Choosing where to build your website can be a tough decision as there are many things you need to consider. For example, cost, your budget will heavily influence where you decide to go. Additionally, you will consider how you want your website to be designed. Is this something you wish to do yourself, or would you prefer to hire a professional to do it for you? There are a range of builders for whichever method you choose, for a self build you could try WIX or Squarespace. Alternatively, for a professionally designed website you might pick Yell or Procredible.

Design

Self made sites are a great way to get your very own website. However, like many things there are drawbacks to self made sites in comparison to professionally designed websites that may impact your decision. If you are not a professional designer, then creating your very own site can be a challenge. 

You will first have to learn how to navigate around your chosen builder, once you know your way around things will start to come together, but without a trained eye there may be areas that are overlooked like call to action placements, the responsiveness of the website and how it adjusts to different screen sizes.

This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t design your own site. There are plenty of great self made sites, and many website builders will offer a range of templates to choose and construct your site from. There are times, however, when these templates may be restrictive and similar to other sites (since many other people may have used the same template). As long as your content is original you should be able to counter this, but it will likely impact your website’s success when it comes to standing out.

On the other hand, if you were to choose a professional website designer, this would not be the case. Your website would be made with an experienced hand, your designer will be able to easily create and tailor your website, using their knowledge and experience on different builders and softwares. Furthermore, they will be able to make you something original which is a super great way to stand out amongst the many competitors. Many individuals become anxious at the idea their websites won’t represent them, and so, before choosing a designer you should take a look through previous designs to get a feel for what your website might look like. 

Time

To put it simply, designing a website takes time, even more so without the keen eye of a designer. The time taken is likely to increase from researching tutorials, Googling information, correcting any mistakes, and more. Since the time required to create an entirely original site can be lengthy, and it might be something you are new to, the design might get neglected. Sacrificing the design or other areas might not be something you can help, perhaps you are busy running your business or need to focus on something else entirely; a professional website designer might be the remedy you need. 

We recommend you get a professionally built website. There are many places that can do this (as well as offer self build services), such as Yell,GoDaddy and Procredible.

There are many benefits to a professionally built site, your site will be designed quicker, look and run better. The designs will be unique and of higher quality, which will create a positive impression on your business and give you an edge over your competitors. For example, our professional designers will make your website look amazing, but also ensure that the design is made to suit your business, brand and tastes. All of our designs are tailored to our customers, and if you want something changed you can always use our system to update and manage your website. Alternatively our professional team are a phone call away, any concerns or worries can be addressed quickly and efficiently, as will be the case with many other website builders.

Cost

A study found that a website can cost an upfront price of £4,000 – £60,000+, with such high figures it is no wonder that you might be hesitant to get a website. However, don’t be put off by these figures as there are more affordable alternatives that have a lower monthly cost, as opposed to a larger upfront payment, this cost will vary depending on your chosen website builder and method. The method will be either a self designed or professionally designed website. In other words, do you want to design your own website, or do you want to hire a professional designer to do it for you? Both options are completely valid, but will each differ in how much you pay for your website. 

When it comes to the cost of self designed websites, these typically start pretty low, despite this, just because it starts off cheap does not mean it will always remain cheap. If you make any mistakes with the site, be that through design or technicality you might have to outsource for help which can prove costly. Additionally if you want to add features, plug-ins or apps that your website builder doesn’t provide or support you may have to pay extra to get these to work, for small businesses these extra payments can prove problematic in the long run despite the cheaper original price. You would also need to consider the costs of hosting and domain registration. All of these costs can pile up quickly, and could leave you struggling financially, the alternative to this may start pricey but it means you can effectively budget around what you have to pay.

By picking a website builder that offers reasonable prices you will end up saving more money than you might think. They will already have all of the tools needed for designing your site, and will probably offer features that cover marketing and development, which is definitely something to consider. As an example, we offer web design at low costs, and this includes design, marketing and development. If you need any additional areas like logo design, business emails or print designs, we offer a range of add ons for you to choose from.  

Ultimately, the cost of a website can be high, which is why for a professionally built website, we recommend you look around first and consider the pros and cons of each builder, and you should find a range of web design companies that offer reasonably priced deals.

Advice and Support

Picture this, you’ve just got your new website, it looks great, functions great, until you open it and the site is down, we can imagine the panic, after-all websites aren’t cheap

With a new website, there can be a variety of issues that can arise and while there may be many solutions you may not know how to solve them, for example, your website might be down and you don’t know how to fix this. This can be very stressful, but it doesn’t have to be. Your chosen website builder (i.e Procredible,. Yell or GoDaddy) will provide help and support, whether this is through a phone call or email putting your worries to rest. 

At Procredible, we offer unlimited UK support to ensure that our customers are provided with any advice or help they may need. You’ll be able to speak to a team of professionals to go over any concerns or worries, our team is here to help with any design, technical worries and more.  

Self build or Professional Build? 

With everything considered, it is important for you to choose the best option for you, whether that be a self or professional build. Both options are valid and have their individual drawbacks, but ultimately the choice is yours to make. If you are looking for a cheap professionally designed website, we offer professional website design at low costs for small businesses.