A professional website is a must-have for any modern business. But for startups and small companies, the cost of custom web design can be prohibitive. This leads many to seek out budget web design services advertising rock-bottom prices.
While cheap web design is appealing, it carries significant downside risks if you don’t vet providers carefully. Here are the main red flags to watch out for with cut-rate web design services:
Cookie-Cutter Templates
Cheap web designers rely heavily on pre-made templates assembled with drag-and-drop website builders. While convenient, templates severely limit customization options compared to the original design. This often results in a generic-looking site indistinguishable from competitors using the same template.
Lack of Customization
Related to the dependence on templates, budget web designers often have fixed packages with very limited options for tailoring the site to your specific brand and needs. You get little say over layout, features, images, content, etc. It's their way or the highway.
No Responsiveness
With mobile usage now dominant, a website must dynamically adapt to any screen size. But cheap web designers sometimes cut corners by not making sites responsive. This results in a poor mobile user experience that hurts engagement and conversions.
Hidden Fees
Watch out for bait-and-switch pricing from budget web design services. The advertised price may only cover a barebones site. Critical features like contact forms, ecommerce or blog integration often cost extra. Maintenance and hosting fees down the road also inflate the total cost.
Lack of Original Photography
Unique, high-quality photography brings tremendous value to branding and aesthetics. But cheap web designers rarely offer custom photography, instead relying on generic stock imagery and photos. This can make your site look amateurish.
Poor Page Speed
Optimizing site speed impacts visitor experience, conversions, and search rankings. However cheap web designers rarely take steps to analyze and improve page load times. Your budget site may perform slowly, driving visitors away.
Limited Revisions
Most cheap web design services impose strict limits on the number of revision rounds included, sometimes just 1-2. This prevents fixing issues with functionality or design to your satisfaction after the initial launch.
No Post-Launch Support
Don't expect much help after a cheap web designer hands off your site. Ongoing technical support and maintenance may be severely limited or cost extra. You're largely left to figure things out yourself.
Cutting Corners on Security
Basic security like SSL certificates may be excluded from cheap web design packages or charged as add-ons. But security must be baked into every site from day one. Having gaping vulnerabilities just to save a buck is shortsighted.
Unoptimized Code and SEO
Sloppy, bloated code and lack of SEO best practices like meta tags, alt text, site mapping, and structured data should be automatic red flags when evaluating cheap web designers. Your site’s search visibility suffers badly.
Questionable Expertise
The sad reality is that the most expert web designers don't work cheaply because their skills are in high demand. Budget providers may be new to the game or offshore workers lacking credentials. Vet credentials carefully.
While cost is a factor, your website is too important for cut-rate quality and service. The risks and pitfalls outweigh short-term savings. Be skeptical of web designers advertising rock-bottom rates. Focus your search on affordable web designer who offer transparency and fair pricing for quality work. This minimizes the potential downsides of cheap web design in the long run.
