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Now more than ever before, there are a plethora of tools available to DIY your website and digital assets. But should you DIY?
Today we’ll cover five reasons why it is still relevant to work with a web designer to create your dream website.
1. Your web designer is more than a design or tech specialist: they’re a creative partner and your guide
Sure you can hike the Himalayas without a guide, but would you? Maybe if you had ample time to spend in the area, getting to know the people, the climate, the terrain. Maybe you’d attempt it if you had years of experience on multi-day hiking journeys. But if you only had a quick two week trip to enjoy the best of the Himalayas? I bet you’d want a guide.
The same can be said for web designers: a good one will do much more than just put the pieces together for you. They’ll serve as a creative partner, taking time to understand the nuance of your branding and what you seek to communicate. They’ll then custom craft a site reflective of your vision, tailored to speak your message to your audience. This work involves a myriad number of skills in design, storytelling, and understanding of the user experience. Chances are, many of these areas may be new to you, but your web designer will help you navigate the process, walking with you across your journey from initial vision to dream site reality.
2. Your web designer will get your project done in a predictable and timely manner
Yup - on a schedule. This may be one of the most important reasons to work with an experienced web designer. Most web design contracts will have a set time frame, essentially forcing the project to be completed on schedule. When you’re launching your business, coordinating on-boarding of clients, and planning your social strategy, predictable time of site launch is a game changer, unlocking your ability to plan your other business objectives around this date.
It’s also worth mentioning that by committing to working with a web designer and entering into a time-limited working agreement, your committing to getting your site DONE. As in, it will actually exist, rather than remaining some nebulous “someday” vision out in the ether, separated by endless threads on DIY options and paygates on pretty much every tool you’re lured into trying. Yes, you’ll have to keep pace with your designer, being ready to hand over your deliverables (like branding details, site copy, and imagery) according to their schedule. Ideally, you’ll have this ready before you kick off a web design sprint. But that will get you all the more closer to getting your site live and out there, ready to serve as your digital home to warm up your clients before you meet them.
3. You’ll save a TON of time (and money)
Yes, there are thousands of tools to help you DIY your website. Yes, most of them are fairly intuitive. But good design and functionality are much more than the sum of the tools used to implement them. Chances are, your web designer has spent YEARS working on digital projects, and has a firm grasp on design principles such as visual hierarchy and color compatibility, knows how to design for a positive user experience (conversion rate optimization and digital accessibility (WCAG), anyone?), and is skilled in use of brand personality and digital storytelling. They’ll also know all about domains, web hosting, mobile responsiveness, and how to configure CMS collections (Content Management System, aka how you configure your blog).
So yes, you CAN learn all these things too, but I highly doubt you’ll do all that in two weeks.
Since you’re launching your business, you have a TON of other tasks to sort through, on top of your actual passion: working with your clients, and expanding your skillset. So just as your clients come to you to receive specialized help in supporting their healing goals, I highly recommend you seek out specialized help in accomplishing your business goals.
Its also worth mentioning that your time IS money. There’s always an opportunity-cost to how we choose to invest our time. For instance, every hour your spend learning to DIY your website is an hour your will NOT spend doing your practice or engaging with clients. How much does your average session net you? Will you save this much money in the hours it takes to DIY your web presence? One way I personally like to look at this is, how long will it take me to earn X amount of money (ie: projected cost of project)? Will I be able to DIY the project in that amount of time, to the level of quality that is available from working with a professional? If not, I should probably earn the money in my craft, and then outsource the project.
Lastly, it's not just the dollars per hour ratio: it's also about how you want to spend your time. If the idea of spending hours staring at a screen on a sunny day, scanning a plethora of blogs, youtube videos and Reddit threads in order to fuel an endless trial and error discovery loop just doesn’t sound appealing, then don’t! (Spoiler alert: this is largely how you’ll spend your time if you’re serious about learning web design). Leave that job to your web designer, and spend your time doing what you love to do, whether that’s honing your craft, nurturing new client relationships, or nourishing yourself in all the ways that allow you to work and play as your best self.
4. You’ll get a beautiful final project, born from the fire of your brand’s visual identity system, and designed to communicate with your target audience
I can’t express enough how important intentional design truly is in successfully communicating the right message to the right people. What a web designer does is so much more than sticking your brand colors on some web elements. They’re creating an entire digital home for your future clients to walk in, take a look around, get their pressing questions asked, and ideally successfully vibe check you. This increases your odds of attracting the customers you’re seeking. It also provides them a positive experience with you, before they work with you. Which is a major plus for starting positive client relationships. And lastly…
5. Your site will get DONE (aka, your designer will save you from yourself)
Ok, some explanation here: sometimes we can be a bit too precious with our own work. If it’s our digital brainchild going out into the big scary world, we can err on the side of being a bit too cautious, too perfectionist. And OF COURSE we want to do our best work, to put our best foot forward, and be doubly, triply sure we’re communicating the right message to our people. But there is a point where perfectionism becomes a detriment to our success and professional growth.
You see, a wise friend once told me, “perfect is the enemy of done”. And it’s 100% true: perfect is impossible, therefore perpetual quest to achieve perfect = not done. Two week web development sprint? Done.
Your web designer is NOT you, so they’ll be able to view your digital communication goals from a different angle. They may see things you’ve missed. They’ll have principles and practices you’ve yet to learn about. And most importantly, they’ll work to achieve your project on schedule, taking your site across the finish line on time.
Success to a designer is completing the project on time, within scope, and ending with a satisfied customer. That’s it. Spoiler alert: the ultimate success of your business is NOT your web designer's responsibility. The effectiveness of your website serving as a tool for communication and connection is. So they won’t get bogged down in the swirl of “am I communicating the right thing?” because they’ll be communicating what you tell them to. They can focus on what’s in their lane (design, functionality, accessibility) and you can focus on what’s in yours (honing your craft and using it to support the health and healing of others). The result? Quality website delivered on-time, so you can move on to do more of what you love.
And there you have it - five reasons why it IS still 100% worthwhile to work with a web designer in 2025.
I hope this post has shed some light on the nuance of web design and digital storytelling, and has showcased the value in collaborating with a web designer in the creation of your dream website.
