When looking to build your own website or updating an existing one, you will be faced with the choice of whether to do it yourself or hire a professional. For some people, it is a clear decision but there is an increasing number of online tools like website builders which have made it easier for people with little to no tech knowledge to build their own sites. This is not a one size fits all situation. There are certain conditions that will help you make a decision as to which route to take.
Cost
Hiring a web developer will cost you a lot more than just building it by yourself. Web developers are usually very expensive but you could also get an intern to get it done for you and you can pay the person less. The intern could be an amateur who could end up doing it well or badly. So instead of the latter option, you might as well build it by yourself. The good news is that some of these platforms are free and WordPress which happens to be one of the best and popular ones is free. All you will be required to do is your domain and hosting and the website is up and running.
Knowledge level
Although you could buy a template and take it from there it is not always as easy as that. You need basic knowledge of WordPress to build your website; you need knowledge of how to publish posts, pages, install plugins, install themes. If you do have knowledge of it, you can actually train yourself if you are willing to put in the work. In a case where you are not using WordPress, some platforms will require a bit of CSS/HTML or other coding languages to be understood so you really need to determine where you’re in terms of website building capacity.
Buying a Template or custom-made template
You could actually begin building your website by buying a template from WordPress, there are thousands of designs that you can select from, this will only take a time commitment and you should be able to find something that meets up to your expectations. In a case where none of these templates fit into your narrative, you can build a completely new WordPress template from scratch. This option might not work for you if you are not a developer and you will need the assistance of a professional to get it done.
Navigating around domain names and hosting.
The domain name is your website’s address on the internet and a hosting account is where your website is stored. This is the most technical aspect when building s new website. Getting these components are not as difficult as people would want to make you believe, you really just need to find a domain registrar and a web hosting provider to get that done. Fortunately, some of these companies actually do all of them and you can get both from the same source. It is important to note that you will find a lot of opportunities for free hosting but it harmful to opt for it. Not only will it be faster if you purchase from a professional service provider but it is more reliable and you can get your own domain name and not one that is owned and rented to you.
Website type
To make a decision you need to decide on the type of website your business needs. If you need a website that can showcase what your business does, building such will not be a difficult task and you can actually use online tools to do that. But in the case of an e-commerce platform, it will be difficult to build that because of how complex it can be due to the financial transactions you will be handling on it. If your site is going to be responsible for the majority of your business generation, building it by yourself might not be the best idea.
There are certain businesses that hiring a professional web developer is a must and for some, it is not at all. You need to identify where you fall into to make a decision. Bear in mind that the fact that a particular method worked out well for someone does not necessarily mean that it will be the same with you. You have to weigh the requirements and see what works best for you.
