Why You Need an Expert Web Development Company

There are plenty of ways you can choose to develop a website. But, in reality, the way in which you decide to go about the design and development of your website, is an incredibly important decision in the grand scheme of things. Sure, you can set to work developing your online site using an easy site builder, such as WordPress and a handy template. You could find yourself a freelance programmer or builder to develop the site for you, or you could hire a professional and experience web development company that has all the tools and experience needed to get your website done properly.

There are both benefits and disadvantages of each of these options, so we’ve put together this article to help you figure out which option will be best for your business’s needs.

The Pros and Cons of Website Builders

Firstly, who would use a website builder to build a site? Most of the time, this option is for youngsters who want to make a site as part of a school project. It works well, too, for people who want to make personal sites, like for family to share things on. These are usually recreational sites that have almost none, if any, business purpose.

On the plus side, you can launch these types of websites very quickly and they don’t require a great deal of investment to get off the ground.

However, they are not without their cons. These sites don’t often run sans problems, efficiently, and they’re not particularly alethically-pleasing as one may think. In reality, if you’re keen to have more than 5 pages on your site, you’re going to encounter design and development issues. What’s more, they take up a great deal of time and usually ask for a monthly fee for pretty much eternity. The systems are limited, too. Sure, you can add a graphic here and there, you can add text, but that’s about it when you want to develop your own website. So you’re missing out on a lot of potential. Also, sites created by builder programs are usually ranked relatively low by Google, which means far less exposure than you may have hoped for. Further, there are those systems that ask you to buy premium accounts or suffer dreadful online ads on your site.

Finally, another downfall is that all of your data and information is stored on a foreign server, greatly increasing the chances of your site being deleted and out of your hands. It’s not your site at the end of the day, it is a template that you lease from another party. This does not happen when you use a professional web development company.

A WordPress Template

A WordPress template is great if you’re in the early stages of starting a business or you are a small company. When you opt for this type of business site, you should be very aware of the fact that this is going to serve as a temporary solution and ought not to last for longer than 24 months. Even by then, you may have, or will have, experienced a number of hang-ups that wouldn’t happen if you use a professional agency.

So, what are the advantages to using a WordPress template when you wish to take steps to develop a website? Well, there are a multitude of templates to choose from, and there are many free options. There are also different modules, and loads of companies that do indeed work with these kinds of sites. Financially, the development costs are relatively less than what you might pay a web development company, but keep in mind, that there are professional and affordable companies out there.

Like anything, there are downfalls to this option. WordPress sites are often very slow when confronted with a large number of visitors, and the sites tend to be sensitive to hosting, which means you will have to spend more for decent hosting services or put up with slow download speeds. While free templates will run quickly at first, when you want to work with it and make changes, the process becomes time-consuming, and often expensive. You’ll also have to accept that the site is vulnerable to hackers and that search engines usually prefer custom sites, which means they will rank your WordPress site lower in their search results. A web development company like Direct Line Development will ensure your site is responsive, ranks highly, and attracts visitors.

Hiring a Freelancer to Develop Your Website

Considering a freelancer to build your online site? This is a good idea if you know precisely what you want, and you have a background in programming, UX, or design so that you can order a high caliber of work and know what you’re looking at.

A freelancer will come in a lot cheaper than a big company. That’s the pro.

What about the cons? The main problem is that the freelancer may take too long to complete the project, or you may have to talk them through how to develop a website which can take ages. It could leave you without funds and without a website if they abandon you mid-project. What’s more, you’re limited by that one freelancer’s skills. If you want photography services, for example, or you want to run an SEO campaign, you will have to hire individual service providers, where are a large web development company will offer all of these as in-house services.

Furthermore, your instructions to your freelancer need to be very clear to avoid misunderstandings, and even language and culture barriers. Freelancers don’t usually work under contractual obligations or, for that matter, legal stipulations, so there is the risk of issues like copyright infringement that you will have to be aware of.

Custom Website Develop Services

If your number one goal is to receive a steady flow of new customers online, then approaching a web development company is the way to go.

There are plenty of advantages to this option. Long-term, the development cost is going to be much lower, since companies tend to use their professional agency-developed sites for around 3 – 5 years. If you receive, let’s say 3 times more customers during this period, your new profits will far outweigh the initial costs of development. What’s more, an expert developer can effortlessly guide you through every stage of the process. They’ll tell you what you need in terms of SEO, hosting, images, video, and even social media marketing so you know exactly what the bigger picture will be like on completion of the project.

Importantly, an agency is legally obliged to present high quality work that operates within the confines of our law. So, there’s no need to worry about copyright infringements or illegal downloads of images, and they usually have a team of in-house pros to meet all your needs.

Perhaps the biggest benefit of this option is that your custom website will look and function flawlessly, attract new customers and keeping current customers coming back time and again.

Are there cons to hiring a web development company? Basically, you will have to pick an agency carefully and go through their portfolio of work. There are unscrupulous businesses out there who will claim to build their own sites, but they really develop website options within a WordPress template or even outsource their projects. Be aware, too, that the overall development process may take a little longer than other options mentioned above, but that’s due to the nature of the work and the speed of communication between you and the company.

Finally, you may have to budget more for your initial investment if you go through a web development company, but there actually ways that you can work around for. For example, we offer all of our clients 12-months interest-free financing so that you can get the website your business deserves and a price you can afford.

What’s the Verdict?

Should you develop your own website or hire the pros? Remember that your site is a direct representation of your business, your brand, your products and services. If you decide to learn how to develop a website yourself, make sure you understand this very important fact.

Most of the time, a site made using a builder like Wix or WordPress isn’t going to position you as a particularly serious business. We’d go so far as to say the only time a professional should develop their own site is if they are a web developer or they plan on having the site for a short period of time.

Overall, template sites are perfectly okay for a startup business in their very early stages or for sole proprietorships that don’t have a great deal of capital to invest in a web development company. Template sites re usually riddled with security vulnerabilities, so think very carefully before you solicit too much information through these sites, such as credit card data and passwords. Also, such risks usually lead to a lot of down time for the site, and in turn, you could lose out on a great deal of potential business.

Then there’s freelancers. They certainly off the possibility of a quality design, but there’s just no guarantee. You could be rather limited to what your freelancer’s capabilities may be, and that means you may end up spending on a team of freelancers just for one projects. It’s costly and time-consuming, and sometimes fraught with risks.

We should also mention that you will be a slave to the freelancer’s schedule. If you want to launch your site by a specific date, this isn’t going to be the right option for your website build, and you don’t get to have any type of contractual obligation to keep your freelancer from quitting the project.

If you are serious about your business and your site, you need an impactful online presence, and that means engaging the services of a web development company. An agency will have everything you need under one roof and will guide you through all the steps to develop a website for your business. You get to monitor the progress of the build and contribute your thoughts and ideas so that the team can bring your vision to virtual life. While your initial investment may seem comparatively higher than the other options we have mentioned above, your site should serve as a long-term investment, and if it is done professionally to be SEO-complaint, responsive, and mobile-adaptive, it’s going to pay itself off over and over again as your profits, your bottom line, and your client base grow and your business expands.

Professionally designed sites usually last in the region of three to five years, which means once it is done, you can sit back and concentrate your capital and attention on important aspects of your business while your site brings in more customers and opens you up to a great deal more opportunities.

If you are a serious business owner looking to increase how many customers your business serves, or even an ecommerce site looking to expand business, it really is well wroth your time to choose and work with an expert and reliable web development company.

The good news is that you don’t have to look much further! We are the professional studio that offers top service, excellent advice, and exceptional websites. In fact, we go so far as to personally guarantee that you will be given high-class service and we have an in-house team of experts to work on your site’s social media, SEO, content, and photography. It’s an all-in-one solution!

Don’t delay! Your website is your brand’s greatest asset. If you would like to know more, find out about having your site upgraded or developed, or just want to have a chat, get in touch with us now.