Having a website doesn't have to be something you use the professionals for. Indeed, many people choose to build their own website, potentially saving them hundreds of pounds.
Shopify, GoDaddy, WordPress and Wix are just some of the platforms that can be used to produce your own website. But just how easy are these platforms to use?
Well, that depends very much on the platform, but most self-build platforms are made to be user-friendly and make it easy for even a novice user to put together a simple site in a matter of hours. Most of the available platforms use friendly drag and drop interfaces and allow you to select from a range of pre-build templates. Some will even provide sample content and images for you.
So why would you ever need a professional web developer? Well, templates are all very well and good if you just require a simple web presence, but if you're looking for something with a little more impact and complexity, you may find that the templates offered are quite limited.
It should always be remembered that a website is an online shop front for your business and so should always be taken seriously. It needs to not only look good, but also needs to be professional, user friendly and engaging. This is where a professional web developer can really add benefit as they have the experience and skills necessary to produce a website that can really make your business stand out against the crowd and get those all important conversions. Furthermore, they have the skills and experience needed to ensure the site is optimised for search engines and works well across all devices.
You may have to spend several hundred pounds to get a decent web developer to produce your site but you'll most likely make that money back through the additional sales you'll generate from the site.
See Website Maintenance & Support
Is your website getting on a bit? Is the design looking rather dated?
Web design trends have moved on leaps and bounds over recent years and a modern web site offers many advantages over one built several years ago.
A growing proportion of users now browse the web on mobile and tablet devices. This has led to a trend towards responsive websites that perfectly adapt to fit the size of screen they are viewed on. This offers a better viewing experience as it means the user is not forced to zoom in and scroll horizontally to view a website. Resize any modern website in your browser window and you should see the website layout change to ensure the contents fit the screen.
Modern web design also tends to make use of the full screen width, creating a sense of space and flow. It seems that minimalism is now very much in, with cluttered sites frowned upon. Bold, bright, saturated colours are also very much in, which help your brand stand out from the soft neutrals that many companies have chosen over past years.
Modern websites are also now more dynamic, with stylish animations and effects featuring predominately. This creates a more exciting user experience and provides flexibility over conveying information. After all, browsing a website should be something you enjoy, and it is important to stand out against competitors by offering something that little bit different.
Security is also something taken much more seriously in modern websites. Hacking is now a far greater threat than in past times and unfortunately many older websites are compromised all too often. This does not necessarily mean that data is stolen. Most website security breaches are attempting to use your server as an email relay for spam, or to set up a temporary web server, normally to serve files of an illegal nature. Modern web technologies offer much greater security benefits and SSL is now standard practice.
So, if your site is more than three years old it is certainly worth considering an update to ensure your site remains secure, current and on trend.