If you think a brand new website design has to be expensive, think again. Haven’t you heard? There are millions of ways to get a free website design. Seriously, I just did a web search for “Free Website Design” and got 185,000,000 results in about a second. Try it yourself, but beware, there is always a catch. The catch here: you get what you pay for.

But you’re not interested in a free website; that’s not what caught your eye about this article. You know that a free website means it will have no security, probably won’t look very good, and will have absolutely no built-in optimization methods. And you’ll probably struggle with it over and over again until you’re so completely frustrated that you’ll break out that pocket book and go on the hunt for a professional web designer. Or maybe you’ve already experienced that and baulking at the cost of a professionally designed website. And that is why you are here, to know the secret to saving money on your new website design. So without further delay, here are 5 simple ways to save money when hiring someone to build and design your new website.

1. Keep It Simple

As a designer, a lot of my time is spent taking complicated concepts and simplifying them. But did you know that simplifying your website could end up saving you a lot of money? The number of pages your website has can effect the cost. You can consolidate topics to save space, like having an about page that doesn’t just tell your audience your story, but also could contain your team members, or your company goals, even your methodology. Spend some time eliminating some of the excess fluff, and think about what’s really necessary.

2. Add a Blog to Your Site

If I just told you that less pages can save you money, how can adding one do the same thing, you might ask? Let me explain. A Blog is a feature that allows you to expand your website without having to add code. You can add endless content to your site with a blog and never have to involve a developer to do so. If you were already planning on making your site expansive with rich and smart content, you can add it via a Blog instead of more pages. You can even disguise a Blog as something else, for example, an events page. The possibilities are endless, and cheap as dirt.

3. Take Pictures Yourself

You might already be aware of how expensive it is to hire a professional photographer, and also how important it is, but that doesn’t mean all the images you use on your site have to be taken professionally. In fact, self taken imagery can be extremely beneficial to your company’s image; it can make you seem more personal, approachable, welcoming, and down to Earth. Post a Blog about a company picnic, or take pictures around the office and post them in your About page. They can be of lower quality because web images have to be anyway, for page-load speeds and resolution reasons. Just remember to smile.

4. Write More Content Yourself

No one is more of an expert in your own business than you are. Sure, having an expert content writer is important too, for SEO purposes, but don’t underestimate the value of your own insight. The more involved you are with your own content, the greater the quality, and the less time you’ll have to invest in someone else writing it for you. You will spend less having an expert content writer edit your own writing rather than coming up with topics and writing draft after draft before publishing.

5. Don’t Waste Time With Amateurs

If you’ve ever heard the horror stories of working with amateur web designers and developers, you’d know that it is a huge waste of time. Maybe you’ve had to experience it yourself. Start working with an expert from the get go. You will save money in the long run because you wouldn’t have already lost it to someone who never finished or disappeared with all your deposit. Here’s a hint, don’t meet them at the local coffeeshop for your first meeting, meet at their office, and if they don’t have an office, run!

Written by Jay Kelly