Design Dashboard

April 11, 2010

Should You Make Your Own Simple Website Design?

A simple website design is an investment that any business can profit well from as a guru like Marlon Sanders would show. Having a site with a basic template can be a good way to attract more potential customers into your money making products or services. There are business owners though who choose not to have sites because of the complexities involved.

Building a site that is appealing and that has the potential to be well visited takes a lot of effort. Among the many challenging concepts you would have to deal with is design and development. Many website owners shy away from the prospect of learning how to manipulate design tools and how to code resulting designs. This is why hiring experts becomes an option.

Looking for expert workers however can be a bit tricky. The first point you will most likely notice is that this is hardly an affordable web design option. True experts have high fees. Although some designers offer cheap services, they may not always provide glitch free designs or they may not offer support along with their service packages. Cost is not your weightiest concern though. An even more pressing issue is contractor attitude. You’d have to deal with a real person with real quirks and if you can’t get a professional, you might end up with one who’ll run away with your deposit money without completing your project.

Because of the numerous issues you’d have to deal with, it would be best to build your own pages. Even if you aren’t a coding expert, you can still manage to accomplish this if you use blogging services or site builder packages.

Blog service providers are the most affordable business website design options you can get. There are some providers that can even give you free accounts that you can monetize in some way. This choice is extra appealing because it is simple to execute. For site design, you can use default templates or you can paste the code of free designs. For content, you can just fill up the spaces and click publish to have it appear on your site page.

Blogging services can present some downsides. Because they are meant to be used for blogging, you may not be able to use them well for static site content management. There may be some features for blogging that you do not need while features that you do need may be absent. Simply put, you may not be able to get what you require exactly from this simple website design option.

The alternative would be to settle for a point and click tool. This is a better choice if you are interested in creating a site that fits your specifications closely. Because this option does not involve actual coding, you don’t have to crack your brains trying to learn your way around. The best and most convenient tools have all the site elements right in front of you to select from.

A downside to designer tools is that they come at a price that may or may not be expensive. Comprehensive tools are undoubtedly costly. Fortunately well made tools are not as pricey as design services.

An affordable web design can definitely benefit your business. If you can’t find good but affordable options though, you could look for solutions you can apply yourself like Design Dashboard.

Filed under Business and Misc Software Reviews and Tips by

Permalink Print

March 17, 2010

Reasons Not to Get Business Website Design Specialists

If you own a business, you should think about business website design. In case you hadn’t heard, the internet is now one of the fastest growing income generating venues for any type of business. Each day, millions of people use the internet to look for information and to buy products that they need. A website is therefore one secret to making more money. The only hitch is that web design is not a simple job. You might want to pick up some good advice from a specialist like Marlon Sanders to help you along.

As most people are aware, making a site does not work under the principle of cut and paste. It also most certainly does not materialize as a result of written or spoken commands. You can only make your own little earning corner in the web if you can manipulate graphic designer tools and if you know the right coding language. The complications of professional web design are what drive many entrepreneurs to hire experts.

You probably won’t regret paying for the work of genuine experts. Real designers and coders have years of education and experience under their belts to give you some peace of mind. Nevertheless, there are cases when you may not have to hire help. You might want to refrain from hiring if:

#1- You are setting up a very basic site.

You may not want or need to have a website with multiple pages, buttons and functions to make money online. If all you really imagine doing is publishing an affiliate page or a small niche site with limited pages, then you may indeed be wasting your money on a professional. You can make your small business web design by using free or affordable tools and services. These include templates, all-in-one design tools and open source blog applications.

#2- You can’t afford to pay.

People who excel in designing and coding do not come cheap. This is something you should expect because learning these skills is definitely no child’s play. Moreover, the actual work
requires analysis. Good sites can only be had for $500 to $1000. Of course, there is no stopping you from getting the services of designers who only charge no more than a hundred or so dollars. Common sense will tell you though that cheap service providers don’t always produce the best results. Also, even if you pull out a project because you are not satisfied, you will have wasted cash on the required initial payment for a business website design.

#3- You aren’t sure where experts hang out.

There are a lot of online services that give site owners opportunities to find reliable workers. Not all of these services however can give the assurance that the person you hire will meet deadlines or will work according to your exact specifications and expectations. You can easily end up with a contractor who has an attitude problem or one who is too lazy to finish your task. To find the best people to work for you, you need a reliable third party service that can serve as a mediator of sorts.

You can’t underestimate the importance of a business website design. This is why finding the right person to make your site’s design is crucial. Then again, you may not need an expert’s services. Look into your particular business needs. You may be able to manage your project on your own with tools like Design Dashboard.

Filed under Business and Misc Software Reviews and Tips by

Permalink Print