Do it yourself web design vs do it with me, or do it for me

Building websites has become as easy as many other business functions. This means you can do it yourself if you have the time and energy, you can get someone to help you with the technical bits, or you can pay someone to do it all. All of the options represent value for money in their own way – your time versus the amount of money you want to spend versus the level of control you want to have.

It is like putting together a presentation, or preparing a business plan, or designing a new sales brochure. You can do all of these things yourself using common software applications. You can also choose to get help from experts. This might include someone who can add animations to your presentation, someone who can format your business plan ready, or someone who can make your sales brochure look beautiful with professional graphic design.

And, of course, you have the option of paying someone to do the whole job for you, while retaining control of the process and the finished product.

The tools that exist in the web design industry today give the same choices.

Do It Yourself

A range of different tools are available to build a website yourself:

• The Novice – several drag and drop website builders are available on the internet that allow you to build a website without any coding skills. Most of them use templates as well. This means you do not need graphic design experience either, providing you stick with the templates. Building websites like this has been possible for over 10 years. The difference now is the functionality in the tools that exist today. Take the Weebly Drag and Drop Builder from iPage as an example. With it you can create a multi-functional and multimedia website with images, maps, forms, a blog and video without any coding knowledge whatsoever.
• The Next Level – the next stage up is to use a CMS like WordPress. This allows you to build a website without code but it gives you greater flexibility, and it allows you to add even more functionality. The trade-off is they are slightly harder to use, which means they have a steeper learning curve. Services like tailored WordPress hosting makes this easier, though.
• The Designer – if you are a designer but don’t know code, solutions like Muse are the answer. This interface will be familiar so you can get up and running quickly. Plus it allows you to build websites the same way that you design.
• The Expert – the final level is to build a website using a tool that does require coding skills. An example of a tool that allows you to do this is Dreamweaver. It gives the maximum level of flexibility, but it is also the hardest to learn.

Do It With Me

While do it yourself website builders have been around for many years, do it with me services are relatively new. They help you deal with the complicated technical parts of getting a website online, allowing you to concentrate solely on the content and the design.

iPage Jumpstart is a perfect example. It walks you through various technical parts of building a website, from setting up email to installing WordPress to setting up plugins.

This is the ideal solution if you want control over the look and feel of your website, but want technical help with the server and software side of things.

Do It For Me

The final solution is getting your website built for you. This type of service has been around for as long as there has been websites. In fact it feels like now there is a website designer on every street corner.

This is why solutions like the iPage web design service are so popular – they give website and business owners confidence because they are dealing with a brand they trust, they are getting all of the functionality that they need, and they are getting it for a reasonable price. In addition, the website is built using a drag and drop website builder which makes it easy for you to take control of the site once the initial build is complete.

Deciding on the right path for you depends on how quickly you need your site, how quickly you can learn new skills, whether you want to learn those new skills, and how much money you have in your budget. Whatever your situation, a solution exists.