The Pros and Cons of DIY Websites

— September 19, 2019

The Pros and Cons of DIY Websites | DeviceDaily.com

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70 to 80 percent of consumers research a business online before making a buying decision. If you don’t have a website, you may not be included in their decision-making process. As we near 2020, creating a website for your IT consulting business may be at the top of your to-do list. But whether you have one or are looking to rebuild your existing site, deciding how to approach the process can be complicated.

Budget is definitely a factor, as well as the amount of experience you have. Not all IT consultants are programmers. Are you fluent in CSS, HTML, and JavaScript? If the answer is no, you may want to think again. Besides the obvious, there are a few more subtle factors to consider when it comes to website development for IT consultants.

Pros

You’re in Charge

When you’re in charge of developing your website, you call the shots. You can decide the layout, the images used, the content, etc. Every little thing about your website is your call. This can be fantastic. Website development for IT consultants requires in-depth knowledge of the field. Who better to have that knowledge than an IT consultant?

You Can Do You

It’s your website—you can be as creative as you want. If you need web development for IT consultants who work with zoos, you can cover the pages in giraffe print, leopard spots, and zebra stripes. Who’s going to tell you no? There’s something particularly exhilarating about being as creative as you want.

You Decide the Priorities

When it’s your website project, the priorities are all up to you. If you want to prioritize design over SEO ranking, then that’s your choice. You get to decide what gets the most emphasis on your site. Do you want to showcase the family-run aspect of your IT consulting business or the professional vibe? You can design your website to showcase the priorities of your business as you see fit.

Cons

You’re in Charge—but Should You Be?

Not every IT consultant is a web developer. Not every web developer could design an IT strategy for a small business. When it comes to website development for IT consultants, you need to understand where your strengths are. Do you have at least a few months of experience in website programming languages? It’s typically not something you can pick up overnight, and the only thing worse than not having your business represented online is having a bad online reputation. A broken website will not contribute to a positive online impression of your business.

Do you have the time to build a website? Unless you use a very basic and very limiting builder, creating a professional website for a business takes time. On average, a website takes between one to three months to build, depending on the level of customization you want. A haphazard website can be thrown together in a week. But you’re almost guaranteed broken links, poor design, and a bad SEO ranking. Website development for IT consultants requires a large amount of time and experience.

There’s Such a Thing as Too Creative

When websites first became popular, the design of these websites wasn’t, well, great. It was pretty horrendous actually. Think of your favorite 90s website. Most likely it had too much text, a wide variety of neon colors, and possibly the classic zig-zag pattern prevalent throughout the era.

The design of your website is the online professional representation of your company. Just as you wouldn’t go to a business meeting where your pajamas, your website should represent you at your best. Design is a big part of that. When designing a website, you should stick to the colors in your logo, maybe including an accent color to highlight buttons. No more than two fonts should be used, and they should stay consistent throughout the site.

But website development for IT consultants isn’t just about what colors and fonts are used. It’s also about designing to have the best conversion rate. Do you know where to place contact buttons to ensure that you get the best conversion rate? Do you know how to set up a website to give your visitors the most information, in the right order, to result in a lead?

Website development for IT consultants isn’t all about programming and industry knowledge. It’s about marketing and design, too.

Your Priorities May Not Be Quite Right

It’s a great thing to be able to set your own priorities when building a website for your business. However, if you’re prioritizing design over good SEO rankings or responsive design over building a website that converts, you’ll be sorely disappointed when you find out you’ve wasted your money. Great website development for IT consultants requires a combination of programming, marketing, and design expertise.

When building a website, your priorities should be to convert leads, to have a great SEO ranking, and to have an attractive design. If your priorities don’t match this simple list, you’ll find it too easy to waste your time and money building a website that is nothing but a poor placeholder for your online business.

Are You Familiar with Website Builders?

The easiest way to build a website is by using a builder. This greatly minimizes that amount of code and design that you need to know. Some website builders can even guide you in creating the right process to help visitors convert into leads.

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