What Makes a Good Website?

Many small business owners and freelancers find themselves tempted to use a do-it-yourself website service in order to keep costs low. When deciding whether to use a DIY service or to hire a professional, consider the four most important aspects of a good website:

1. Good Websites Work
2. Good Websites Work for Everybody
3. Good Websites Look Great and Are Easy to Use
4. Good Websites Make You Look Great

Good Websites Work

First of all, a website must work properly from a technical standpoint. Each website must be compatible across different browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, Opera...), and look good on a monitor of any size and resolution, including mobile devices. Every website must also be functional without JavaScript, since some users prefer to disable JavaScript for security reasons.

Professional web designers understand the technical demands that are placed on a website and know how to write standards-based code that will look good on all browsers, monitors, and mobile devices. DIY templates are often created by graphic designers who run their images through code generators that do not consider these technical demands. The resulting code is inflexible and often simply incompatible with certain browsers and devices.

Good Websites Work for Everybody

The content of a website must be accessible to all users. Many layouts break when users change font sizes in their browsers, making them unusable to those with poor vision. For users with more severe impairments, it is important that websites are compatible with screen readers. In addition to these common sense rules, every website should take into consideration the guidelines developed by the Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) in order to accommodate users with special needs.

Flash-based DIY services (like Dynamod) create websites that do not respond to font resizing and contain content that cannot be understood by screen readers. The HTML versions of these sites are somewhat more accessible, but lack all of the design elements and ease-of-use that initially make flash-based websites seem appealing. Furthermore, Flash is not supported on many mobile devices (smart phones, iPads, Kindles, etc.), so users on these devices will automatically be directed to the plain HTML versions.

Good Websites Look Great and Are Easy to Use

Of course, a website must also look good and be easily navigated. We all know that we're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but we do it anyway! If your site easy to use and nice to look at, users will spend more time there absorbing your message or getting to know your product.

Some DIY services can create designs that are visually appealing, but the templates they use are generic, meaning that there is nothing preventing your competitors from essentially duplicating your site for their own purposes. Professional web designers can work with you to create a unique website that brands your product and distinguishes you from everybody else.

WordPress and other blogging plugins are great for creating web-logs, but using them as the basis for non-blogging websites results in a circular navigation interface that feels like a maze to many users. Web designers can advise you on the best underlying structure and navigation interface for your website, which will provide your users with the most friendly and intuitive experience possible so that they can find the information they need about your product or services. Professionals can also create custom WordPress themes for bloggers who want to avoid a cookie-cutter appearance.

Good Websites Make You Look Great

A good website is a lot like a good resume: it will separate you from the crowd by highlighting your strengths, skills, and/or accomplishments. DIY services often lack the flexibility to do this effectively, either because the designs themselves do not suit your materials, or because the services do not allow multimedia integration or behind-the-scenes structure like databases and support for coding languages. In many cases, an inadequate, ugly, or broken website is actually worse for the public image of your business or organization than having no website at all. Professional web designers can create a site that not only meets your needs from a technical standpoint, but also looks good and directs your users to the information and materials that help you put your best foot forward.

Furthermore, entrusting your website to a professional frees up your time so that you can focus on doing what you do best. Hiring a web designer may actually save you money by allowing you to devote your time to building your business or honing your craft.