If you need a website for your business, your main options are: Pay a web designer to create one for you, build one yourself using WordPress or a website builder tool or code and build your own site from scratch. Each of these options has its benefits and drawbacks, we’ll look at each option in turn to help you decide which is the best choice for you. 

Getting a website for a business through a web designer 

Web designers are experts in creating websites. They may work alone, or as part of an agency. If you ask a web designer to create your business’s site, they’ll work with you to make sure you get what you need. 

The advantage of using a designer is that someone else will take care of building your site for you. However, there are some elements of the site you may need to work on, such as content and images. It’s possible that your web designer will be happy to create content for you, but they’re likely to charge more for it. 

The biggest disadvantage of using a web designer is the cost. You’ll face paying anywhere between a few hundred and several thousand pounds depending on the size of the project. That’s on top of other costs such as a domain name, hosting and website security. There may also be additional charges if you want to make any sort of change to your site. 

You’ll probably have to wait a while for your website to be built too, it could take from a few weeks to a few months to complete your project. Again, this depends on the size of the site you need. 

Be sure to get quotes from multiple web designers, but don’t just go for the cheapest deal. Before agreeing to anything, you should be sure your chosen designer can deliver what you need at the agreed price. 

Getting a website for your business with WordPress or a site builder 

Creating a business website used to mean either coding it yourself or paying someone to code it for you. 

These days, it’s possible to create a top-quality website without having to touch a single line of code. 

That’s because of website builders and WordPress which both offer people with limited technical skills the opportunity to create their own website. 

The biggest advantage of using WordPress or a website builder to create a website for your business is how quickly it can be done. With these tools, it’s perfectly possible to launch a basic website within 24 hours. With our Website Builder, you just need to pick a template, design your site with the drag and drop tool, add your content and you’re done.

Another advantage is the price, you can get the 123 Reg Website Builder for less than £10, while our cheapest WordPress hosting package starts at less than £5 a month. On top of this, you’ll get a free domain name for a year and a free SSL certificate, plus with Website Builder you don’t need to pay extra for hosting. 

You’ll also be able to update your site yourself whenever you need to. 

The biggest disadvantage to using WordPress or a website builder is that you still need some technical knowledge and design sense to make the most of them. If you know your way around a computer and are quick to learn how to use new apps, you should be fine, but you may encounter stumbling blocks. 

WordPress in particular can sometimes require more advanced technical knowledge, especially if you want to make the most of its most powerful features. This can be a disadvantage if something goes wrong, but it can also be an advantage if you want to build a more complex website. 

As with any website, you’ll also need content and images. If you’re creating a small website and are comfortable writing and with taking images on your smartphone, it’s something you can do yourself. For larger project, you may need to hire someone to help you out. 

Getting a business website by coding and building it from scratch 

These days, there isn’t much point in coding and building your own website from scratch, unless you want to create a large, bespoke enterprise website. Even then, it’s likely you’d want a team along side you. (Or you want to embark on a career as a web designer.)  

Plus, even if you did want to create a bespoke site yourself, you’d probably be best off using a platform like WordPress as the foundations of your website. 

The advantages of coding your own site from scratch are: You’ll get exactly what you want and it should prove to be a rewarding, if challenging, project. 

The disadvantages of coding your own site from scratch are: It will take you a very long time, especially if you’re not able to work on it full time, and you may not be able to finish it if you’ve overestimated your abilities.  

What’s the best way for me to get my business online? 

The best way to get your business online will depend on your budget, your technical skills, how quickly you need a site and the size of your planned site. 

Hiring a web design is the best way to get your business online if: You have a medium to large budget, you have no technical skills at all and you’re willing to wait a while for your site. The size of your site will impact on the amount you need to spend. 

Using a website builder is the best way to get your business online if: You have a small budget, you have basic technical skills (ie able to use a computer/mobile device and apps comfortably), you need a site quickly, you want a small to medium sized site. 

Using WordPress is the best way to get your business online if: You have a small to medium budget, you have some technical skills and are willing to learn more if needed, you need a site quickly (a larger site will take longer to create). The size of your website will impact on the hosting package you need and hence the amount you spend. 

Coding your own website from scratch is highly unlikely to be the best way to get your business online under any circumstances, but it could be a fun project!