Unless you’re an experienced web designer, I wouldn’t recommend creating your first website. However, I also understand that there are times when you don’t have another option… or at least you feel that way.

Let’s break down the pros and cons of designing your own website…

Pros of designing your own website:

• It helps you learn about the platform you’re using
• You’re more likely to edit and maintain your own website
• Keeps your costs down
• You are in complete control

Cons of designing your own website:

• Unless you’re an experienced web designer, there will be limitations in what you can do / how well designed it will be
• Functionality / customizations will be limited (unless you’re also a developer!)
• The copy will most likely suffer (unless you hire a copywriter)
• Your website will probably look templated / generic
• You will most likely “bandaid” all future changes (continuously changing fonts/colors/styles/sections) which can look schizophrenic and confusing as a brand

You can probably now understand why we don’t recommend this approach. The good news is that these aren’t your only choices! You don’t have to start your website from scratch. There are great resources out there to enable you in building your website to give you the support you need.

Check out my blog article on 5 tips to build a website on a budget to learn more about those resources.