As the world wide recession bites, more busineses are tempted to forego the option of a tailor made web site from a professional web designer and consider the cheaper, "build your own site" template based options available on-line.
Promotional sites that promise high quality, fully functioning websites up and running in minutes at a very low cost are certainly going to catch the eye of any business looking to cut costs during the so called "credit crunch", but could it be a false economy?

Well I obviously have to declare my own bias here: as an independent web designer building bespoke, custom made websites for small business clients, I'm no fan of the on-line web creation wizard sites at the best of times!

However, if margins are tight, is it worth a small business buildng its own website rather than having a quality site purpose built?

Most of these sites promise that you can have a site up and running in under 5 minutes, just like the glossy examples previewed on their portfolio pages. For under £3.00 per month the sites offer what looks to be a top quality website in next to no time, so surely this makes more sense for a small business than paying a couple of hundered pounds for a bespoke site design?

Well that depends on what it is you want from your website.

First of all you will want the site to attract more custom to your core business by making web surfers aware that you exist. Just about any website has the potential to do this, but you need to rank well in the major search engines to stand a chance of attracting visitors, and then custom, in worthwhile numbers.

Any pro' web designer worth his salt will incorporate search engine optimization, vital keywords and some form of stats to measure performance into the very core of the web site design. Having a pro dsign your site gives you and him the opportunity to discuss which words and phrases are most important to your business, and a suitable search engine strategy to ensure that you rank well.

A "build your own" style website is unlikely to offer you the opportunity to set specific and relevant keywords your self. Most of these sites use simple software to automatically generate keywords based on your site content, which does work albeit in a random and haphazard manner! If you want to target certain words for a product promotion, sale or to beat a local rival then these sites are likely to prove wanting all of a sudden.

A pro web designer will also offer you the benefit of his experience and knowledge when it comes to composing your text and content.
Describing what you do, what your company offers and how to get it is not as simple as writing the blurb for a promotional leaflet. Not only are you writing for a web audience with a very limited attention span, you also need to fine tune the content for the search engines to ensure that they pick up on your key elements.

A web designer will advise you, or even redraft your content copy to make sure that happens. Your designer will take the time to get to know your business, check out the on-line competition and offer experienced advice on how to make sure your new site shows up in the search engines.

Of vital importance to any business is that their site looks stylish, trustworthy and professional. A good website will work in conjunction with your existing brand and marketing to ensure a consistent image for your product or company. A bespoke website gives you the opportunity to discuss with a web designer how best to incorporate or amend any existing graphics or artwork you have, or to develope a new look, logo or branding image. With the help of your web dsigner you are in total control of every element of how your business is presented to the world.

Can the same be said for a "ready in 10 minutes" template site? Quite obviously it cant. By its very nature, a template based system allows for only minor alterations to a preset layout and colour scheme. You squeeze your business into a 'one-size fits all' template whether it fits or not!

Sure, you can tweak the colours a bit, and change the font size and style, but the end result will look just like a thousand other template based sites with slightly altered font sizes. Ask yourself are you impressed by an obviously budget, home made website when you are searching for a service or a product on-line.

Are you impressed by a site that looks curiously like a whole bunch of others?Are you encouraged to do business by those strange "stock photography" smiling people photographs that have no obvious relation to the business? Does a quirky layout with Times New Roman fonts enhance your overall impression of the company?

Many people dont look or enquire beyond the initial set up costs of their website, focussing on the immediately apparent difference in price between a template web wizard or a bespoke solution. However, this can prove quite costly in the longer term.

Most web designers will include web hosting in their package, free for at least the first 12 months. Beyond that you can discuss or negotiate the costs of web hosting renewal, and make sure that your package is sufficient for your needs up front.

With some ready made template sites, the on-going hosting costs are the sting in the tail. I have dealt with clients who have decided to commission a bespoke web site with me, after discovering that their yearly hosting renewal costs exceeded my entire design fee! The initial setup cost of less than £50 was far outweighed by an extortionate renewal fee.

It is also wise to check in advance what the company policies are should you wish to transfer your site. Do you have access to the domain control panel for your url? Is there a fee to move or re-direct the web address? Its possible I have only dealt with clients who have used poor quality companies, but several have had extreme difficulty and added expense when trying to move a domain name that they purchased along with their template site.

So lets assume your template wizard style self built site is a huge success. Custom is pouring in and you decide that you wish to expand the project. You may want to add web based sales to the site, or add a messageboard, forum or registered member zone. Perhaps you wish to capitalize on the popularity of your site by carrying fee paying advertisers? Will your template based site allow that?

A custom designed template can be tailored to suit your exact needs before going live, with many features built in by arrangement for future activation. If your business developement means you need to change the fucntion, scope or design of your site in future, you at least know a good web designer, familliar with your business who can oblige!