I was just talking to a client, one I click with very well, and know through a Facebook group.  She’s tech savvy and could probably have redone her website herself, but she said “it wasn’t getting done”. I responded telling her how difficult it is to do your own website and how I truly struggled with my own website.  She phrased it well.

It’s hard to separate what is important when it’s all so close to your heart.

My website took me forever and a day to complete.  I sat and stared at it, wishing it would just appear.  I wrote and rewrote the text.  I spent hours upon hours in Photoshop deciding on and perfecting the images.  And guess what? It needs to be redone now about 18 months later.

The design still works for me but the content was written when I was starting my web business and it was based on what I envisioned my company to be.  I believe in flowing, having a plan but letting organic growth happen.  I envisioned my web business to be high end boutique catering mostly to photographers who were feminine and wanted a elegant brand to match.

Turns out I was wrong.

My client is much more like me.  She is quirky and down to earth.  About half my clients are photographers, maybe a bit more.  The rest are bloggers, wellness professionals, and all sorts of creative entrepreneurs.  I was right about one thing in that most of my clients are women.  I have worked with three men since starting out, all have been wonderful to work with and I by no means object, but I think most of the time I relate to woman business owners better.

My business is about personal connection.  I think it’s SO important that I just get each of my clients… that we can converse, communicate and even have some common ground to laugh a bit here and there.

Why you should hire a professional website designer is because you need someone to be able to step away from what you know about your brand, look at it from fresh eyes, and become a consultant of sorts, working together to create the vision.

This is the most important reason to me.  Yes, you need technical skills, an artistic eye, someone to help organize information (especially if your content is massive).  Having that person by your side to guide you though and keep you on task is the most invaluable part of the process.

And like I said, even as a designer & developer, doing your own site is quite challenging.  You should be spending your time in more productive ways, or heck hanging out at the beach with your little ones!

I will admit there are some times when you shouldn’t hire a web designer. Check out my 3 reasons NOT to hire a website designer article to see if you fall into this group.