Today, designing a decent website has become easier than ever. There are all kinds of user-friendly website builders like BigCommerce and Site123 that you can use to create any kind of website. However, the problem is that these may not be the ideal options for everyone.
If you want to build a top-quality website that’s customized as per your requirements and offers select features that can’t be easily incorporated with the standard website builders, then you need professional help and professional tools. You may also need to hike your budget but that’s just the price you have to pay to have a spectacular website that has that “wow” that makes it stand apart.
The following are 8 things that you should consider spending money on rather than picking cheaper options:
1. Website Hosting
The web hosting service is the foundation of your entire website. In fact, the choice of service provider alone can make or break your website which is why it’s strongly recommended that you get the best package that you can afford.
To get a bang for your buck, compare the best hosting services for 2019 and see what each one has to offer. There are several things that you should look into including server storage size, FTP Access (extremely important if you want to create your own website pages that you can upload to your website), customer service, cloud features, etc.
2. Logo Design
If you want your website to stand out and look professional, then you must create a unique logo for it. Your logo is important is branding purposes too which means that you can’t afford to skimp with it.
There is a slew of free logo designers on the Internet that you can use. However, if you want a premium design, then approach a professional graphic designer. If that’s too expensive, then you can also use one of the advanced logo designers on the Internet that use new-age technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning. These programs are actually capable of creating truly unique and inspiring designs that you can use.
3. Developers
As mentioned earlier, you can’t count on standard web designing tools if you want more flexibility in your web design and add complex features that can make it better than other generic websites. However, working on the design code yourself can also be a bad idea as web designing itself is a massive undertaking and more suited to professionals.
Professional web designers understand what kind of technologies work best for different websites. They know the web security fundamentals which can protect your website from various online threats, and they can add or remove features on the go as per your changing requirements. So, it’s best to hire a professional rather than try building the website yourself.
4. Email Service Provider
The majority of people use free email services like Gmail or Hotmail, etc. However, if you want to make a good impression with your website, then it’s important that you get your own email domain. Check out the two options:
Which one of these looks more professional? A professional website must have a professional email address. There is no way around it.
5. Content
A web hosting service can provide you server space to host and manage your website, and a website designer can design the website as per your requirements. However, your website can’t work unless it has appropriate content.
There are several things that come under “website content”. There’s images, videos, and of course, the content for website pages. While there are plenty of online platforms like Fiverr and Freelancer where you can find professional content writers and video editors to create the content for you, you should instead approach a digital marketing company that has a good track record. It will be able to offer high-quality services and top-of-the-line content that’s tailored to your requirements.
6. Security
Website security is one of the things that you can’t take any chances with. This is because you can lose your entire website in one cyber attack. Plus, if you lose customer data, then you may also face legal action.
There are several things that you can do to protect your website from online threats and appear user-friendly. For instance, SSL is one of the things that customers want on a website. You can also take appropriate measures to prevent SQL injection and XSS attacks, change the passwords frequently, etc.
7. Live chat or Chatbots
If you want your website visitors to actually stay and do some business, then it’s important that someone is there to give all the information they need about your products. This can be done in two ways: you can either set up a live chat service which can allow the visitors to chat with a customer executive, or you can set up a chatbot which is a virtual AI-powered assistant that can answer most of their standard questions easily.
The first option is more expensive but can add a true “human touch” to the customer experience. The second option is cheaper and available 24/7 but it’s not ideal for all businesses. However, whatever you decide, you must pick at least one of these options if you want to generate high-quality leads.
8. SEO
Search Engine Optimization i.e. SEO is the collection of tools and techniques that are used to improve the visibility of a website in search engine results. So, by implementing the same, you can make your website appear more frequently when the users enter certain keywords in Google Search.
There is a lot of information about SEO on the Internet and you can learn the fundamentals yourself. However, if you want the best results, then you should appoint a professional to do the work for you. Saving money on this isn’t worth it if you are serious about making your website more popular on the Internet.
Quality Comes at a Price
Anyone can make a cheap website these days. However, a quality product requires a decent investment. So, unless you are really cash-strapped, you should try to set aside a good budget for your website before you start. Remember: you never get a second chance to make a first impression.