Should You Hire a Web Designer?

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It's a question contemplated by many, "Should I hire someone to design my site for me?"

While it may seem like the easiest way to get your site up and running, it's not always the best solution.

As a website owner, you want to have complete control over your site. And often times, people who hire someone else to design their site, never take the time to learn how to update it themselves.

So they're left to rely on the person who created their site. And this may not be an ideal solution for everyone -- particularly if you have a site that requires constant updates.

Watch my video below, and then read on for my take on this subject...

Learn The Basics

As I mentioned in the video above, it's important that you learn the basics of web page creation. This doesn't mean you need a degree in web design, but you should know how to do the common tasks like add a link, change the text and do basic updates when you need to.

Grab a copy of a program like Dreamweaver, or if that's not in your budget, try CoffeeCup.

CoffeeCup is a great piece of software for such an affordable price but Dreamweaver is much better and you won't grow out of it as quickly as some of the others. Dreamweaver is definitely the best long-term solution.

Regardless of what program you choose, the best gift you can give yourself is the knowledge of basic web page creation so you're not completely reliant upon a third party.

Outsourcing Is Still OK

I am not against outsourcing completely. There may be times when this is a good idea.

Say you want to create a more complex site with user profiles, interactivity, uploads, etc. These sites generally require a lot more programming than your basic text and picture site. And I don't know about you, but I'm not much into learning how to program.

Then it would be a good idea to hire someone to do this part of your site. However this still does not mean you shouldn't take it upon yourself to learn the basics of web page building. You should still invest in a good piece of software as I mentioned above.

Because once that person has created the design, you will still want to have the know-how so you can continue to maintain your site and make updates when you need and want to.

Try vWorker.com

vWorker.com is an awesome site to use if you need something done that is outside of your realm of expertise. Many people use them to do the initial design for their site and then they continue the upkeep using Dreamweaver or a software program of their choice.

The nice thing about vWorker.com is you don't pay the person until the work is complete and you are satisfied. Plus you can use PayPal.com to pay them. So no worries of some stranger running off with your credit card number because you pay PayPal.com directly and PayPal sends the money to the coder.

So let's say there is an aspect of your site that requires some heavy duty programming. You can outsource that portion to vWorker.com without going through the headaches of learning some hardcore programming.

And if you are going to have them do the initial design for your site. Make sure you communicate with them and understand how to update your site going forward. Let them know what software you are using and be sure to ask any questions about future maintenance.

In Conclusion

No matter what you decide on building your site, I hope you now understand the importance of at least learning the basics of building a web page.

You don't have to become a top notch programmer to build a fantastic site. You can do what I did and buy a template from another site and then use Dreamweaver to maintain it.

Or pay someone at vWorker.com to do the initial design while you continue to do the updates on your own.

The choice is yours.

Just make sure you don't pay someone to design your site and never learn the basics yourself. What if you lose contact with your designer and you're stuck without knowing how to update your site?

I get emails all the time from people who want to update their site but their designer is nowhere to be found and they have no clue on how to make changes to their web pages.

Don't let that happen to you. It's worth taking a month or two to learn the basics. You'll be surprised at what you can learn and you may find the process rather enjoyable. :)

Ready to Begin Your Site?

Now that you've been briefed on the importance of learning the basics, head on over to my Website Creation Options page to learn more about the steps to actually getting your site online.

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