It’s a common challenge for business owners to appreciate the expense of hiring a skilled and trustworthy web designer and/or developer whose work will profoundly impact their success. This challenge is particularly true if this is the owner’s first time working on a web project or running a business.
The costs associated with engaging a web professional to create and manage your website can be surprising, as the amount of work and skill required is largely more valuable and involved than perceived by those with no experience with web projects or how critical a website is to one’s business success.
While there are low quality / low cost options available to Australian businesses, there are many downsides that ultimately make these options end up costing the business more in the long run than sticking with a local skilled and trustworthy professional. If you want to understand why you should avoid cheaper options, read why choosing a cheap web designer or developer will cost you more. There are also some tips in that article on how to find a good provider.
Your Target Audience (Customers) Want You to Value Your Web Designer
A web professional will take care of your website and other online systems critical to your business operating effectively, and a good one will ensure your customers enjoy a stable, reliable and engaging experience. Aside from yourself and perhaps a select few within your business, a proficient web designer or developer typically has a deeper understanding of business operations, goals, customer needs and their behaviours than any other provider you’ll have. Their work requires them to appreciate your business’s big picture and intimately understand your industry and audience.
TIP: When engaging potential web designers, look at the questions they ask in your initial briefings and meetings. The best web designers will ask about the behind-the-scenes stuff, like how you do business, and ask for specific insights into your industry and audience. That’s where the real value is for them to identify your specific pain points and needs so they can create a great online solution that has a measurable impact on your business success.
What Does a Web Designer Actually Do?
A web designer focuses on the aesthetics and usability of a website. They ensure your site is visually appealing, user-friendly, and aligned with the brand’s identity. Key knowledge and skills a web designer brings to the table include:
- Graphic Design: Creating visually engaging layouts and graphics.
- User Experience (UX) Design: Ensuring the site is easy to navigate and meets user needs.
- Responsive Design: Ensure the site looks good and functions well on all devices.
- Brand Alignment: Ensuring the website reflects the business’s brand identity and values.
The value a good web designer provides includes improved user engagement, better conversion rates, and a professional image that can attract and retain your customers. Ignoring the benefits of having a professional web designer will mean your customers find the website lacking, and your brand’s reputation and reach will largely be insignificant at best and negative at worst.
What Does a Web Developer Actually Do?
Unlike a web designer, a web developer focuses on the functionality and performance of a website. This expertise can extend beyond your own website and into other online systems your website and business rely on. They ensure that all technical aspects run smoothly and efficiently. Key knowledge and skills a web developer brings to the table include:
- Coding Languages: Proficiency in languages like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and back-end languages such as PHP, Ruby on Rails, or Python.
- Technical Problem Solving: The ability to analyse problems and functional requirements and create technical solutions.
- Database Management: Handling databases to store and manage website data securely.
- Performance Optimisation: Ensuring website availability, fast load times and smooth performance.
- Security: Implementing measures to protect the website from cyber threats.
- Domain & Website Hosting: Deploying the website code and database onto a server and configuring DNS records for email and website access over the internet.
The value of a good web developer includes:
- A stable and secure website.
- Seamless user experience.
- The ability to handle complex problems and develop functionality that provides value to your customers.
When your business’s successful operations rely on these online solutions, the value of a good web developer is made abundantly clear. Many first-time business owners learn this lesson the hard way, when their website goes down due to a technical problem that could have been easily avoided with the right web developer at the helm of their website.
The Hybrid Designer/Developer All in One Web Designer
In 2024, it’s quite common for the terms “web designer” and “web developer” to often overlap, particularly when dealing with freelancers. Many professionals you will encounter will call themselves “web designers” but can, in fact, handle both design and development tasks, opting for this title because most people are familiar with the former title and don’t understand the wide range of skills and knowledge involved.
Ultimately, you should seek a business that provides web services or an individual freelancer(s) who are able to meet your specific requirements and ongoing needs, ensuring comprehensive support and expertise across both Website Design and Development. Read this guide for Australian Businesses that helps answer the question, “Do I need a web designer or developer for my project” if you’re unsure what expertise you need for your project.
The Risks of Not Valuing or Having a Web Designer/Developer
Without a skilled web designer and/or developer, businesses can face several issues, some of the more critical include:
- Poor User Experience: A poorly designed website can frustrate users as they can’t find what they are looking for, leading to high bounce rates, meaning your website becomes ineffective at best.
- Broken Functionality: If your website simply doesn’t work as it should, then it’s likely not meeting the needs of your users. This is a surefire way to lose traffic and customers and damage your brand.
- Security Vulnerabilities: Lack of proper security measures can make the website susceptible to hacks and data breaches, which can lead to data loss and data being compromised, among many other nasty possibilities.
- Downtime: Without regular maintenance of the underlying technology, websites and other connected online systems like email can experience frequent downtime, affecting your business operations and credibility.
- Slow Performance: Unoptimised websites can result in slow load times, driving users away and negatively affecting your SEO, which is critical to your ranking in search engines like Google and Bing.
Example #1 – You Build Your Own Business Website
A business owner creates an eCommerce website by following a YouTube video. This is their first time being exposed to web technology and running an online business, so they design a website that customers find hard to navigate and are suspicious of the non-standard checkout process and missing shipping and delivery information. Customers also notice that the website layout appears broken or distorted and that there are warning messages in their browser about the website being unsafe, ie “No SSL encryption during checkout”.
The website ends up with low traffic due to no SEO setup and very few sales. The business owner decides to close the website down as a failed startup.
Example #2 – No Regular Maintenance On Your Website:
A local retail business ignored the importance of ongoing web maintenance for their eCommerce website. As a result, their professionally built website is hacked, with customer data sold on the dark web, leading to a significant loss of customer trust and revenue. To bring their website back online and secure, they had to hire another web professional who was only able to restore an older version of their site, which meant some order and customer data was permanently lost! The cost of restoring the website and trying to manually reconstruct some of the lost data from other sources ended up costing the business 2-3 times more than what recreating the website from scratch would have cost. The business reported a loss in brand confidence measured by an 80% decrease in ongoing sales, ultimately leading to the business going bust.
Maintenance & Support Retainers in Australia
In Australia, web providers typically offer a range of maintenance and support services, including:
- Regular Updates: Ensuring the website and all plugins are up-to-date.
- Security Monitoring: Regular scans and fixes to prevent security breaches.
- Performance Optimisation: Ongoing improvements to site speed and performance.
- Content Updates: Regular updates to website content as needed.
- Backup Services: Regular backups to prevent data loss.
Average Price Estimates For Website Maintenance & Support in 2024
Website maintenance and support retainers in Australia have a wide range, but for a small business website you’re looking at anywhere from $100 to $500+ per month, depending on the services offered and the complexity of the website. Some providers in Australia, like my company Adeptive, are able to tailor their support retainers around your specific needs and budget (so you only pay for what you need). Others will have set packages that include a bundle of services – these can vary from provider to provider.
Understanding SLAs (Service Level Agreements)
An SLA is a contract between your business and a service provider that outlines the expected level of service, including response times, availability (i.e. 99.999% uptime guarantees – the 5 nines), and performance metrics. It ensures that both parties clearly understand the service standards and responsibilities.
Example #3 – A Business Does Web Maintenance Themselves
A business has a website designer create its website and set up its domain, web hosting, and email accounts but doesn’t see the value in keeping them involved on an ongoing basis. These businesses will then be responsible for their own maintenance or lack thereof. In some cases, this is perfectly justifiable when the owner understands the work they are taking on and the risks involved.
Regular Activities That the Business Owner Would Need to Do
- Manual Updates: Regularly updating the website and plugins. This would include testing the website for broken functionality or errors introduced into the website design. Many owners let the site auto-update but disregard testing and checks to ensure no bugs or issues have been introduced.
- Security Management: Monitoring and fixing security vulnerabilities. This requires knowledge and experience most owners have no awareness of.
- Content Updates: Upload new content to the website and refresh existing content on a regular basis. Many owners do this and miss out on things like SEO metadata, adhering to the website’s design standards or considering the user experience.
- Performance Monitoring: Ensuring the site is running smoothly for users, search engines index the site without access issues, and the website is online and available overall.
- Data backups: Ensure that data is regularly backed up securely and is easily accessible so the website can be restored in an emergency. Most owners assume their website hosting provider has adequate backups set up, when in fact, there may be none in place at all!
Website Issues and Failure in this Scenario:
Without the background knowledge or skills of a professional, the business owner will likely encounter several of the following issues:
- Outdated Software Leads: to security vulnerabilities and potential hacks. Assuming some kind of alert system is in place, the business cannot differentiate between a legitimate security concern and a false positive. Because of this, they can even start to ignore any future security warnings. In the event of a security breach, the damage to your brand and loss of customer confidence in your business can literally make or break it.
- Slow Performance: The website loads slowly or not at all for users who become frustrated, potentially leaving the site and even posting negative comments on social media platforms.
- Bugs and Broken Features: Updates were not applied and tested correctly, causing functionality issues. Users will find clicking buttons popup error messages, and following hyperlinks causes a 404 missing page error messages. These issues negatively impact the user experience and lead to a loss of customer trust.
- Website Getting Stale: The content on the website doesn’t change over time, which means it’s potentially going stale. This can impact SEO, as other websites are refreshing their content regularly. A stale website may also mean that the original design and content no longer meet the needs of your target audience. Websites that have gone stale are usually in need of a refresh.
The Take Away
You can’t expect your audience, whether it’s peers, clients, customers or stakeholders, to take you seriously when you rock up wearing shorts and a singlet (unless that’s your brand identity!). The same concept applies to your website – how you present yourself online matters! First impressions, building trust and reliable/enjoyable relationships is how to win customers over and keep them long term. So, if your website is the online representation of your business, then you need to make sure you’re presenting yourself in the best possible way. If your customer satisfaction and business revenue directly relate to a good user experience, make sure your website is wearing its dancing shoes. A professional and experienced web designer can make that happen.
Regular maintenance and support ensure the smooth operation of your website, protect against potential risks, and enhance the overall user experience. Investing in these professionals can lead to long-term success and stability for your business online because, let’s face it, this is all to ensure your target audience’s needs are taken care of.
