Do-It-Yourself vs. Professional Web Design

More and more people are opting to "do-it-yourself" for many types of projects, such as redesigning the bathroom to include a hot tub. Some people are tackling brand new projects, like building a bookcase from scratch. There are people who think that designing a website is an easy do-it-yourself project, and this may be the best option for a personal web page or photo album of your trip to the Bahamas. However, for a business or professional organization, there are many important items, such as validating the web pages and designing for usability, that probably won't be considered by a novice doing web design.

By comparing two types of projects, a bookcase project versus a website project, you will see that hiring a professional web designer really is your best choice because you want your visitors to have a good first impression of your business or organization.

With a bookcase or website, you have four options which are very similar:

Bookcase Options: Website Options:

  • Do-it-yourself;
  • Buy it ready-made and put it together yourself;
  • Hire a friend, relative, or amateur; and
  • Have one custom built to meet your specific needs.
  • Do-it-yourself;
  • Buy a template design and put it together yourself;
  • Hire a friend, relative, or amateur; and
  • Have a website design custom built to meet your specific needs.

First, let's compare what you'll need for the do-it-yourself project:

Bookcase: Website:
1. Have a blueprint. 1. Have a design layout.
2. Purchase the tools:

  • Saw;
  • Drill;
  • Hammer; and
  • Screwdriver.
 2. Purchase the tools:

  • HTML software program;
  • Graphic design software; and
  • Reference book(s) necessary to understand HTML coding.
3. Buy the materials:

  • Wood
  • Nails
  • Screws
 3. Buy the materials:

  • Register your domain name
  • Obtain server space with a web hosting service
4. Time to build it. 4. Time to build it.

With either do-it-yourself project, you'll need to do some research before you get started. However, you'll need to spend a lot more time doing research before you get started building your website.

Bookcase Research Questions:

Are the tools mentioned above the only tools needed? This depends on how professional you want the finished product to appear. You'll need tools to not only do basic cuts but also to sand, paint, and join the pieces. Do you need a planer to take out the high points of the wood? Which router bit is best to use for the edges? Will the holes align perfectly or do you need a drill press? Do the drill bits to match the screws?

You know there are many different kinds of wood, but do you know:

Then there are the preparation needs: Will it withstand abuse or does it need extra protection in order to withstand normal wear and tear?

Website Research Questions:

Which HTML software program should you purchase? Are the tutorials easy to understand and do they contain examples of complex HTML coding in easy-to-follow steps? Which graphic design software program should you purchase? Does it have easy-to-follow tutorials? Does it allow you to set a variety of compression rates? What is an interlace format and does the software provide this technology? Which is the best HTML reference book, or will you need to purchase more than one book?

Are these tools the only tools needed? Like the bookcase project, this also depends on how professional you want the website to appear and how you expect the website to function. Consider the following questions:

  1. Will the website have a contact form? A contact form is more professional than an email link. With a contact form, you'll need a programming script to send the email, and you should consider encoding the email address. Which programming script to use? How do you encode the email address? Will you need to purchase a reference book in order to understand the programming script?

  2. Will items be sold on the website? If the answer is yes, then you'll need to consider which shopping cart is easiest to step up and and install. Which web host provides a secure server to process the sales transaction? Do you need a SSL certificate or does the web host supply one?

Finally, you'll need to research domain name registrars and web hosting service providers. Who owns the domain name after registration? Which level of hosting service do you need? Does the web host have a good record for uptime? Does the web host have more than one server? Does the web host provide a backup? What was the longest amount of time that the server was down? What caused the downtime, and what has been done to keep this situation from reoccurring?

Next — Other Design Considerations