When thinking about the creation of a web , people often get sticker shock when they realize how much a pro web designer charges to design a site. When that happens , the question becomes whether or not the web can be created with a do-it-yourself method . Here are some points to consider when deciding to design a web yourself, hire a pro, or make a compromise between the two. Do It Yourself Issues Consider that there may be some money involved even if you build the site yourself. You'll probably need to get various pieces of software. Some are free , some are very expensive. As with most things, it's often a question of "you get what you pay for" (although not all the time ). You'll at least need three main software apps : * A photo editor such as Photoshop ( about $700) or one of the no-cost substitutes such as Gimp * Some type of HTML and CSS editor such as Dreamweaver (approximately $400) or one of the cheaper or no-cost alternatives such as CoffeeCup or Notepad++ * An FTP client like Filezilla ( free) Even if you choose only free software programs , there are additional money-related considerations. As the saying goes, "time is money", and if you aren't already a pro web designer, then you'll need to invest plenty of time to get the skills needed to make your site. Factor in anywhere from several weeks to several months to obtain the skills you need. How much will that time cost you? If you've got more time than money, then this might be the way to go, but if all that time spent is preventing you from earning money, then it may not make sense at all. Hiring A Pro Obviously, it's going to cost money to hire a pro web designer, but you'll end up with a web that is online within a much shorter period of time, and it probably won't look like something that a 13 year old created in 1995 . The factors to consider here are brief . If you have more money than time, and want a web done right and quickly, hiring a pro is the smart choice. The Other Possibility : Customizing A Template There is a choice that lies somewhere in the middle between Do It Yourself and Hiring a Pro. The key to this option is to begin with a pre-designed template and then customize the colors, pictures , and headers to make it uniquely yours. Essentially, you're using the best of both possibilities ; no-cost or cheap templates from professional designers, plus your own Do It Yourself elbow grease to customize it so that it is unique to you (and not precisely the same as everyone else who picked that same template). Template customization is often the best choice because it reduces both the actual costs as well as the softer time costs. You end up with a nice design, at a very low cost, and it's finished in a short frame of time, which is not a bad compromise!
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If you've wondered whether you should spend the money to hire a professional website designer, or save the costs by taking a DIY site design approach, you'll want to know which factors to consider, and what options are available.
If youd like to learn more about each of these options, read DIY Web Design - Is It Right For You? by Donna Fontenot. Donna is an an online marketing expert who also has a love for all things geeky, including getting her hands dirty with HTML and CSS. Her latest project is a site offering open source HTML5 templates.
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