Should I design my own website or get someone else to do it?

You may have been wondering whether you should:

1.   Do it yourself using a website builder such as Wix, Weebly or Squarespace

2.   Ask your 16 year old nephew to build it

3.   Get it done offshore in India or Pakistan

4.   Hire a local professional website design company

 Let me go over some pros and cons of each option

 1.   Do it yourself

Pros: save money, creative control, sense of accomplishment

Cons: Need to learn how to use the software, figure out what to include on the website, manage all related technology, installation, set up, integrations, ensure the website is secure, create and source all images and graphics, troubleshoot any problems

2.    Ask your nephew / friend to build it

Pros: Save money

Cons: Very little marketing/design experience, which means you will need to heavily supervise the design, set up and marketing, limited technical and security knowledge

3.   Get it done offshore

Pros: Save money

Cons: Cultural differences, difficult to manage from afar, language barriers, time differences, lack of local market knowledge, limited technical support

4.   Hire a local professional website designer/developer

Pros: Knowledge of local market, understands website design trends, ability to design more advanced websites including ecommerce, able to recommend or help with marketing, able to troubleshoot and fix up problems

Cons: Costs more than offshore developer

Still unsure about the best way to proceed?

Imagine you are going on a date with someone you really like, so naturally you want to look your best. Are you likely to give yourself a haircut in front of the mirror or ask your 16yo niece to do it just to save a few dollars or are you likely to pay a professional hairdresser to cut and style your hair?

Going out into the business world is similar. You want to attract the right customers and so you need to make sure your business image is the best it can be.