When it comes to building a website, small business owners often face a tough choice: Do it yourself (DIY) using website builders or templates, or hire a professional web designer/developer. Each option has costs and potential benefits. To make the decision, it helps to think in terms of return on investment (ROI). In other words, which approach gives you the best outcome for the time or money you put in? Let’s break down the considerations:
Cost vs. Value:
- DIY Costs: Using a platform like Wix or Squarespace, your out-of-pocket costs are relatively low – maybe $15-30/month plus your time. WordPress can be low cost too (just hosting and maybe a theme/plugin purchases). The primary “expense” for DIY is your own hours spent designing, tweaking, and learning.
- Professional Costs: Hiring a web designer can range from a few hundred dollars for a simple site to several thousand for a custom e-commerce site. For example, an average small business website might cost $3,000–$8,000 to develop professionally. That’s a big expense, but it’s paid upfront (or in milestones) and then you have a polished site without heavy time investment on your part.
Calculating ROI:
ROI isn’t just about money saved – it’s about what you get back. If a professionally designed site brings in significantly more business, it could pay for itself quickly. Likewise, a DIY site that performs well might yield as much as a pro site, meaning you saved money (high ROI on your time). Here are some factors to weigh:
- Time Investment (and Opportunity Cost): How much is your time worth? If you DIY and spend 40 hours building your site, that’s 40 hours you’re not spending on other aspects of your business (or your life). If those 40 hours could have brought in $5,000 worth of business, then a $3,000 website might actually be “cheaper” in context. On the flip side, if you have more time than money when starting out, DIY could be a smart way to conserve cash.
- Quality and Effectiveness: A professionally designed site might have better user experience (UX), which leads to higher conversion rates (more visitors turning into customers). For instance, say your DIY site converts 2% of visitors into customers, but a polished site converts 4%. That’s double the business from the same traffic. If your site gets 1,000 visitors a month and each conversion is worth $100, that’s $2,000 vs $4,000 – a $2,000 monthly difference. Over a year, the professional site could earn $24k more; in this scenario, paying a few thousand to a designer offers huge ROI.
- Speed to Market: A DIY site might take longer if you’re learning as you go. If getting online faster has value (like capturing seasonal demand or beating a competitor to the local market), a professional might get you there in weeks rather than months.
- Ongoing Maintenance: Consider the long-term. A DIY site means you’ll handle updates, improvements, and possibly troubleshooting if things break. A professional build might come with training or a maintenance plan, or at least a well-structured site that’s easy to update. If you have to call a professional later to fix DIY issues, that can eat into the savings.
Measuring the Impact:
To truly measure ROI, try to track metrics from your website. If you launch a DIY site, use Google Analytics or built-in stats to monitor traffic and conversions (calls, form fills, online orders). Similarly, if you go pro, track those metrics and see if they improve. Sometimes, a redesign (professional upgrade) can increase metrics like time on site, pages per visit, or conversion rate by significant percentages – that’s your ROI right there. It can also affect your search ranking if the professional implements better SEO structure, leading to more organic traffic.
Intangible Benefits:
Don’t forget the qualitative side. A professionally designed site might make you feel more confident when promoting your business (“check out our website!”) compared to something you feel is makeshift. That confidence can lead to more sales efforts or higher pricing of your services because you know your online presence backs you up. On the DIY side, you gain skills and control. You’ll know how every part of your site works, which can be empowering and save you money on small changes since you do them yourself.
Possible Middle Ground:
Remember, it’s not always black and white. Some small business owners start DIY to get an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) online, then reinvest revenue into a professional overhaul later. Others hire a professional for an initial setup or template design, then manage the day-to-day content updates themselves (getting the best of both worlds). This staggered approach can spread out costs and let you test the waters of ROI. For example, you might pay a designer for a branded homepage and style guide, but build out secondary pages yourself following that guide.
Conclusion:
To decide DIY vs Professional, list out the real costs and potential returns for your specific situation. If budget is extremely tight and you have the time, a DIY site can be a good starter with essentially “free” labor (yours) – just strive to make it as effective as possible by studying good design practices. If budget allows and you want rapid, top-tier results, a professional-designed website often pays off by delivering a site that attracts and converts more customers (not to mention saving you time). Many small businesses see a professionally made website as an investment that, when done right, yields more revenue and growth opportunities – thus a positive ROI. Whichever route you choose, remember that the ultimate goal is a website that brings you business; how you get there depends on your resources and priorities.