help you and any help you will need later may mean more cash needed.
Getting the knowledge is going to reduce your costs in the long run so better learn how to do it yourself and through wealthy affiliate it all become easy that anyone can do it.
It has become a norms now for businesses, both large scale and small ones to create websites for their companies. Most times, this is done for marketing purposes while some are created for awareness and credibility. When looking to create websites, most people prefer to outsource the project to web developers, most times, at high costs.
However, Wealthy Affiliate is a platform that teaches you how to create your own website at a relatively cheaper price without compromising on quality. They are several training packages on the platform and with the help of the community members, you’ll be able to create and manage a standard website for your business on your own.
Building a website with Wealthy Affiliate has taught me quite a lot on how to set up a website on WordPress. Although I would have liked to have learnt web development as a developer the process is so simple with Wealthy Affiliate that I can create just about anything I need.
Pleased to have you in the Wealthy Affiliate community. There is nothing stopping you from learning code and html but it really is unnecessary to get a great money earning website using Just WordPress and the training you get at Wealthy Affiliate.
The Wealthy Affiliate community is really helpful and finding like minded people to learn from is so easy. I know there are plenty of trainings on code and html by other members.
AirplaneJane
atLove your site and this post in particular. It is very true that the Wealthy Affiliate University will hand hold you through all the steps to create a functioning website for your business. The best part about it is that you are able to create the site you want. You can make it what you want it to be.
An amazing contribution to small business owners and entrepreneurs. Thank you for sharing
Karen Noone
atHi Jane and thank you for the read and your kind comments.
Owning a website means you have a business and everyone needs some small business advice especially if it is your first business adventure. Hence the focus on this on my website.
Wealthy Affiliate is a University and whilst I know how to run a small business I definitely didn’t know how to build a website until Wealthy Affiliate was discovered in my search for help.
Wishing you every success in your own small business.
With Grace and Gratitude
Karen
Anthony Hu
atThank you for your post. I started my online business for a while now. Before I found Wealthy Affiliate, I hired IT consultant with web development. The price of the service is so high that it led to shutdown my website, since I could not afford to maintain my website.
With Wealthy Affiliate, the annual cost for me is about $299, which is about one month’s cost of hiring professional IT personnel.
If you are pursuing online business, I strongly suggest that you join Wealthy Affiliate and use their service, which will save your a lot of money.
Karen Noone
atHi Anthony and thanks for the read.
Many people forget that when you use a web designer or developer, they are the ones who know how it is built and therefore will be the only ones who can keep it updated properly. You cannot Just build a website and leave it as is for any length of time which means monthly bills for the maintenance.
I urge anyone who needs a website to build it themselves. It is less costly, more rewarding and therefore more of an asset to your business rather than a burden as you discovered for yourself.
Wishing you every success.
With Grace and Gratitude
Karen
Fred
atKaren thanks for the info and tips. I am new at building my website and I agree that I have learned some new skills in the process. I am still trying to figure out how to do certain things on my website; example: get people to sign up for the newsletter and get more traffic to the site itself. Just curious, how long (hours) did it take you to get your website up to your satisfaction?
Karen Noone
atHi Fred,
In answer to your question; “Are any of us entirely satisfied with our websites?”
Maybe it’s just me but I am always updating and adding and creating stuff for my websites. Technology moves fast so I try to keep up with it all. That’s not to say that some stuff gets ignored as it serves no purpose in helping me develop my own sites. However I have been doing this for 2 years and learnt everything I know through Wealthy Affiliate.
Getting people in your email list can be done in many ways. However start by reading my post on the subject to give you some great ideas.
Getting traffic is like the holy grail but you have to work at. Take a read of my post for the things you need to be doing to get more traffic. Oh and this one may be helpful too.
Wishing you every success in your ventures and if you want to join me at Wealthy Affiliate I would be pleased to help you even further.
With Grace and Gratitude
Karen
Hope Getrude
atMy business is not your business, lol I like that. I personally started a website a couple of months ago, seemed intimidating at first but thanks to the wealthy affiliate for simplifying everything. I’m not a pro obviously since I have a lot to learn but I’m proud of how far I’ve come.
Karen Noone
atHi Hope, really pleased I brought a smile to your face with this article.
Congratulations on the decision of starting your own website and business. I wish you every success and you definitely have the best chance of that as you have already discovered Wealthy Affiliate.
I look forward to connecting with you in our fabulous, helpful and supportive community.
With Grace and Gratitude
Karen
Marlinda Davis
atHey Karen! Thanks for writing this detailed discussion about the pros and cons of hiring a web developer or building your own site. I read that you mentioned apps. Apps are not websites but are becoming more popular options especially with mobile devices taking over. Do you think it is more advantageous for a business to build an app or a website?
Karen Noone
atHi Marlinda and thanks for stopping by.
You are right Apps are not websites but are a brilliant tool for many businesses, but not all.
Some people will get carried away and have an app created for them as it seems to be a new trend. Often it is just a costly ego trip and adds nothing to their business.
Most App owners will always have a website first. So in answer to your question, build a website first and use it to the best advantage in terms of marketing your business.
With Grace and Gratitude
Karen
Simon
atHey awesome site, I am working on my website, but I am never 100% satisfied with the design, but maybe it is just me looking for perfection. but 1 month ago I did not know anything about building a website and now I have managed to build one, and I think it’s pretty good so far. Do you know about any specialist consultant that you can recommend? I might try that out to find my perfection 🙂
Karen Noone
atHi Simon and thanks your your kind comments. If you are just one month in, then let me tell you that you are likely to change your design, template, logo etc etc a few times! Maybe many times ,if you are a perfectionist.
You don’t need a specialist consultant. Leave all of that until your website is earning you the money to pay for it. Unless your pockets are very deep.
Perfection to you may not be necessary to impress your readers. Don’t be a style over substance website owner. That never ends well.
Give yourself a big pat on the back for what you have achieved so far and if you are struggling, give Wealthy Affiliate a shot. They taught me all I needed to know.
Wishing you every success
With Grace and Gratitude
Karen
Claudio
atHello Karen,
It is not always convenient to hire a designer to build a website for us. The problem is that there are people who need a designer because they have no idea how to create it.
Of course, you would recommend people to Wealthy Affiliate since the company provides excellent training if you are a beginner.
I think that we could also offer that service, I think it’s great to be able to provide it in the future.
Thank you!
Karen Noone
atHi Claudio and thanks for reading.
You are totally right that it is not always convenient to hire a web designer. The process of finding one can be just as difficult as building one yourself.
I have a friend who is now on their third web designer !
I obviously recomended Wealthy Affiliate but he thought a web designer would do a better job. This is definitely not true as sometimes it is hard to portray your vision for your site to others.
If you have the right training like you get with Wealthy Affiliate the process of creating your own website is as easy as ABC.
With Grace and Gratitude
Karen
Donny
atI also learned how to create my online business (my website) through wealthy affiliate. This I also recommend because you get all the things you may need, the training, a website isn’t something that you can just create today and that settles it, you will need plugins and updates and many other things so better get to know how it’s done on your own because the web designer won’t be there forever to help you and any help you will need later may mean more cash needed.
Getting the knowledge is going to reduce your costs in the long run so better learn how to do it yourself and through wealthy affiliate it all become easy that anyone can do it.
Karen Noone
atHi Donny and thanks for stopping by my site.
I totally agree with everything you say and pleased you are too a member of Wealthy Affiliate. Don’t forget to say hi within our helpful community.
With Grace and Gratitude
Karen
AmandaParson
atIt has become a norms now for businesses, both large scale and small ones to create websites for their companies. Most times, this is done for marketing purposes while some are created for awareness and credibility. When looking to create websites, most people prefer to outsource the project to web developers, most times, at high costs.
However, Wealthy Affiliate is a platform that teaches you how to create your own website at a relatively cheaper price without compromising on quality. They are several training packages on the platform and with the help of the community members, you’ll be able to create and manage a standard website for your business on your own.
Karen Noone
atHi Amanda and thanks for stopping by my site.
I can not argue with any of your comments. I couldn’t have put it better myself.
With Grace and Gratitude
Karen
Abbas
atBuilding a website with Wealthy Affiliate has taught me quite a lot on how to set up a website on WordPress. Although I would have liked to have learnt web development as a developer the process is so simple with Wealthy Affiliate that I can create just about anything I need.
Karen Noone
atHi Abbas and thanks for reading.
Pleased to have you in the Wealthy Affiliate community. There is nothing stopping you from learning code and html but it really is unnecessary to get a great money earning website using Just WordPress and the training you get at Wealthy Affiliate.
The Wealthy Affiliate community is really helpful and finding like minded people to learn from is so easy. I know there are plenty of trainings on code and html by other members.
With Grace and Gratitude
Karen