It’s a classic idea – one that has happened from the beginning of time – having a friend or family member design your website! While it may be a good idea to start out with, you must be aware of the dangers of asking a friend or family member design your site. Just because someone can “design” something doesn’t make them a website designer. It may not even make them a designer, period! Designing and building a website isn’t about placing images and text on pages that can link together. While trusting friends and family members to design your website may speak volumes about your trust level in them, it still doesn’t mean they’re the best fit to design your site.
It’s no secret that a lot of people have a working knowledge on how to get a website running. A lot of people can do it for ‘cheap’ if you tell them how much you will pay – but if you’re family, they may even do it for free. While you may have gotten a website for cheap or free, it is not a website that is going to help your business grow or represent your business in the manner that it should. Would you trust a family member or friend build your house, even though the only experience they have is building a birdhouse in shop class? Of course not!
Here are five reasons why family and friends should not design your website.
1) You lose your competitive edge. It’s a good chance that your friend or family doesn’t know how to build a website entirely based on a template, or how to get traffic drawn to your site. Professional designers are fully educated and experienced in the entire design process as well as marketing, meaning strategies to draw traffic to your site, site structure and functionalities, as well as what makes a website visually appealing. That reflects everything on the website. There is a particular science to everything they’ve learned – it’s used to give you the best competitive advantage on the marketplace.
2) You lose your credibility with your image. Image is everything in web design. Your image is an extension of your business, effectively making it your business card, of sorts. Many high profile businesses cut corners and use their connections to build their websites. Showing you’re credible goes a long way for your business. You don’t want a poorly designed site to be the face of your business because that is what people remember. If you want to be taken seriously, your image needs to reflect every essence of professionalism within your industry.
3) Experience. There is a reason why electricians work as an apprentice first. There is a lot to learn and situations that arise but more specifically there are things within their craft they can incorporate. It’s almost guaranteed your friend and family member doesn’t have the experience to back them up. A website can incorporate a lot more than just a template. How about eCommerce, databases, social media badges, SEO-friendly text, hyperlinking, a graphic design that is appealing – the list goes on. To go beyond that, how about properly hosting the site.
4) Dedication. Why is dedication important? If you have a new product, or new event to add to your website, time is essential to get it added to your site, in many cases once a part-time designer (or family member or friend) has your money, they are no longer interested in your project. Excuses for not maintaining your site can always be ‘I’m too busy’ …obviously you have dedicated your life into your business, why would you want to use someone whose attitude to help you is ‘when I get around to it’.
5) Ruined Relationship. Broken promises, lost time, lost money… when initially going into a business relationship with a friend or relative it has all the high hopes of any venture, but that can come crashing down just as easily as it started. When a business venture goes sour, it can have a lifelong impact on your relationship.
Web design envelops many aspects, not only design, but functionalities that can help make your website a success. A friends homemade website might “look good” to you, but what about your target audience? Experience matters and using your friends and family will not give you the competitive edge you desire. Going with experienced web companies help set up your business for the future and will provide you with guidance along the way. Friends and family members are great to have for certain things, but web design isn’t always one of them.