Without a website, a business is at a disadvantage to its online counterparts. Consumers often search for businesses on Google to shop in person before visiting them. Companies that don’t have a website may struggle to reach these consumers.
If your business doesn’t have a website, you may be tempted to build it yourself. There are dozens of builder tools, many of which offer a simple and easy-to-use interface. Some of these builder tools are even free. Do-it-yourself (DIY) web development, however, can backfire. Here are seven reasons you shouldn’t attempt to build your own business’s website.
1) Inability to Customize the Design
Even if you can launch a new b2b web site design for your business, you may struggle to customize it. Builder tools make launching new websites a breeze. After registering a domain name, you can install a builder tool on it. You can then create content while logged in to the builder tool. But customizing the design can prove to be more difficult.
From WordPress and Joomla to Wix and Weebly, all of the top builder tools support customization. You don’t have to use a generic design; you can customize the design to match your business’s brand. Unfortunately, customization typically requires coding. You may be able to upload a header and change the background color, but deep customization requires knowledge of web development languages Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).
2) Poor Cross-Device Compatibility
Building your business’s website yourself may result in cross-device compatibility problems. Statista says over 4.6 billion people worldwide access the internet on smartphones or other mobile devices. Your business’s website may still attract some desktop users, but most of its traffic will probably consist of mobile users.
There are ways to make websites compatible with all devices. Responsive and adaptive frameworks, frameworks, for instance, offer excellent cross-device compatibility. Unless you know how to implement these frameworks, your business’s website may not be compatible with all devices.
3) Vulnerable to Cyber Threats
Your business’s website could be vulnerable to cyber threats if you build it yourself. Millions of websites suffer from vulnerabilities that make them targets for data breaches, malware, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS), and other cyber threats.
Vulnerabilities are security weaknesses that, when exploited, can lead to a cyber threat. Running outdated software is a vulnerability, and using the non-encrypted Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is a vulnerability. A DIY approach to building your business’s website may result in vulnerabilities like these going unnoticed.
4) Long Load Times
Do you know how to optimize websites so that they load quickly? Long load times are a concern with a DIY website. Users will only wait long for your business’s website to finish loading. Many will abandon it if it hasn’t finished loading within three seconds.
If you aren’t familiar with speed optimization techniques, you should avoid building your business’s website yourself. You may be able to get your business’s website up and running, and you may even be able to customize the design. But your business’s website won’t generate much traffic or engagement if it’s slow
5) GDPR Noncompliance
Another concern with DIY web development is General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) non-compliance. Initially enacted in 2018, this legislation protects internet users’ online privacy in the European Union. It consists of data protection guidelines businesses must follow when operating in the European Union.
Your business isn’t exempt from the GDPR because it’s based in the United States. If your business’s website collects data from users in the European Union, it must comply with the GDPR. For example, you’ll have to ask users for consent before collecting their data, and you’ll have to create a detailed privacy policy.
Building your business’s website yourself may lead to GDPR non-compliance. You may fail to implement an opt-in form for consent, or you may not honor users’ right of erasure. You can always block EU users from accessing your business’s website to exempt it from the GDPR, but a better idea is to outsource its development.
6) Ineffective SEO
Ineffective search engine optimization (SEO) is why you shouldn’t build your business’s website yourself. SEO is a part of web development. A form of digital marketing, SEO includes techniques designed to help websites rank higher with search engines.
You’ll have to add meta tags when performing SEO. There’s the meta title tag and the description tag, both of which affect search engine rankings. You’ll also have to optimize images with an alternative text description. The alt text attribute will allow you to specify this description. Search engines will read this attribute to identify images for indexing and ranking.
These are just a few of the many SEO activities. If you don’t know how to perform SEO or aren’t comfortable doing it, you shouldn’t attempt a DIY website. Leave SEO in the hands of a professional web development agency.
7) Lack of the Analytics
You may not be able to install analytics software on your business’s website if you build it yourself. Analytics software tracks visitors and provides data-driven insight into their activities. The most popular types include Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, Microsoft Clarity, and Google Search Console.
You won’t know how visitors use your business’s website without analytics software. This information is essential to improving and maximizing your site’s performance. Analytics software can reveal how much traffic each page generates, how long visitors stay on those pages, the keywords visitors search for, and more. Installing analytics software isn’t always easy. Most analytics software is powered by JavaScript, which you’ll have to add to your site’s source code manually.
DIY web development isn’t worth the risk. Your business needs a website, but you shouldn’t attempt to build it yourself. Instead, outsource it. Some web development agencies specialize in building custom websites for other businesses. Hiring a web development agency to make your business’s website is an intelligent investment.
