Do you change your own oil? I don’t. I could. I understand how to do it. But it’s totally worth the cost in the time & effort involved to pay someone else, so I can focus on other things– the things that only I can do, like grocery shopping for my family and paying the bills (although there are services for those tasks too!).
I don’t do my own vehicle repairs anymore either. I have — I replaced a carburetor once. But cars have changed, and with all the electronic systems, it makes more sense to hire a trusted professional. My “car guy” doesn’t just fix the thing I pointed out as the problem, he looks out for other issues that might be going on, and helps me get the best performance from my car.
There are a lot of parallels when you are considering whether to pay a professional to help you with a website for your business. Sure, there are growing numbers of platforms where you can “do it yourself” in creating and maintaining a website for your business, but that may not always be the best idea.
When you start a business and you are small, you are usually doing it all: sales, production, fulfillment, bookkeeping — everything. Creating a DIY website might be one of those things, and it makes a lot of sense at this early stage. But as your business grows, you discover that you have to begin to find others to take on some of those tasks — there is no longer time for you to do it all. Maybe you hire employees to help with production, or a bookkeeper. Generally, you hire or outsource for those tasks that you have less skills at, or that you dislike doing.
This is a point at which you might hire a website professional. Not only when your time, or your technical or design skills are limited, but also because a business that has reached a level of growth that needs a more professional website. Your site needs to reflect the stability and success of the business in order to inspire the trust of potential future customers. Can this website effectiveness happen with a DIY site? Sure, if you have a fairly good level of design skills, and you understand current (and always changing) strategies about how to create impactful user experience on digital platforms.
Good websites are not just a digital brochure. Good websites give important information (your phone number or your store hours), but they also focus users toward specific calls to action. They are organized and laid out in ways that connect with your specific demographic of potential customers. They utilize good search engine optimization practices so that your site comes up when people search for you. They might include special features like online ordering or scheduling. Websites today are more than just a file you tack up on the internet bulletin board.
Hiring a professional to work with you on a website is an investment in the growth and viability of your business. Serial entrepreneurs understand the power of this investment, and often start early with a website professional, so that they can focus on other things that only they can do.
Ideally, when you hire a website professional, you aren’t hiring a person to simply build you a car and walk away. You are hiring a trusted professional who will pay attention to the big picture of how you could be getting the best performance from your website to grow your business. Someone who will be able to listen to how your business is going–not just how your website is working, but your business more generally– and suggest options for digital marketing that might be next steps for growth or stability. Someone who will become a trusted partner that you return to with questions or issues as they arise.
If you are struggling with updating and maintaining your current site and looking for suggestions and options, we are happy to give a free 30 minute consultation. Even if we don’t turn out to be a good fit, we’re happy to refer you to others who may be.
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