The first webpage went live on the 6^th of August 1991 dedicated to information made available by Tim Berners- Lee at CERN with a long address http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html outlining how to build webpages and other information. This ushered the phenomena of the world wide web. Today, any business or service professional cannot think of competing in the market without a digital persona as most of the consumers rely on the internet and more recently their mobile handsets to glean information before opting for a service or making a purchase decision.

So, you are thinking of starting a website to represent your work, products or services?

The moment you start searching on how to go about things you are likely to be bombarded with 2 options. Do the website yourself (DIY) or have it done professionally? There is a third hybrid option that will be discussed as well later. This article will mainly discuss how you can come to a decision, the merits and demerits of both while underlining the most important factor, what is the right fit for you?

Making the Decision

It seems like a tough decision to make but is in fact not that daunting. How? Well, the average life of a website is around 3 years as in today’s fast-paced environment the design language and the demands of the customer are fluid and rapidly changing. To keep pace, we recommend a website rebuild every 3 years to ensure you stay fresh and in line with the trends of the day. Any decision you make will not make a permanent impact, remember as long as you offer the product or service in demand at the right price point and the right customer service.

Ask yourself the below and if you answer all or most of them yes then you need a professionally built site for your purpose.

1. Do you need to have more that one page?
2. Do you want to generate revenue from the Web page?
3. Do you want your web page to rank on search engines?
4. Will you rely on your website 80% or more to generate Revenue?
5. Do you struggle with technology at the best of times?

DIY websites can at first view look like amazing propositions that are easy & quick to do and there are advertisements plastered all over, telling you that you can do it.

In reality, it is difficult for an average layperson to build and host a website for commercial purposes. DIY website builders like WIX, Weebly, Squarespace these days offer lots of designs and templates along with simple customizations, “Drag & Drop” Editors and graphics as well. They are a great way to save money and you get an amazing sense of accomplishment once you see your website published.

A DIY website does serve the purpose of a person who wants to showcase his art, design, photo portfolio or bloggers who want to write or professionals who want to showcase and highlight their CVs or small brick & Mortar stores who are just looking for some online presence. They are great in highlighting your potential and reaching out to family & friends or even potential customers. A DIY website can also be used for hosting Brochures, Magazines or sharing your recipes with the world. Depending on your skills it may also be good for a part-time freelancing business that you run out of your home.

DIY Website, is it right for you?

However, it doesn’t serve the purpose of any full-fledged business including freelancing that wants to generate online traffic resulting in people making a purchase decision. A DIY website is dependent on your skills solely and your view of the world including design, content and layout. This may not be keeping in trend or might not be the ideal layout as far as others are concerned. Also due to the skill factors mentioned above the feature on your website will be seriously limited and you have to be restricted to a template that might not be ideal. The main problem no one will highlight is that SEO or search engine optimization is highly required today to rank on any search engines. These websites do no allow you the flexibility, even if you possess the skill to do SEO optimization which will help your ranking. Are you ready to risk losing a lot of business that might come your way by saving on a small amount of money? Ask your self? If you need a car would you build one or rather buy one?

A Professionally designed Website

Despite most website building websites portraying that website building is a one-person job, it’s actually not. When Cipher Solutions builds websites at a minimum we deploy the expertise of 6 people with expert skillsets namely the UX Designer, UI Designer, Web developer, Graphic Designer, Content Writer and an SEO Engineer. This team works on the website together to create a polished piece of art that is stunning visually and offers great functionality and speed.

Consumers these days are smart and easily differentiate the efforts of a professionally built website. The speed and added functionalities make the customer journey smooth and satisfying thereby encouraging your customer to recommend, return and use the website with ease. A professional web design firm in Saudi Arabia these days has the expertise to build anything from a single page website to a complex E-Commerce website. For any business professional or a company a customized site the best and only option for a website as you can look beyond design into marketing aspects and professional web design firms bring in expertise like user experience knowledge that is vital to a high traffic site. In fact, it can be the reason your business gets a boost or you lose customers. A badly built website is hard to use and confusing for a user, which results in the person bouncing or leaving the website to find something else.

A website built by professionals ensures that the customer flow is smooth and can have inbuilt UX functionalities and fine subtleties to attract users to interact with your website more. Statistically a user who had had a positive experience with the website is more likely to recommend your products or services than an unsatisfied user. Therefore, in this digital age of social media where a simple tweet or comment can go viral in a matter of hours, it is paramount for any serious business who wants to scale to have a professionally built website. You would not like a horrible looking storefront with very hard access? Would you? No, so why torture your customers with a bad website. This is an investment that will bring you returns quickly if properly done and will generate leads with very less work. Make your customers Digital Journey a pleasant one!

Lets Discuss the Technology a Bit!

We at Cipher Solutions understand that technology can be daunting to many of us who are not really tech savvy but want to conduct our businesses. But in today’s day and age we need to understand technology basics to ensure that we aren’t taken for a ride by the unscrupulous few.

These days there are abundant technologies that can be deployed to build websites. There is simply no right or wrong technology framework and is entirely dependent on your requirement and suitability for your business. Factors you should consider mainly are your Developers experience, team talents and more importantly cost both tangible and intangible. Also in consideration should be Website performance, maintenance, ease of scaling and more importantly integration with your existing systems. You should ask your potential shortlist of vendors to suggest technologies and then home in on the one suggested to most. Please read our article on Choosing the Right Technology Partner for your Small and Meduim Enterprise to know more.

A website is like a cake with many layers of technologies built in for design, functionalities and performance. It can be broadly classified into Linux or windows based. It all boils down to preference and existing systems. If you have an existing infrastructure that is heavily windows based and are highly invested in windows for the future then it is recommended to go with a windows solution for easier integrations for all other purposes we would advise to go with linux based technologies due to the sheer volume of developers available. Both are cross integratable so there is cause for concern that you are using the wrong technology.

At Cipher Solutions we use different technologies to develop websites dependent on the client preference, infrastructure and their organizations ability to manage the technology. We would not offer to build you a Tesla when you do not have the infrastructure to charge it.

Cipher Solutions is a Saudi based complete software solutions provider offering Web Development, Mobile App development, Customized Management Systems, Cyber Security and industrial solutions. In addition, we also provide support services like Managed Services, Digital Marketing and Business Services to ensure a 360 degree solution. The difference that we bring is that along with the technology we provide Operational, Marketing, Management, Business and Industrial Expertise to ensure the best possible delivery for the customer. We operate from Riyadh but have clients all over Saudi Arabia. Please visit our website www.ciphersol.com to find out how we may assist you.

The strength of CipherSol™ or Cipher solutions lies in the founders who originate from a varied heritage and background, bringing diverse skills to the board, which when combined forms a creative dynamic, generally not found in technology companies. We believe in working with passionate, driven individuals who are on a mission to change the world, who will stop at nothing to help someone, those who are constantly developing themselves and others around them, those who believe in our vision of making everyday lives easier.