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When Your Website Designer Is a Family Member

Just about everyone has that one friend or family member who boasts about being a tech savant. When you’re in need of a website designer, that same friend or family member will definitely step forward to volunteer. You let them handle it, of course, trusting the face of your business, online, to the ‘tech savant’. Now you’re stuck with a website that doesn’t quite work or serve your business needs. Blood is thicker than water, but when it comes to a website designer, you might want to trust an actual professional.

While it’s tempting to use the mate’s rates voucher code to build your website, it can also stunt the progress of your business. We understand your thought process. Eureka… you’ve just found a cost-saver for your business by leaning on that friend/family member to help design your website, instead of choosing a professional marketing agency.

You think to yourself, “what do I need an elaborate website for?”. You think just having a website is sufficient enough. Well, if you’ve been following our website designer pitfalls to avoid series, then you’ll understand why neglecting your website can be damning for your business online.

The growing industry of amateur building companies has emboldened people to turn away from marketing agencies and build their own websites with minimal fuss. You’re not wrong to go down this route either, especially when you see ads telling you how easy it is to create a website without needing to know anything about coding. A plus, of course. However, just like in life, most things have their limitations.

“Clean Up on Website Aisle 4”

There are several things that a professional web designer has over that of a friend/family—not in the same industry. Web designers are so immersed within the industry that they are up-to-date on all the latest technologies, coding scripts, and pretty much understand the nuance of what makes a good functioning website. For example, your family member might know how to create a pretty looking website, but can they build you a secure website?

The Limitations of Experience

Having a basic knowledge of how to design a website is not enough these days. Modern-day websites need to be dynamic, interactive, and most importantly, they need to be user-friendly. Designing websites for desktop computers is one thing, but you also need to design your website to fit around other smaller devices. Most searches on search engines are done through mobiles. So ask yourself, is your website mobile-friendly? Users don’t have the patience to stick with a website. On average, you have just about three seconds to give users the solution before they move on to another website.

Professional web designers are armed with the knowledge of how to make your website both safe and secure—which also further adds credibility to your website. If your website requires some form of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system, then it is imperative that you have a secure website that keeps your customers and their information safe.

On top of that, web designers deal with client needs and requests all the time. They’re better equipped in turning your business needs into a website that aligns with your target audience, better than a friend or family, with partial experience, could.

Keep reading: Why testimonials are so important »

Are They Always Available?

What happens when an issue occurs on your website, and the friend/family member who created your website is away at some faraway Monastery? Can you really trust your website to someone who can’t give it the attention it needs? Keep in mind that if you’re going to trust a friend/family member, you’ll need to understand that it’s probably not going to be their number one priority.

Dealing with a professional web designer, you have both a constant and consistent point of contact for when technical problems arise. Web designers are there so that there are minimal disruptions to the flow of your business.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, we understand having a family member or friend design your website may be the most favourable approach, in terms of costs. Just keep in mind how much potential revenue you could be losing due to a poor functioning website. To avoid this potential pitfall, you’ll need professional expertise to plug that gap.

Friends and family can do things that businesses can’t do, but when it comes to websites, a professional marketing agency can do things that friends and family can’t do, which is offer the quality service your business and its website deserves.

Get in touch with our team if you would like to find out how we can help you with your website.

We also run a Digital Marketing Course that teaches you other ways to improve your website’s online presence. Book your place for the upcoming course here ».