We get asked this question a lot. And we usually give the same answer. It’s time to hire a web developer when the ROI on your time is better spent elsewhere for your business. In the early days of starting a business, you might find that you have a lot more downtime in between servicing clients or producing your product. So, time spent on marketing tasks like building a website in Squarespace or Wix might make more sense for you because your time spent on that task is going to drive more customers to your business.
Fair enough.
But what happens when you hire your first employees, and you have more demand for your product and services? Is your time still best spent updating the content on your website OR making sure you have satisfied customers?
Look out for Wix and Squarespace False Promises in Advertising Claims
One of the things I always cringe at when I hear Squarespace and Wix ads when listening to my favorite podcasts is the claims about how easy and fast it is to build professional websites using these platforms. I often hear … “Launch a professional website in minutes using (fill in the blank, Squarespace, Wix, or GoDaddy page builder) …” but the reality is it will take you hundreds of minutes and at the end of the day, we can confidently say that our websites will look more professional and perform better then any website a business owner with no background in web design can build on Wix or Squarespace.
It really is true. Our team has built over 100 websites, received professional training, and spent hundreds of hours experimenting and practicing. Have you heard of the 10,000 hour rule?
Let’s put it a different way.
Would you believe an advertisement for a golf training aid that claimed … “Become a professional golfer in minutes by using this swing training aid …” Absolutely not.
However, we do recommend that if you are on a tight budget and want to spend a long weekend building a website yourself for a new business or side hustle then these platforms would be a fair place to start.
But, to think you will be able to compete with the big competitors in your space with no help from a professional would be a mistake and the advertising from these companies leads you to believe the opposite.
So, When Should You Hire a Professional Web Designer or Developer?
Below is a list of questions. If you are answering “yes” to most of them, then it is time to seriously start thinking about partnering with a web design agency that can help take your web presence to that next level.
- Are your products and services one of the best in your industry or area but few people actually know you exist?
- Do you no longer have the time to make updates to your website yourself?
- Have you noticed an uptick in traffic to your website but it doesn’t seem to actually be converting new leads?
- Do you want to start tracking analytics and data about your web traffic but don’t know how to properly execute that?
- Are you planning to integrate your website to a CRM but don’t have the time to create that type of connection?
- Are your web development skills not up to par with the initiatives you’d like to start executing for your business?
- Does the look and feel of your website not live up to the quality of services or products that you provide your customers?
When you start to answer yes to these questions, then there is probably a better ROI for working with a web developer then there is trying to spend the time learning it and executing it yourself.
Professional Web Designers Can Help in Other Ways
Most web designers and developers are going to be savvy in other areas that can positively affect your business. For instance, we work with writers to improve your website’s SEO, we have licenses to all sorts of different tools like Ubersuggest for Keyword Research, MalcareApp for improved website security, and can help connect your website to a number of different CRM’s like Hubspot, PipeDrive, and others.
Our goal is to become a trusted advisor when it comes to the digital marketing aspects of running your business. By outsourcing this to an agency, it allows you to gain access to all of our knowledge that we are keeping up with on a regular basis.
