Trying to build your website yourself is like being your own lawyer or Real Estate agent, or dentist. There are many reasons why we hire those people and others to do the things they were trained to do. They have the experience to do an exceptional job.

A Professional Web Developer is FAST

Our developers have made hundreds of websites. Because of that, they are efficient. From the first conversation they have with a client, they start thinking about what the client needs for their site and how to make that happen.

The Pros Follow Industry Standards and Best Practices

There are things you should do to keep your website fast that most people don’t know. There are also things to avoid.

Web developers and designers know the industry standards that improve access to information on the web. We follow those practices with every website we build. This ensures that people with visual and other impairments can access the same information as someone with 20/20 vision.

We can say, “That’s not a good idea, because…” when a client wants something that will harm their SEO or make it difficult for their website to accomplish its purpose. For example, you should never put text on an image.

Our developers also know the potential potholes that can show up along the way—and how to avoid them. This saves a lot of time and frustration.

Web Developers enjoy their work

Being on the back end of a website can be tedious. You often spend eight hours staring at your computer screen writing code, but developers love doing this, and they are good at it. It is a lot like a composer putting notes on a page that mean little to a layperson. But when the music is played, it’s beautiful. All that code becomes a symphony on your website.

Developers Have More Control Over Customization

They can combine features from multiple plugins and make them look cohesive by making changes to the code. As a client, you can come to us with your ideas, and the developer can make them happen.

A Professional Developer Brings an Outside Perspective

Clients are often too close to their project to see the big picture. That’s a normal thing. When we gather all of the information we need from you at your kickoff meeting, we can sort it out and put it together in a way that will attract customers and business contacts for your company.

The entire team at a Web Development company brings this outside perspective. We know the best way to assemble your site map and name the pages because we do this every day. We have professional content writers, SEO specialists, developers, designers, and a project manager to ensure your website project runs smoothly.

How is Your Website Doing?

Is it time for an update? Are you ready to give up trying to cobble one together on your own? We offer solutions to your business problems. Contact Iceberg Web Design to learn how we can help create a website that does what you want.

The post What Can a Professional Web Developer Do that I Can’t? appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.

“Can’t I do it myself?”

Of course you can make your own website! With access to different tools and programs and free content servers, the ability to create your own website for your business has never been easier. However, what isn’t included in these turn-key DIY website services are instructions for creating a website that gets your business beyond just having an online presence.

Hiring a professional website designer not only ensures that your business is established on the Internet but that it draws in the customers and the business that you need it to. Here at Iceberg Web Design we pride ourselves in our knowledge and expertise and strive to build a better website for our clients that does that and more.

Listed below are reasons that a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) website can actually hurt, rather than help, your company.

First impressions are everything

Your website is your business’s most important advertising tool. Your website will likely be the first place a potential customer will read about your business. It’s your first impression and your customers are going to form an opinion about your company based on your website. In this case, people do judge a book by its cover. If you don’t grab your customer’s attention in less than one second, or if your website has a confusing navigation structure or many typos, your customers will move on to your competition.

Quality will win a future customer over time and again. By having a quality website design, you are showing your future customers that your business is synonymous with quality. It will show that you care.

Cost: You get back what you pay for

One of the top reasons people turn towards creating their own website is the cost of hiring a professional. This is especially true for newly started small business. However, DIY websites will end up costing you more in the long run.

Not convinced? Think of it this way: it is not about the initial investment but the return from that initial investment. If you go the DIY route, you run the risk of not being able to capture your audiences’ attention because web design is not your expertise. Websites that are professionally designed will not only see more traffic, but they will invite your customer in to take a look around. You want your customers to stay on your website long enough to learn enough about your business to purchase your product or services. You don’t want them to go elsewhere for their needs.

Time

Time is money! Every minute you spend trying to learn Dreamweaver or writing content for your website could be used for improving your business. While you may think that a ready-made template will save you time, in reality you will spend hours learning how to install the template, add your content, and make modifications so that the template matches your current branding. It takes a lot of research to find color schemes, images, and fonts that represent your company’s brand the best.

It takes the average business owner 60-80 hours to complete a website development project that Iceberg can complete in about 10. What does that time mean to you? That’s 120 well-deserved lunch breaks. 60 meetings with your top client. 40 T-ball games. 20 romantic evenings with your spouse. Two weekends at the cabin.

You’re already investing a lot of time in running your business. When you are a business owner, your #1 time investment when working should be in your business. By hiring a professional, you save time teaching yourself how to create and update a website so that you can focus on your business.

Stand out from the crowd

One of the major downfalls of DIY and Template websites is the lack of individualization. If you’re buying a pre-made website, chances are that hundreds – even thousands – of websites have used that same template before. Most DIY website templates only allow for minimal customization, and some times custom changes are not even an option with a DIY website builder service. Without a custom design, your website will blend in with your competitors’ websites.

Iceberg Web Design will create a customized layout that will not only allow the flexibility of your brand, but also help you stand out from the crowd. Since our designers look at the bigger picture, they can recreate logos and design schemes that will help give your company a consistent brand image. Not only will it make your other marketing and company literature look well put together but it will give your company a polished look that will be sure to get you noticed.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

While the steps to designing a website may seem pretty straight forward, there is a lot of behind the scenes work that goes into developing a website. To get your website to rank well on search engines, you need to know what you are doing on the back end, and the code behind the website needs to be Search Engine Friendly.

Unless you have experience working with website code, your on-site SEO won’t compete with your competition’s professionally designed websites. Try it yourself – do a search for your industry on Google, and see who comes up first. The companies that paid for professional development will most certainly show up before the DIY websites.

Technological Know-How

Iceberg Web Design will test your website over and over to work out any bugs or technical difficulties that might occur with your small business website. We will also ensure that your website has cross browser compatibility with all major internet browsers and their various versions as well as for smartphones and tablets. Because we are constantly testing for technical errors, it allows you to focus on your company so that you don’t have to worry about the technical integrity of your website.

Additionally, we provide ongoing updates and support for any software we use on your website as part of our monthly website hosting service. You’ll have peace of mind knowing that your website is being updated on a regular basis.

Future Cost Concerns

It can be very hard for a website designer or developer to work on a DIY website. Most turnkey template builders are set up such that a website developer can’t even make customizations to the template, or access the website code. Because of this, any customizations or changes you may need to hire in the future will likely end up costing more than a complete new website development project.

Additionally, most DIY template builder services don’t offer the flexibility of allowing your website to be transferred to other hosting providers. If your domain name changes, or if you need to move your website, you would have to invest in a new website. This will end up costing you more time and money and take away all of the work that went into the original site.

Added Security

Many DIY template building websites offer minimal security or are unable to meet the high volume demand. Often times these websites are hacked which can be fatal for companies if private information is leaked. Iceberg Web Design offers hosting server security to prevent outside hacking attempts. Not only do we have the tools to keep your website running but we also have the tools and the knowledge to keep it running securely.

Iceberg can offer you more than the DIY approach ever could. We dedicate our time, expertise, and attention to creating and maintaining the best website for your company. We take pride in the fact that we are able to provide a quick turnaround time in our website development projects. Iceberg Web Design works diligently to ensure that we meet our project deadline in two weeks or less.

We also guarantee a 24 hour turnaround time for small website maintenance and update requests. In most cases, changes to your website are done the same day they are requested! Don’t waste any more time struggling to keep your website updated and running properly. Give Iceberg Web Design a quick phone call or e-mail to learn more. Let us take care of your website so you can spend your time taking care of your business – and your life.

The post 8 Reasons DIY Web Design Can Hurt Small Businesses appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.