This question has been asked to me before, more than once. The question is, “What’s the difference between using your team and just using that guy in that one department that learned how to do this a few years ago?”
I suppose I’ll just pick two key points which make the real difference:
1. Your staff are most likely working for you full time on their position.
It can be hard for someone to design and develop a website in addition to holding down their current position and for the project to actually push through all of the approvals to get finished.
It is similar to trying to learn a new language. If I want to learn Spanish, I could try to learn it at home, in the car, etc. Or, I can go take professional classes. I learn best in a classroom because the staff there are dedicated to one thing, teaching me how to speak Spanish. When you hire someone for a project, you’ll want it to get done. A professional company will keep you on time and make sure your site is continuously moving through to completion. At Studio98 we have multiple dedicated experts building each website that focus on their specialty, design, development, client training, etc.
The fact is, there’s no way that someone who is not doing it full time can keep up with the latest technology and advancements in design and development and still be focused on the other full time job you originally hired them to do. They are definitely not going to be able to drive the project through to completion on a deadline.
Which leads me to my next point
2. We have Professionals who specialize in websites
The designers at Studio98 that custom build websites have their Masters degree in art or at the least a degree in graphic design. They know how to aesthetically create a professional website that fits your company (which you can see by their many articles in this blog). They do web design day in and day out and can get a gorgeous product quickly. They are not freelancers doing this work on their down-time from their regular day jobs.
After the design, the project goes to dedicated development professionals who do nothing but develop our designs into functioning websites.
The difference is like having your neighbor Joe make your wedding cake with a Betty Crocker box cake recipe after work because he made a cake once for a party, versus hiring a professional baker who specializes in artistic high end cakes. They’ll both bake you a cake, but they may not look the same….
You have to put a priority on your website because it is THE first impression many people get of your company. If they are turned off by a poorly done or unattractive site, you are losing out on new business . You can’t afford to have your website look half done or so-so. The amount of potential clients/income lost from a bad website is far greater than the cost of a PROFESSIONAL company ever would be.
That’s the short answer. If you want a professional site, hire the professionals!