Why is it so hard to hire just a website designer?
Designers and agencies typically bundle visuals together with full web development, making it difficult to pay strictly for custom mockups without building the whole site. This forces business owners into a false choice between repetitive, cookie-cutter templates or trying to cobble together a distinct look on their own.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Using WordPress and asking an LLM to build the websiteDid this help you?
- 2building the website independently with AI or templatesDid this help you?
- 3hiring a web agency to find a balance between custom style and familiar user experienceDid this help you?
- 4Searching through website buildersDid this help you?
- 5Checking design galleries like Awwwards for inspirationDid this help you?
- 6Talking to various developers and reviewing their portfoliosDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“It seems like all the websites I see look the same. I'm not just talking about in my space, but in general, they all look super basic, certainly very clean and lean, but they look like corpo templates. It doesn't seem like any creativity went into them.”source ↗
“People who see my site tell me I should update it, but when they give me pointers, they point to the same sterile sites I dislike so much.”source ↗
“How can you stand out, if your website looks exactly the same? I don't want to pay for someone to give me what I probably could just copy myself, with an Ai's help and hate anyway.”source ↗
“So, I'm torn. Do I keep trying to update it myself to my liking? Do I pay someone to try and give me what I like or do I go with some boring, brightly colored, cookie cutter?”source ↗
“I would prefer to see a portfolio of some sort. I’m pretty open but not for something that looks cheap”source ↗
“I would prefer someone that has a portfolio of good quality work. I’ve talked to a lot of developers. So I’m fully aware of how expensive it can get. But I’m not willing to pay for work that doesn’t communicate to my potential consumers.”source ↗
“I don't need somebody to build the website, I need somebody to create the design.”source ↗
“i’m a small business owner and I’ve been on the hunt for a genuinely good quality website, if anyone has experience with someone that has a done great quality work then please let me know.”source ↗
“I’m not interested in weird 🤖 websites or artificial slop, I would like something that looks clean and high tech for my small business.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 2How to build a website from scratch without using AI or Shopify
- 4Why are Shopify themes either too expensive or missing features?
- 16Should I use WordPress or Wix for a new business website?
- 5How to build an online store with no technical background
- 3How do I get actual visitors to my new website?
- 2How to get a traditional Word-style post editor instead of the blank canvas