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Web development has come a long way over the last decade. New technologies, more sophisticated tooling and an emphasis on users all mean that website experiences have the potential to be exceptional.
There has also been an increase in user-friendly web development platforms that non-developers can use. And while these can be great in certain circumstances, there are a few reasons why you should still use a web developer when creating or refreshing a professional website.
Sure, we’re listening! There are lots of reasons businesses think they don’t need a web developer in order to create or redesign their website.
For many clients, it simply comes down to the budget. Why pay someone to build a site if I can (seemingly) get it done on my own for much cheaper? Cost is a real concern, and often you get what you pay for — whether that end result is good or bad.
It’s important to recognize that having a quality web presence is a cost of doing business in the digital age. Presenting a suboptimal experience is not ideal when it’s often the first point of contact for potential clients or consumers.
Web development companies, like Integrity, have a strategy behind the madness. But for some clients, this can seem like unnecessary steps that take too long. You just want a site built — we can empathize with that.
But process is critical to building a site correctly, one that can be updated with minimal effort and can be serviced by any legitimate developer. If you have a current site that was slapped together you’ve likely already heard from a developer about the challenges you’re facing during a redesign. Early and purposeful process would have avoided that.
So you’ve been burned before. You paid a good amount of money, waited awhile and weren’t pleased with the end result. Unfortunately, this can happen with many web development agencies. They promise each of their clients a unique website with customizations that will launch their businesses to the next level.
In reality they’re often using a single or small set of templates for every single client they have and just repurposing it to save on time and be able to offer a low-cost product. In these situations you likely would have been better off creating the website yourself.
But Integrity is different and we’d like to show you why.
While website builders can be a great option for certain use-cases like personal blogs, content sites or minimal SKU e-commerce companies, only a trained web development team can create and deliver a fully functioning website that can pivot as your user base changes and can integrate across your other internal systems and marketing platforms.
Simply put, a good web developer knows their stuff. They’ve been trained in their field, are often cross-trained in complementary skill sets, and are up-to-date on the latest technologies.
An experienced web developer brings their knowledge with them to everything they do. They’ll listen to your goals and your challenges and craft the right solutions so you’re happy with the end product. Looking for a certain user functionality? Like seamless animations? Need a particular integration? Integrity web developers have you covered.
When building a site in a web builder, it can be easy to create something that you like right now. But what if your needs change? These builders — and those who operate within them — may not have what it takes to create a flexible, adaptable and custom website that grows with you.
An experienced web developer, on the other hand, is constantly thinking about how your site can evolve, as needed. They’re not building your site just for right now: they’re building it for the future.
A web developer, like those at Integrity, aren’t working in a silo. In addition to your own team members, they coordinate with a team of UI/UX designers and SEO strategists to make sure the site is set up to perform optimally in all areas. They work with the right people to ensure that the site isn’t only sound from a development standpoint.
We’re not trying to use scare tactics, but there are a handful of issues that can arise if you don’t have a developer’s eye and input.
This is a biggie. While website builders have come a long way and tend to have some functionality built in to make sure the site is responsive and clean, they’re not perfect. Things get missed or the technology simply can’t accommodate for potential bugs.
A web developer will make sure your site is built on a solid foundation in the first place and also conduct regular reviews, updates and maintenance tasks that keep it running smoothly. No site is meant to last forever, so if your team doesn’t have the bandwidth to QA your site on a regular basis, then you likely are better off with a web developer.
Whether you’ve used a site builder or constructed your site on a CMS like WordPress, there’s a good chance you’ve hooked up plugins to make the site do what you need it to do. However, without the foresight of a web developer, you run the risk of plugins being used as a stop-gap solution. This can add technical debt to your site that spirals into other issues.
For example, say you add in a plugin for the header and footer. On non-developer-built sites, this can use up to 15 different files to work. An experienced web developer can create this with zero new files and only 30-40 lines of code.
By having more experience, a developer is aware of the best and most efficient best practices for getting your site to work as desired.
As previously mentioned, a website that wasn’t built by a web developer can also be too stagnant, with no room to grow (or at least no easy way to grow). You may run into issues down the line, depending on what you need your site to do, that cause it to break or not function well from a user’s perspective.
A web developer will build your site in a way that makes it easy to add on to the site later. This can include making sure it can sustain new plugins or integrations and more.
SEO is a hot topic for good reason. Even if you have the most beautiful site in the world, without it having an SEO strategy — or being capable of propelling one — it’s likely not going to be seen.
While it takes a dedicated SEO specialist to craft and implement a strategy for your site, a web developer can ensure the site is built in a way that supports the technical aspects of SEO and makes it easy to optimize your pages.
You’re not a web developer. You spend your day to day focusing on your own industry and business to make sure you’re up to date on current trends, client needs and consumer expectations.
While you’re keeping track of your business, web development technologies, systems, platforms, plugins, rules and regulations and design capabilities are constantly changing. If you don’t know what your options are, how will you leverage them?
Integrity web developers are immersed in their speciality and as opportunities arise, we bring them up to our clients to ensure they’re staying in line — if not ahead — of the pack.
Your website is often the first impression users have of your business or organization, so it’s not always the best approach to get it done on the cheap. By working with Integrity’s St. Louis web development agency, we’ll get to know your needs and wishlist for your new site.
Our developers will take the right approach to ensure the site achieves your goals, is flexible and easy to manage.
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Looking to embark on a new or redesigned website project? Integrity has the web development expertise to get the job done right. Contact our St. Louis web development company to get started.
If you’re looking for a web developer job, take a look at our open positions!
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