You have an idea for a website. When you go to sleep at night, you dream of a perfectly crafted website with amazing functionality. You do a google site and you come across DIY (Do It Yourself) websites like Wix, Shopify, and Squarespace. These DIY or drag and drop sites promise you a beautiful website for only a fraction of the cost it would take to hire a web developer. There are pros to using DIY sites, but if you need a website for business purposes or a personal project, I recommend choosing a web developer.
Here are 5 reasons why you should choose a web developer over DIY sites:
Productivity
DIY sites require a lot of time on your part. There are a few things you must know and learn in order to get started. With a web developer, you leave all the site building to the pros. You are able to get back to what you do best… managing your small business. You don’t have to spend weeks on WordPress communities, and multiple discussion forums trying to figure out why you can’t get the menu to look a certain way.
Results
Before I became a web developer, I once created a drop shipping clothing store website, using the Shopify. It was a beautiful website similar to Fashion Nova. The site was active for 4 months and did not make a single sale. After spending almost $400 on ads and $99 on hosting, without a single sale, I finally closed down the store. If I had used a web developer, I could have understood more about features that I could have implemented to help with sales like SEO, Social Media, Blogs, Case Studies, and so on. I could have left the website development to a professional while I worried about the business aspect of things.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
The goal of a website is to attract clients. Your website is of no use to anyone if potential customers can’t find it. This is where SEO comes in. SEO affects how likely your site is, to come up on a google search. Professional web developers know SEO and keywords that can help improve Search engine rankings. The higher your site ranks on search engines the more clicks it will get.
Able to migrate template and design if you decide to change hosts
When you build a site with a developer and decide to change host you are able to migrate your site template. This is not the case with DIY site builders. The moment you decide to go with another vendor, the site you created is gone forever.
Website will have better functionality
DIY sites are good if you want to build a basic website with pre-defined functionalities. A Web Developer can build any website with custom functionality. For example, If you need a site that sends appointment reminders to your clients, a web developer has an array of tools at their disposal to help you create this function while also considering things like how it will affect your site’s performance.
Conclusion
Drag & Drop sites give users the tools to create websites. Professional web developer creates effective websites that are focused on results. If you need a website for business purposes or a personal project, I recommend choosing a web developer. Web developers do so much more than create websites.
