Building and managing a website has never been so easy.
Once a task only a few could manage, designing your own business website is something that anyone can do in the modern world. Look at how many choices you have! There are entire services that can produce a website in record time, a few clicks of a button, absolutely no exposure to anything that even looks like code, and you’re done. You don’t even have to worry about managing it, you can outsource that either to a service or another individual. Getting a business website right in 2017 is easy!
Except it isn’t.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but if your business website is one of those plug-and-play options, then you’re selling yourself short. To truly get the most of your site, it needs to be researched, tweaked, changed, updated, and maintained. It needs to have been created with your potential customers or clients in mind, rather than how easy the site was to put together.
So does that mean you have to start from scratch? Hire a professional to not only create you a new site, but update it and maintain it for you? The true answer to that question is: Perhaps. It very much depends on you personally. So before you jump into the world of high-intensity self management, consider the points below. When it comes to self-creating and self-managing a website, is such an undertaking a good or bad idea?
GOOD IDEA: You Will Always Know The History
Having control of your own site allows you to know what’s there and what isn’t at all times. You know how your company is being represented in the eyes of potential customers and you can also answer questions from clients. If you are asked about something that’s mentioned on the website, you will have put it there, so you’ll be able to answer. Having this level of control is undoubtedly beneficial, as you can stamp your personality and your authority all over the site. This can be crucial if you run a small lifestyle business, which you naturally want to reflect you. It’s you that makes your business unique, after all.
BAD IDEA: Management Might Distract From Other Business Tasks
There’s a simple reason that so many business owners elect to hand over the running of their website; they don’t have time to do it themselves. When you’re trying to keep a business afloat, it’s vital that your time and energy is primarily on the business itself. If you spend too much time on the website, then you could take your eye off the ball, which in turn could harm the future growth of your business.
GOOD IDEA: You Learn A New Skill
It’s often said that we should all be making the effort to learn throughout life. By throwing yourself into an entirely new world, you will have the chance to learn in great detail — which is undoubtedly good for you personally. After some focused study, you will find yourself more confident, able to pepper conversation with mentions of the benefits of onsite SEO or have strong opinions on which WordPress plugins are the best. What’s more, you’ll be learning all this for a good reason — the future of your business.
BAD IDEA: You Have Too Much To Learn
If you’re completely new at website design, then you might not have the time to dedicate to learning everything that you need to know. It’s a steep hill to climb, so you need to be ready for a tough hike to the top if you self-manage. It’s also vital to understand when you’re not going to be able to grasp everything you need to learn.
Building a website is a very technical task; maintaining and promoting is more of an art than a science. If you’re simply not wired in the right way to deal with that, it’s not a failing; in fact, being able to recognise where you need assistance is a strength. It’s one thing to have a go at your own website if you have some background experience, but it’s quite another to try and run a business and learn an entirely need discipline from scratch.
Be realistic about what you can achieve and just how far you have to climb when making a decision.
Ultimately, the decision is yours. If your business is young and needs more attention, then completely self-managing your website might be a bad idea. If, however, you’re more experienced and have the time, then it might be beneficial to go it alone.
