Can I do it myself?
I was once talking to a large business group about web sites. A hand went up: "Why shouldn't I just download one of those free programs and do it myself?"
Geez, what do you say to that?
Why hire a carpenter, when I can just borrow a hammer and saw
from my neighbor?
The thing is, really, that anything you do is not about the tools. It's about a whole bank of knowledge gained along the way. You don't pay a professional for the stuff he or she has invested in; you pay for all the mistakes they've learned from. You pay so you don't have to make all those mistakes yourself.
And there are other issues: aptitude and time for example. If HTML and Photoshop and design are things that come reasonably easily to you and you enjoy them, designing your own web site may well make sense for you.
But chances are, you're doing this to promote your business, right? And chances are, that business is already more than full time, right? So what are you thinking, considering adding yet another task to your already overburdened schedule? Hire a professional and get it done.
Ideally, a professional web designer will have the following knowledge that will take you far more time than you want to spend to gain:
Design for interactivity
The web is a different world than print or broadcast and it requires a different mindset, an understanding not of how people read but how people surf. What's going to turn them on and off, how to push their buttons and make them see the information you want them to see.
How to crunch graphics
They don't call it the World Wide Wait for nothing. Learning how to make graphics good but small, for quick downloading, is a large part of web design and it's not simple. If you keep someone waiting to see your site, they will go away to another site.
Getting listed on the search engines
This can easily take more time than designing the site. And it's part of the design process, built into the site from the get-go.
But if you're determined to do it yourself, here's some advice: expect to spend some time and money.
Books to read (this list is out of date but these are still pretty good):
- Teach Yourself Web Publishing by Laura Lemay
- Designing Web Graphics by Lynda Weinman
- Creating Killer Web Sites by David Siegel
- Web Pages that Suck by Flanders and Willis
A good site about web design:
Software worth paying money for:
- Adobe Photoshop
- Macromedia Dreamweaver
Some that I really don't like: FrontPage, PageMill.
Good luck. Have fun.