Should You Build Your Own Website?

To do it yourself, or not to do it yourself?  That is the question. Or at least it is if you’re a business owner needing a website. Creating an engaging website is not for the faint of heart. Just a few little details may be costing you customers you didn’t even know you had. 

But don’t worry: with a few tips and tricks, designing your own website is perfectly doable! We’re covering all the pros, like cost savings and creative control, and explaining the challenges you’ll hit along the way.  Read on to learn more about the benefits and drawbacks of going DIY with your website. 

Do You Suffer From Website Building Anxiety?

Building your own website has plenty of advantages, and it shouldn’t be as intimidating as it sounds. Here are a few reasons why creating your site might be right for you: 

• You can save money. Instead of paying thousands to a web designer or developer, you can use tools like Wix, Weebly, or WordPress to craft your site in no time. 
• You can get creative. Didn’t learn to code? No problem. There are plenty of templates that make it easy to customize your site’s design and layout, so you’ll look like a pro even with limited experience. Many website content management systems don’t require coding!
• You have control. If you’re a control freak, we get it! When you build a website yourself, you’re the one who is in charge. Want to switch up the colors or upload some new photos? No problem—you can make all those changes whenever you want. 
• You’ll learn something new. Even if you consider yourself less than tech-savvy, building a website is a great way to learn more about coding and web design. Who knows, you might even discover a hidden talent! 

Building your own website is worth considering if creating an online presence is your jam. Once you get your feet wet, you’ll be over that anxiety in no time!

The Downside of Website DIY

Sadly, a little rain must fall on every web design journey, especially if you’re going it alone. Let’s be honest: unless you have some training or prior experience, you won’t know what you don’t know when it comes to web design. 

Here are a few stumbling blocks that might be difficult to overcome—or at least start fraying your nerves during the process: 

• You’re a newbie. You just don’t have the design know-how or coding skills to make your site look professional. Sorry. We all have to start somewhere. 
• You may not be aware of all the features and functions you need. Without them, your website won’t perform to its full potential. 
• Design is a challenge. While learning a website platform is relatively easy, making a website look amazing is an art and science of its own.
• Responsiveness takes skill. Making sure your website looks great across all platforms and devices requires a nuanced approach that can be tricky to master efficiently.
• Managing load time. You may be able to create a website, but can you make sure it loads quickly? Figuring out how to incorporate videos and graphics without increasing load time is essential for keeping your visitors engaged. 
• Knowing the ins and outs of search engine optimization. SEO is crucial for helping people find your website on search engines like Google. 
• Making sure your site is intuitive. It needs to be easy to use, and being user friendly takes experience and know-how—something not everyone has when starting from scratch. 
• Accessibility. It’s essential to consider how accessible your website is to people with disabilities. Ensuring it’s ADA-compliant can be tricky and time consuming if you don’t have the proper knowledge or resources. 
• Finishing touches. Finally, you won’t have access to the same bells and whistles that web design professionals can provide, such as custom plugins or advanced features. 

So, while it’s tempting to go the DIY route when building your website, there are a lot of potential pitfalls that could make it more trouble than it’s worth. Ultimately, hiring an experienced web design pro is the best way to get the results you want.

Tips for the Self-Made Website Designer

If you want to take on the challenge of developing your site from scratch, we salute that ambition. But let’s be honest: while learning how to build a website is certainly doable, making it look amazing and function optimally takes skill and experience. You need to understand a lot about web development and design before you make a site look like it was done by the pros. 

To help out, we’ve compiled a few tips for aspiring website designers. It will cover some of the in-depth and technical stuff an amateur might not know is important in website design. 

• Understand basic coding principles like HTML and CSS, so you know why your website functions the way it does. This is especially key for inevitable troubleshooting.  
• Get familiar with YouTube – there are lots of tutorials online to help make life easier, ranging from design aesthetics to the more in-the-weeds technical minutia. 
• Know how to make your site responsive on multiple devices. Since your site will likely be viewed both on desktops and phones, it needs to look great, regardless of the device or browser.

You can use any number of platforms to build your site, from simple drag-and-drop builders to full-on custom development environments. But it all takes time and effort to learn, so it’s up to you how much energy you want to invest.

At the end of the day, it might be worth it to hire someone else to develop your website for you so you can sleep at night knowing it’s tip-top. It could save you time, money, and maybe a lot of stress in the long run. Only you can make that call.

Summing it All Up

You don’t have to be a coding expert to sketch up a good website with the options that are available out there. It can be a great way to cut costs and get exactly what you want, but be prepared for the complications you might have to deal with. You could end up spending more time and money than you anticipated

If you’re looking for help or guidance, certainly feel welcome to reach out to our team at Buddy Web Design and Development! 

At Buddy, we understand how important it is for your online presence to look great and function smoothly, and we’re here to help make the process easy and pain-free.

If you’re looking for a hassle-free way to develop your website, have it look great and function properly, and stand out in your field, let’s talk!