We all know the importance of having a solid website when it comes to driving traffic toward your business, and ultimately, driving more profit. But, many business owners feel as though they can accomplish this on their own, unaware of the countless benefits they’ll see just from hiring the right expert.

Here’s why you should use a professional web designer to maximize your ROI:

Get the Branding Right

Your business is your livelihood, right? Well, you most likely want to tell your company’s story the right way and get it right the first time. A professional designer will typically meet with the prospective client to discuss what you want to accomplish — the tone, your products or services, and the action you want your visitors to take.

The designer will help you select the right colors, perhaps a new logo and help with user experience items like navigation, placement of buttons, calls-to-action and more. All these elements work together to influence consumer psychology and can make or break your revenue.

Let’s Face, it Good Design Generally Equals Higher Conversions

Whether we like it or not, looks are important no matter what you’re selling. As much as you may pride yourself on good content, or a really solid product, what gets people in the door is a clean design that presents your information in the best way possible. While the look itself isn’t necessarily the main selling point, a website with good aesthetics and good information keeps consumers engaged so they do want to learn more about your product, and from there, sign up for a newsletter, make a purchase, or contact your company for more information.

Avoid Using Templates for Best Results

When you’re looking for a designer, try to find someone focused on building the right solution for your needs. Using a design from another company’s webpage may mean making sacrifices in functionality when things are sort of forced to fit in with your plan. Look for someone who does original builds like Pronto Marketing.

Good Design Builds Trust

We know looks shouldn’t matter, but the fact is, if your website looks like it’s from 1998, your customers will think your services are also stuck in the same retro days of the internet.

Afterall, you wouldn’t wear sweatpants to a job interview, even though deep down your potential employer knows it’s not really about the clothes.

Better Search Engine Optimization

Going custom with your web design efforts enables your site to be optimized for search engines like Google, Bing and more, right off the bat. Not only do consistent branding, graphic design and other design elements boost search engine ranking, but utilizing responsive design can also help your page climb to the top of the results.

A website with responsive design allows users to access your page whether they are using a mobile phone, tablet or a computer — using the same code. A website without this feature doesn’t boost SEO rankings as quickly because a visit from a smartphone shows up as a separate site than if the user visited on their laptop. Search Engine Journal breaks this down a little further if you’d like to learn more.

Customization Offers More Flexibility

Aside from all the aesthetic benefits, a custom build allows you to keep things as simple, or complex, as you’d like. Your web designer can make things flexible by making it easy to add blog posts or additional content to your site, while also keeping certain parameters locked in so as to keep essential code in place.

A custom developer will start the design process by plugging a specific architecture in place, locking in navigation. In some cases, the developer must be consulted to make changes to the site, whereas others set up the site for the business to take charge. The route you take depends heavily on whether you have employees up to the task, or if you’d rather remain more hands-off.

High Conversions Mean the Site Pays for Itself in the Long Run

While contracting a whole new site rebuild or a new site from scratch will immediately come with a case of sticker shock for most business owners, professional website design is highly recommended for those who can afford it, and this upfront investment is sure to pay off in short order. Yes, you’ll have to do some work yourself, like keeping your content relevant and promoting your webpage through other marketing efforts, but in the end, a good website keeps customers coming back for repeat visits.

Derek Brown is the Managing Director of Pronto Marketing, a provider of outsourced website design and Internet marketing services to small businesses around the world. Previously, Derek was the Director of Marketing Communications for the Mobile Devices Division at Microsoft Corp. and oversaw all marketing disciplines including advertising, branding, Internet marketing and public relations on global efforts.