Thread by @pearsonified

Paying for web design is *almost certainly* a huge mistake.

Here's the approach you should take instead...

A very wise THREAD based on 14 years of experience with overbuilt, broken, and downright expensive websites:

WHAT YOU WANT:

A totally custom look that fits you or your business.

You're cool. You're interesting. You're special!

You need a design that reflects these obvious truths.

Also, you don't want to look like everyone else—that's super boring!

THE PROBLEM:

You have a TON of idiosyncratic needs/wants.

You may not feel this way now—

"I just need this little thing...and that little thing...and this other thing. It's pretty simple, really!"

Every one of those molehills is, in fact, a mountain.

HERE'S WHY:

Your website isn't just a single thing. It's a bunch of pieces of software that must be cobbled together by...you...or a developer.

All of the complications are rooted in this basic reality.

If and when you get a "complete website," you have to run the damn thing.

HERE'S WHAT WILL HAPPEN:

At some point, you'll want to integrate something new. Maybe make a few tweaks.

And things will break.

Because your website consists of a bunch of "moving parts" that must work together.

Making changes is like removing blocks from a Jenga tower.

When you have a completely custom design, you add a multiplying effect to ALL of your problems:

• Basic issues are tougher to troubleshoot due to your idiosyncratic environment

• Integrations and customizations are directly affected by your custom design.

If your custom design is poorly constructed, certain customizations can become damn near impossible.

Many optimizations can be out of reach, too.

"I'll just hire someone who knows how to do it right."

That person doesn't exist.

And even if they did, you couldn't afford them.

In other words, your custom design is basically the equivalent of painting yourself into a corner.

You made this bed; now you get to sleep in it.

I've seen THOUSANDS of sites suffer this fate.

But nobody wants to accept it because they spent serious $$$ to reach that point.

I don't blame them!

It's tough to spend $2k, $5k, $10k+ and realize you just paid for a high-priced, calcified turd.

I genuinely feel bad for anyone who ends up here.

They needed someone like me to tell them the truth before they made a bunch of bad—and EXPENSIVE—decisions.

HERE'S THE RIGHT APPROACH:

Your design is not your brand.

Your brand is your brand.

You pay for BRANDING:

• Logo
• Font
• Colors
• Vibe

@jackmurphylive did this the right way with Liminal Order (jackmurphylive.com/liminal-order/)

Design = deliver your brand to your audience

@jackmurphylive You don't pay for custom design.

YOU PAY FOR CUSTOM BRANDING.

This is a graphic designer's wheelhouse.

Creating high-performance, optimized websites is NOT an area where designers excel. It's an annoying "add-on" for them.

The result is you end up with a sh*tty website.

@jackmurphylive SO WHAT DO YOU DO?

You pay a low nominal price for a top notch website foundation like Focus:

diythemes.com/focus/

And then you use built-in options to INCORPORATE YOUR BRAND:

• Logo
• Fonts
• Colors

This approach offers nearly unlimited benefits.

@jackmurphylive WHY THIS WINS:

By working with a refined foundation—and not screwing it up with idiosyncratic crap—you (or a designer) can leverage KNOWN PATTERNS to make changes or troubleshoot in the future.

Integrations are easier.

Updates are easier.

EVERYTHING is cheaper.

@jackmurphylive PERHAPS MOST IMPORTANT:

Extensive customization invariably leads to SLOW performance.

You can try to convince yourself this isn't true, but you'll be wrong (and you'll pay handsomely for your wrongness).

@jackmurphylive By leveraging a refined platform—and staying within its defined guardrails—you can preserve performance and make things as easy on yourself as possible in the long run.

The lifetime cost of your website will be many orders of magnitude cheaper.

(And how much is sanity worth?)

@jackmurphylive BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF:

You are not a techie.

You are not a website guru.

YOU ARE GOING TO NEED HELP to get where you want to go.

A highly customized design is only going to complicate things for you and your help.

And it'll make this process far more expensive.

@jackmurphylive TO RECAP:

Do not even *think* about paying for a custom design.

PAY FOR CUSTOM BRANDING.

And then start with a fast, lightweight #WordPress Theme.

Integrate your branding.

Keep the "moving parts" to an absolute minimum.

Champion SPEED, CLARITY, and SIMPLICITY.

@jackmurphylive THE FINAL BLACK PILL:

Visitors to your website don't give a damn about your custom design.

They come to your site for a VERY specific reason—usually for a specific "promise" from a social media feed, email, or search result.

Your job is to serve them quickly and clearly.

@jackmurphylive If your custom design muddies this signal in any way—

• Slow loading times
• Too much crap to scroll through before getting to the meat
• Annoying pop-ups

Then you have failed your end of this informational transaction.

And for what?

To have a fancy design? For your ego?

@jackmurphylive The beautiful irony here is that you'll PAY for your ego trip.

And after getting bit in the a$$, you'll realize everything I said in this thread is true.

And you'll wish you would have listened the first time.

@jackmurphylive IN SUMMARY:

• Do not pay for custom design

• Pay for custom branding!

• Build your website out on FOCUS and incorporate your branding

If you Focus, I can help you 🔥

If you don't, I won't (and neither will anyone else).

diythemes.com