A trend we’ve seen over the years is that many companies, organizations, government entities, and even political candidates who need a website, assign it to the nearest willing admin or volunteer. Unfortunately, rarely is the internal staff educated in all the ins and outs needed to build a site that performs. What do I mean by “perform”?

Sure, websites need to look nice, but there is a lot more to creating a website that functions in a way that will help you reach your marketing goals than just making a pretty layout. Will the new website:

• Be Search Engine Optimized?
• Have a Clear Call To Action?
• Tell the company’s brand story?
• Use a strategy that will compete with other companies like yours?
• Include a strategy for ranking in Google?

A lot of frustrated administrators struggle through a DIY website. Sometimes they know that they are missing a lot of the technical aspects and do their best to look into what to do about them – and sometimes they don’t.

Assigning Tasks To The Right People

Even without specialized staff, one of the perks of being “the boss” is the ability to come up with great ideas and then task your administrative staff with accomplishing them. But what happens when the task at hand is actually something that requires a technical skill level beyond their capabilities? This can leave Executive Assistants and Office Managers extremely stressed as they struggle to find the best solution to get the job done. Oftentimes, these struggles are the most prevalent in the area of web design and development.

Web Developers Have Highly Technical Skills

The fact is, web designers and developers are professionals who have had years of education and experience. The technical skill sets needed to do the job well, are simply not possessed by your average administrator. The frequency of changes in the digital world, especially in web design and search engine optimization is tricky to keep up with and what was once the case three years ago may not be today.

When I first started building websites over a decade ago, website platforms were different, Search Engine Optimization strategy was much more clear cut, and there were even tricks we learned back then to help in Google ranking that would get your website banned today.

Some reasons to hire a web design agency are for their expertise in:

• Keyword research
• When to code and not to code
• Choosing the appropriate hosting
• Content strategy
• Brand development

They will be able to deliver a more high-quality product that functions the way it should right from the start. And, most agencies have a package that includes ongoing maintenance of the site so that you aren’t left self-dependent to run updates, to upgrade or install new pieces/parts, to troubleshoot broken features, or protect your site from hackers!

Dump The DIY Website – Know When To Hire It Out

If you already have a DIY website in the works be on the lookout. If you or your personnel is saying that they are:

• doing research on how to build a website
• getting five dollar web hosting
• wondering if you need SEO
• asking “hey, what keywords do you think I should use”?

You need outside help.

In the long run you’ll be glad that you aren’t the ones building your company’s website.

If you’re unsure as to whether or not you even need a new website, this will get you started.