1. You must know the principles of good design.

It’s easy to visualize what you want your website to look like—but actually sitting down and getting that design “in ink” is another story altogether. Another thing to remember about web design is that it’s a whole different ball game than print design; even great print designers usually need some pro expertise to rely on when it comes to web design.

2. Do you know how to program for the web?

Getting the visual design down is one thing—putting it into action is another. Are you experienced with the latest web code programming & technologies? The rule of thumb is along the lines of “if you can’t write the code by hand, from scratch, you should probably leave it to the pros.”

3. There is no such thing as a quality website designed with point and click software.

A professionally designed website can be managed and edited with web design software, but even the best software options aren’t “newbie” friendly. And the ones that are really basic (i.e. pick your background, colors, some clipart…and that becomes your website), well, let’s just say that these produce really amateur results 99% of the time.

4. Learning web design and web development takes lots of practice.

The best professional designers out there have been doing this for many years—and most have educational backgrounds in design and technology too. That’s not to say you should give up hope of learning web design if it’s something you’re passionate about…but professional design skills take time to acquire.

5. Speaking of time, some folks try and try to create a website…

But they simply run themselves in circles and never get it done because design from scratch does take so much time. By the time one part is done, the first part is obsolete and needs to be reworked; it’s a never ending conundrum. Pro designers have the time, ability, and resources to get in and get the site done in one straight process.

6. Clean code is a must.

There are a lot of hack jobs out there when it comes to websites…some worse than others. With some effort, most of us out there are able to copy and paste snippets of code and other design elements to create something similar to the effect we’re after. But this Frankenstein approach is a total nightmare when it comes to clean, functional code. Without the best quality professional code, you’re at significant risk of a great majority of your visitors landing on a website that looks great on your PC, but is totally broken on theirs. Clean, standards-compliant code is a must for today’s diverse range of devices and web browsers to work seamlessly with your site.

7. Search engine expertise is a major plus when creating a website.

Do you know the ins and outs of how to design and code a website that is built from the ground up to perform well in the search engines? If not, it’s probably a good idea to sit back and seriously consider what your expectations are from your website—if you want traffic, you need to design with the search engines in mind. The pros can help you achieve your traffic goals here.

8. Tables are a thing of the past.

In the old days, it wasn’t that difficult to use what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG) software to create a tables-based design layout. But the thing is, this method of web design has been obsolete since about the year 1999. If you don’t know CSS, then you probably shouldn’t try to build your own professional website. And today, there’s another whole paradigm shift taking place in the languages of the web. The most modern sites are being developed using CSS3, HTML5, JavaScript and other very complex coding technologies.

9. A free website option is usually very limited.

When you think about the options, they’re usually either totally plastered with ads, or are otherwise ill-suited to create a professional website for your organization. In other words, free blogs like Blogger are fine for some personal uses, but they should never be your sole presence for your company or organization—they just weren’t’ designed or intended for this purpose at all. And while Facebook Pages are great for what they are, please, please, never rely on this as your sole presence on the web if you want your visitors and customers to take you seriously.

10. Web designers and developers are here for a reason.

Web design is what they do and their objective is to help you with the task so you don’t have to worry about it. From domains, to hosting, to design, and web programming, this is all very complicated stuff. The era of the do it yourself website is a thing of the past.