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Creating a new website for your business is not a simple task. There are a multitude of agencies out there, as well as dozens of design tools that allow nonprofessionals to create a smart landing page without the need to write a single line of code.
So here, rather than promoting our services, we thought we’d try to uncover some of the mysteries of web design, set out some mistakes that are commonly made when creating a new site as well as offer some handy tips that we hope will help you make a decision.
If you are starting a new business, the question of whether to hire a professional web designer or use a template-based website constructor is very important. Of course, there is no right or wrong answer here and ultimately this question will probably come down to budget.
Template-based site builders such as WordPress, Squarespace and Wix are becoming more and more advanced and this is definitely the direction the modern web is going in. As a nonprofessional, the main thing to watch out for here is not to stray too far from the template. Typical mistakes we see involve business owners writing huge amounts of text about the features and benefits of their product or service without thinking about how it looks or whether the person visiting the page will actually read it all. Short and succinct is definitely the way to go here and don’t mess around with the design too much until you have a bit more experience with the platform.
The main problem with hiring a professional web designer from scratch is that it is very difficult for a nonprofessional to really understand the quality of the work, especially when compared with the price tag. One easy way to overcome this is to get a free Google site audit (see below) which shows you how your developers site performs on the technical side.
Something else to be aware of is that many web designers will use a template-based platform themselves, meaning that your site is not unique. Whilst there is nothing inherently wrong with this, why would you pay someone to fill out a template when you can spend a fraction of the cost by doing it yourself?
If you are starting a new business, the question of whether to hire a professional web designer or use a template-based website constructor is very important. Of course, there is no right or wrong answer here and ultimately this question will probably come down to budget.
Template-based site builders such as WordPress, Squarespace and Wix are becoming more and more advanced and this is definitely the direction the modern web is going in. As a nonprofessional, the main thing to watch out for here is not to stray too far from the template. Typical mistakes we see involve business owners writing huge amounts of text about the features and benefits of their product or service without thinking about how it looks or whether the person visiting the page will actually read it all. Short and succinct is definitely the way to go here and don’t mess around with the design too much until you have a bit more experience with the platform.
The main problem with hiring a professional web designer from scratch is that it is very difficult for a nonprofessional to really understand the quality of the work, especially when compared with the price tag. One easy way to overcome this is to get a free Google site audit (see below) which shows you how your developers site performs on the technical side.
Something else to be aware of is that many web designers will use a template-based platform themselves, meaning that your site is not unique. Whilst there is nothing inherently wrong with this, why would you pay someone to fill out a template when you can spend a fraction of the cost by doing it yourself?
If you are starting a new business, the question of whether to hire a professional web designer or use a template-based website constructor is very important. Of course, there is no right or wrong answer here and ultimately this question will probably come down to budget.
Template-based site builders such as WordPress, Squarespace and Wix are becoming more and more advanced and this is definitely the direction the modern web is going in. As a nonprofessional, the main thing to watch out for here is not to stray too far from the template. Typical mistakes we see involve business owners writing huge amounts of text about the features and benefits of their product or service without thinking about how it looks or whether the person visiting the page will actually read it all. Short and succinct is definitely the way to go here and don’t mess around with the design too much until you have a bit more experience with the platform.
The main problem with hiring a professional web designer from scratch is that it is very difficult for a nonprofessional to really understand the quality of the work, especially when compared with the price tag. One easy way to overcome this is to get a free Google site audit (see below) which shows you how your developers site performs on the technical side.
Something else to be aware of is that many web designers will use a template-based platform themselves, meaning that your site is not unique. Whilst there is nothing inherently wrong with this, why would you pay someone to fill out a template when you can spend a fraction of the cost by doing it yourself?
If you are starting a new business, the question of whether to hire a professional web designer or use a template-based website constructor is very important. Of course, there is no right or wrong answer here and ultimately this question will probably come down to budget.
Template-based site builders such as WordPress, Squarespace and Wix are becoming more and more advanced and this is definitely the direction the modern web is going in. As a nonprofessional, the main thing to watch out for here is not to stray too far from the template. Typical mistakes we see involve business owners writing huge amounts of text about the features and benefits of their product or service without thinking about how it looks or whether the person visiting the page will actually read it all. Short and succinct is definitely the way to go here and don’t mess around with the design too much until you have a bit more experience with the platform.
The main problem with hiring a professional web designer from scratch is that it is very difficult for a nonprofessional to really understand the quality of the work, especially when compared with the price tag.
Something else to be aware of is that many web designers will use a template-based platform themselves, meaning that your site is not unique. Whilst there is nothing inherently wrong with this, why would you pay someone to fill out a template when you can spend a fraction of the cost by doing it yourself?
A common pitfall when building a new site is not really thinking long enough about exactly what you want to get out of your new site. Make sure your new plan aligns with your overall business objective and have specific goals in mind, whether this is better engagement with clients or increasing your sales pipeline.
Your developer should be able to help you understand what is possible from a technical point of view, but you know your clients better than anyone, so the ideation stage should be a collaborative process. Best of all, ask your clients what they would like to see or find useful in terms of support in a new site!
If you are in discussions with a developer, ask them what platform they use to create websites in. Research it and establish if they are really building your site from scratch or just throwing content on a template with no originality.
A common pitfall when building a new site is not really thinking long enough about exactly what you want to get out of your new site. Make sure your new plan aligns with your overall business objective and have specific goals in mind, whether this is better engagement with clients or increasing your sales pipeline.
Your developer should be able to help you understand what is possible from a technical point of view, but you know your clients better than anyone, so the ideation stage should be a collaborative process. Best of all, ask your clients what they would like to see or find useful in terms of support in a new site!
If you are in discussions with a developer, ask them what platform they use to create websites in. Research it and establish is they are really building your site from scratch or just throwing content on a template with no originality.
A common pitfall when building a new site is not really thinking long enough about exactly what you want to get out of your new site. Make sure your new plan aligns with your overall business objective and have specific goals in mind, whether this is better engagement with clients or increasing your sales pipeline.
Your developer should be able to help you understand what is possible from a technical point of view, but you know your clients better than anyone, so the ideation stage should be a collaborative process. Best of all, ask your clients what they would like to see or find useful in terms of support in a new site!
If you are in discussions with a developer, ask them what platform they use to create websites in. Research it and establish is they are really building your site from scratch or just throwing content on a template with no originality.
Another common pitfall when building a new site is not really thinking long enough about exactly what you want to get out of your new site. Make sure your new plan aligns with your overall business objective and have specific goals in mind, whether this is better engagement with clients or increasing your sales pipeline.
Your developer should be able to help you understand what is possible from a technical point of view, but you know your clients better than anyone, so the ideation stage should be a collaborative process. Best of all, ask your clients what they would like to see or find useful in terms of support in a new site!
If you are in discussions with a developer, ask them what platform they use to create websites in. Research it and establish is they are really building your site from scratch or just throwing content on a template with no originality.
Well, since you ask, we don’t have a fixed way of working. We built our own site with a platform called Webflow which allows us to design and launch fast, unique sites very quickly. It doesn’t have many of the security risks and bugs associated with WordPress, it’s easy to integrate smooth animation effects and with a bit of code you can include some nice dynamic interactions. For larger custom sites, we write the code ourselves from scratch. Our main priority is to fit in with our clients’ needs and budget.
Well, since you ask, we don’t have a fixed way of working. We built our own site with a platform called Webflow which allows us to design and launch fast, unique sites very quickly. It doesn’t have many of the security risks and bugs associated with WordPress, it’s easy to integrate smooth animation effects and with a bit of code you can include some nice dynamic interactions. For larger custom sites, we write the code ourselves from scratch. Our main priority is to fit in with our clients’ needs and budget.
Well, since you ask, we don’t have a fixed way of working. We built our own site with a platform called Webflow which allows us to design and launch fast, unique sites very quickly. It doesn’t have many of the security risks and bugs associated with WordPress, it’s easy to integrate smooth animation effects and with a bit of code you can include some nice dynamic interactions. For larger custom sites, we write the code ourselves from scratch. Our main priority is to fit in with our clients’ needs and budget.
Well, since you ask, we don’t have a fixed way of working. We built our own site with a platform called Webflow which allows us to design and launch fast, unique sites very quickly. It doesn’t have many of the security risks and bugs associated with WordPress, it’s easy to integrate smooth animation effects and with a bit of code you can include some nice dynamic interactions. For larger custom sites, we write the code ourselves from scratch. Our main priority is to fit in with our clients’ needs and budget.
This is a difficult question to answer as an exact price depends on the amount of functionality. For a relatively simple corporate site with several pages, a few simple contact forms and perhaps a blog page you should not really be paying more than £1,000-£2,000+VAT. We also help clients with logo design and branding concepts from £500, depending on the brief.
Fully-fledged, bespoke web platforms cost more of course, but regardless of the complexity of your requirements, we’re always happy to have a chat!
This is a difficult question to answer as an exact price depends on the amount of functionality. For a relatively simple corporate site with several pages, a few simple contact forms and perhaps a blog page you should not really be paying more than £1,000-£2,000+VAT. We also help clients with logo design and branding concepts from £500, depending on the brief.
Fully-fledged, bespoke web platforms cost more of course, but regardless of the complexity of your requirements, we’re always happy to have a chat!
This is a difficult question to answer as an exact price depends on the amount of functionality. For a relatively simple corporate site with several pages, a few simple contact forms and perhaps a blog page you should not really be paying more than £1,000-£2,000+VAT. We also help clients with logo design and branding concepts from £500, depending on the brief.
Fully-fledged, bespoke web platforms cost more of course, but regardless of the complexity of your requirements, we’re always happy to have a chat!
This is a difficult question to answer as an exact price depends on the amount of functionality. For a relatively simple corporate site with several pages, a few simple contact forms and perhaps a blog page you should not really be paying more than £1,000-£2,000+VAT. We also help clients with logo design and branding concepts from £500, depending on the brief.
Fully-fledged, bespoke web platforms cost more of course, but regardless of the complexity of your requirements, we’re always happy to have a chat!
Russell Hunt — Founder of Pets Lets
This allows you to see scores for the performance, accessibility, best web practices and SEO of your developer’s site. If their own site isn’t running at optimal capacity, yours won’t be either!
This allows you to see scores from Google for the performance, accessibility, best web practices and SEO of your developer’s site. If their own site isn’t running at optimal capacity, yours won’t be either!
