To say that websites have become a necessity here in 2017 is a laughable understatement. Many of us would go so far as to say that we couldn’t live without the internet, and while this isn’t strictly true, it certainly forms the basis of many people’s livelihoods.

The truth is that today, even the most obscure idea has a chance of making it online. We can, for instance, send a potato in the post. What a miraculous time to be alive! But one thing is for certain – if you want to have the best chance of success, then your online presence should be nothing short of impressive.

Because these days, a business website could well be the only interaction that your customers have with your company. Meaning, if it isn’t intuitive, attractive and easy to comprehend, then your customers may choose to go elsewhere. For this, we have web designers to thank.

But what if web designers didn’t exist? How would that affect those of us today who are looking to build a new website, ecommerce store or other kind of online business? Let’s ponder the scenario.

If Web Designers Didn’t Exist, Then

Websites Would Look the Same as They Did in the Early 90s

Believe it or not, the first websites are now more than 20 years old. The first ever website to exist was published in 1991 by Tim Berners-Lee, and was little more than a page of text. Essentially, it resembled a Word document with hyperlinks. No graphics, no images, no animation – no nothing. How dull.

By the mid 90s, tables and background imagery started seeping into the websites of the time, and by the late 90s, Flash made an appearance and things really started to take off. Of course, all this would have been impossible without the aid of early web designers and developers. Suffice to say, one could argue that if web designers didn’t exist, we’d still have websites that look like this:

Custom Design Would Be Impossible

For the most part, when we decide to build a website, we already have some idea in mind of how we want it to look, feel and behave. When you hire a pro web designer (or web design agency), you know that your website will created to suit your business needs exactly. Ideal.

A good web designer will work closely with you to provide a website that shows off your products and services in the best light, as well as being responsive, up-to-date and professional. Whether you only need a brochure site, or something more tailored, you’re basically going to get exactly what you want.

Unless of course, there are no web designers. At which point, custom design becomes impossible. You have two options – go for the ‘91 look, or use a DIY website builder.

More People Would Use DIY Website Builders

There are more of them out there every year, and their quality varies significantly, from your super basic website builders like Wix and Squarespace, to your open source content management systems (WordPress) and hosted ecommerce store builders (Shopify). Whichever you go for, they are generally an easy and inexpensive route to creating an online presence.

Website builders are, for the most part, pretty foolproof. They have visual page editors that allow you to edit different elements of the website yourself, and usually come with a sleek range of themes. But they rarely give you total freedom and flexibility to do whatever you want. While fine for a brochure site or simple ecommerce setup, anything more complex would usually come under the remit of a professional.

Of course, if we’re being very picky, then we would have to acknowledge that web designers created these website builder themes in the first place. But for the sake of argument, let’s say that themes exist, but there are no longer web designers. Pretty soon, all websites are going to start looking very similar. Variations on a theme, if you will.

Building A Website Would Be Less Expensive – Or Would It?

Well yes, on the face of it, building a website would be less expensive. With a website builder, you often get hosting and domain registration included, often priced somewhere between $30-50 a month.

With software like WordPress, you do have to find the web host yourself, but that will cost perhaps $5 per month. On top of that you have domain registration; this may cost around $10-20 per year.

But we must remember that by choosing the do-it-yourself route, you also have to factor in the time you’ll spend working on it. You will, as the name suggests, be doing it yourself. Whereas, if you hire a professional, the entire website is completed for you, freeing you up to work on other areas of your business.

Getting a web designer to create your website may cost you anything from $2,000 to $100,000 (depending on the nature and scale of your business), but you know you’re getting the real deal. Your website will be finished quickly and what’s more, you won’t have to invest more money down the line with updates and repairs. In terms of what your website can do, the possibilities are limitless compared with the DIY route.

People Would Be More Willing To Take Risks

Low-cost websites certainly lower the barrier to entry for new-starters. If you’ve got a business idea you want to try, you might be willing to explore it for $100-200, but you wouldn’t necessarily commit to spending thousands on a website for an idea you’re just trying out.

For those of us with no web design or development expertise, this wasn’t even an option until fairly recently. Online entrepreneurs are now a thing, and many of them started with nothing. They certainly didn’t have up to $100,000 to invest in a professional website.

If buying and selling is your game, then the next logical step from selling on eBay or Amazon is to have your own ecommerce store. Ecommerce store builders make this relatively easy to achieve, for almost anyone. However, when the risk is lowered, you have many more people trying out ideas, and therefore you have greater competition.

Without the help of professional web designers for those who want a bespoke platform, store owners would likely find it hard to differentiate in a sea of other off-the-shelf websites.

Websites Would Be Horribly Disorganized

We are not all naturally neat and tidy. Just like in our homes and shopping centers, everything on a website should be stored in a logical place. That is, if you want your visitors to be able to find what they’re looking for.

Site navigation is an art all of its own, and what might make sense to you, might not make sense to someone else. Therefore, it’s important to follow universal guidelines that apply across the web, such as grouping products into categories that match user expectations. Navigation not only needs to be logical – it also needs to be consistent.

First impressions matter, particularly when it comes to websites. You have only a few seconds to convince new visitors that your website is worth their time, and if it’s badly organized, well, you may just lose them. Use of color and graphics is also important, not just for appearance, but for understanding and influencing on-site behavior.

You can get so far on your own, but it’s a web designer’s job to make sure that your color scheme, text and navigation are all user-friendly. You don’t want your website to end up looking like this:

Technology Would Overtake

The internet isn’t static. It’s changing all the time, with new code, technologies and best practices surfacing every week. Professional web designers stay abreast of these updates, so you don’t have to. They’re aware of the digital technologies that your website needs, and will be there along the way to help you adapt and make changes.

The problem with many (but not all) DIY website creators is that you may struggle to realize these updates yourself. A system with round-the-clock support may be the nearest you’ll come to keeping your website up-to-date without a web designer. But nothing quite compares to having your own dedicated professional on hand.

As I will discuss in my final point, no website is ever ‘finished’. Ongoing maintenance is required if you want to keep your online business in good working order.

Maintenance Would Be Cumbersome

So as I say: no website is ever truly ‘complete’. If you want to remain relevant and keep your website feeling modern and enjoyable, then regular maintenance is important, nay, critical. And who’s going to handle that maintenance?

When you work with a professional web design freelancer or agency, you benefit from their webmaster services to keep your site functionality and appearance fresh. This is crucial to your ongoing success. As the saying goes: if you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur. From design theory to CSS, web designers keep us from creating websites that make users want to do this:

The average person may not realize the sovereign importance of good web design. Therefore, they do not see the harm that a poor website could be doing to their business. So why take the risk? Luckily, web designers DO exist, and we’re fortunate to have them. While hiring a professional means a higher upfront investment, your chances of a unique quality outcome are much higher.

Kudos to all of the web designers out there, for if it weren’t for you, this web page would probably look like this: