How do you know when it’s time to call in the pros and hire someone to design a professional looking custom website for you?

Most people just purchase a website template from somewhere like StudioPress, and while there’s nothing wrong with that, there comes a point where sooner or later, you outgrow your website and it’s time to step up your game.

There’s something to be said about building your own website. For one, it feels damn good. You get that sense of accomplishment for having done it on your own.

But how do you know when you’ve outgrown your website? How do you know when it’s time to bring in the professionals?

Here are some warning signs it’s time to invest in a professional website design…

1. Looking at your website makes you uncomfortable.
2. It’s difficult to navigate your website (even for you).
3. You have to pay someone to make changes to your website (Note: minor changes, like moving a widget around, should be easy for you to do).
4. Your website looks just like every other website out there. There’s no differentiating traits about it.
5. Site visitors can’t tell what your website is about when they land on your home page. What areas do you service? What type of clients do you work with?
6. You’re getting decent traffic, but your not converting any of that traffic.
7. People are landing on your website, but quickly clicking away (in other words, you have a high bounce rate).
8. It’s difficult to read your content and you can’t easily do anything about it (think white text on a black background).
9. You’re using a glamour shot that’s 10 years old and you haven’t updated your bio in just as long. 
10. You hesitate to share your website URL when people ask you for your website address.
11. There’s no consistency between the color palette of your website and all of your other print marketing (business cards, fliers, et cetera). 
12. When you want to add a new post or page, you have to custom code it.

What’s your biggest challenge right now? What are you currently struggling with to figure out?

P.S. Need a recommendation for an excellent WordPress designer? Let me know, I know more than a few.