Build your own website
Starting a business with a limited startup fund means you will have to cut costs. If you are trying to avoid the cost of hiring a professional web designer, you may consider using website builders to create a site for your business. Most website builders are relatively easy to use and they allow you to drag and drop elements to create professional-looking websites. You don’t need to know a single line of code and you will be able to build a website. Moreover, web hosting and domain host are often provided by the website builder company. Sounds too good to be true huh?
All website builders offer a low-cost startup cost. Nearly all our recommended website builders even offer a free version, which allows you to build and design basic websites with some limitations. For just £10 – £20 a month you can upgrade to a paid plan, which offers greater customization and specifications.
So, who should use a website builder?
You should build your own site if:
Here comes the reality check. Buy cheap, suffer later. Note that creating a website this way means you will save a lot of money not having to hire a web developer, but you will be trapped within the constraints of the web builder itself. This means you limiting the future potential of your website because, for example, if you want to add a customized function such as adding a CRM system, you might not be able to do so due to the limited expandability of your web builder. Also, if you are looking to sell on your website, you will want a certain degree of flexibility. Let’s fast forward five years and there are several hundreds of products on your site, and your website build suddenly decides to triple its service fee, you will find it extremely difficult to migrate your products to another platform.
- Startup cost is very limited
- You are somewhat tech-savvy
- You would like to be kept in the loop in the future
You shouldn’t be building your site if:
- You are very busy
- Computers scare you
- You are happy to have someone to take care of it in the long run
Start with a web builder and hire a web designer to help
Why not a bit of both? How about using the simplest method while having a professional to back you up? That’s right, you can sign up for a website builder and hire a web designer by the hour to get the best of both worlds at a minimum cost whilst generating the maximum results.
But… Didn’t you just mention that web builders have certain restrictions and they limit your freedom? Yes, they do have restrictions, but let’s say you are starting out and you don’t want to spend thousands of pounds on a website built by web designers, you can instead hire one to build a quick website with you via one of the site builders. Make sure to communicate clearly about your vision and the web designer can provide the appropriate web builder for you. This way you can also path the way to a more sophisticated website in the long run, in case your business takes off in a few years where you will have the capital to invest in a more advanced website.
Co-designing with your designer using web builders
You can hire a web designer to design your website with you side by side using a web builder. If you know exactly what you want, you can hire a web designer who is willing to conduct screen-sharing sessions on Zoom or Google Hangout to co-design with you. This way they can show you in real-time how your site looks.
Don’t forget, even if you hire someone to do your site, you will still need to communicate with the web designer. Being able to communicate with your designer in real-time is crucial to the success of a project. Plus, you will be saving hours of your valuable time. Why send back and forth emails about one small visual element while you can do it in real-time?
At NR1 Web Design, we offer real-time co-designing services at an affordable rate. Our design is able to work with you via one-on-one Zoom screen sharing sessions. Contact us today to find out more.