When NOT to Hire a Web Designer

We’ve laid out some solid website advice (in my own humble opinion, of course!) in this series on e-commerce. Now that you know all of our secrets about brand message, design, layout, logistics and SEO, it might just be time to try your hand at DIYing your first site!

Sometimes you might benefit from NOT hiring a professional Web Designer.

Wait, what? Am I advocating for DIY? Yep, sometimes you might benefit from NOT hiring a professional Web Designer.

Even though we’re super passionate about providing people with top notch websites, sometimes we advocate for a DIY site. And here’s why:

Save some cash: Test the Waters

Sometimes a business idea needs to be fleshed out a little bit before investing a lot into a website. You might want to test the waters to see if you’ve got a viable product, a doable idea, or if the market is ready. Sometimes you don’t know if you’ve got a hit on your hands until you try it first. Sometimes, in trying it first, you learn things and need to make some adjustments. Since Web Designers don’t make adjustments for free, those lessons you’ve learned and the changes you need to make could add up!

We’ve worked with some awesome brands who launched their business with a DIY site first. Then, when they started earning some revenue, they came to us to take things up a notch. We always love working with these business owners because by the time they come to us, they really know their brand! They know who their customers are, they know what connects with them, they know what’s working and what’s not working on their site. They know which website features help them and which ones don’t. These are the innovators and we love them!

Starting out with a DIY site can give you valuable insights.

Keep it Simple

Or maybe your needs are really simple. If you don’t need any custom features, it might be simplest to use a premade template and just begin – get yourself out there! Try some stuff. See if you can connect with your audience! Or, make some mistakes (and earn some valuable wisdom!)

One of our values here at AE is simplicity. We never want to overcomplicate things when a simpler solution would serve someone just as well. A DIY site might be just the ticket for certain situations, and that’s a-ok with us! Go with your gut on this. If you feel like you’ve got simple needs and some time to figure a site out on your own, we say give it a try. If you know you want help right from the beginning, that’s definitely ok too.

Go with your gut.

What to Try

I mean, you know the big guys. You should use what meets your needs and works for you, but some platforms that we’d recommend for trying yourself are Squarespace, WordPress or Shopify. All of them are pretty intuitive once you get going and have excellent help centres!

But if you do need to take things up a notch, or if you want some creative, custom functions, or just want to start off with a bang – we can definitely hook you up! We love solving problems for our clients and making sure every little detail from brand message to design and all the technical stuff in the back end is just right.

Do you have other questions? Let us know how we can help!

When NOT to Hire a Web Designer

Save some cash: Test the Waters

Keep it Simple

What to Try

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When NOT to Hire a Web Designer

Save some cash: Test the Waters

Keep it Simple

What to Try

Blog Series

Categories

Recent Posts

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