Who should update your website: you or someone else?

For most small businesses the best answer is a split: you, or someone on your team, make the quick factual changes like hours, prices and photos, and a designer or service handles anything that changes how the site is built. Who should update your website then depends on two things: how often your details change, and how quickly a wrong detail costs you a customer. Here are the four usual arrangements, what each really costs, and the questions that tell you which fits your business.

The four usual arrangements

You do it yourself

The owner logs in and makes changes as needed.

Works well when your editor is simple, the changes are small and you are comfortable at a computer or phone. It is free in money and quick, because nobody else is involved.

Breaks down when you are busy in season, the editor is confusing, or you are the kind of owner who means to do it "this weekend" for six months. The common failure is not a broken site. It is a site that slowly drifts out of date.

A staff member does it

Someone in the office, a family member or a younger employee takes it on.

Works well when that person is organized and has a little time each week. It keeps changes close to the business, so a new special can go up the same afternoon.

Breaks down when that person leaves and nobody else knows the logins, or when they start "improving" the design without your say. Write down the logins and give them an editor role rather than full control.

A freelance designer or local web person

The person who built the site, or a freelancer you hire, makes changes when you ask.

Works well when they reply quickly and charge fairly. You send an email, the change is done. You also get someone who can handle larger jobs, like a new page or a new booking tool.

Breaks down when they get busy, slow down, change careers or disappear, and you discover the site, the domain or the logins are in their name. Small changes can also add up if each one is billed. Ask in advance what a simple change costs and how long it takes. If you have already lost touch with yours, when your web designer disappears explains how to get control back.

A service or care plan

A company handles the site for a monthly fee, or the platform itself includes help.

Works well when the plan clearly includes content changes, they happen within a day or two, and you would rather pay than think about it.

Breaks down when the plan mostly covers technical updates you never see, while content changes are limited or billed extra. Also, leaving can be hard if the site only exists on their system. Read what is included in plain terms before signing; leaving a website agency's monthly plan covers what to check before you commit or cancel.

The real cost of each

Money is only part of it. Weigh three things:

Money. Doing it yourself costs nothing; a designer charges per change or per hour; a plan charges monthly whether you change anything or not.
Your time. Not only the minutes of editing, but writing the email, explaining what you want, checking it was done right.
Delay. How long between "this is wrong" and "it is fixed"? A wrong phone number for a week, or holiday hours that go up after the holiday, is a cost too.

A change that takes you three minutes but takes a designer three days to get to is often more expensive through someone else, even if they do it for free.

Questions that point to the right answer

Answer these honestly:

How often do my details change? A restaurant with weekly specials or a salon with changing staff needs fast, frequent edits. A surveyor whose services never change does not.
What happens if something on the site is wrong for a week? Wrong hours or prices cause real trouble. An old staff photo does not.
Am I comfortable logging in and typing? If yes, keep the quick changes yourself. If not, that is fine; arrange someone dependable.
Do I have someone on the team who could do it? And would they still know how if they were off sick?
Can my current editor be used by a non-expert? If even a capable person struggles with it, the problem is the site. Updating your website yourself lists what should take minutes.
How much do I change in a year? Count the changes you made last year. If it is a handful, paying per change is cheaper than a plan.

A sensible split for most businesses

This arrangement works for a lot of small businesses:

You or a staff member: hours, holiday notices, prices, photos, reviews, a sentence here and there. Anything factual you would otherwise phone through.
Someone technical, when needed: a new page with a new layout, a new booking or payment tool, a change of domain or email, anything that touches how the site works.
The platform: security, backups and keeping the site online, which you should not have to think about.

Handing over without losing control

If someone else will update the site, set it up properly:

Give them their own login rather than sharing yours, so you can remove it later.
Choose the smallest role that lets them do the job.
Agree how they will receive changes (one email address, or a shared list) and how fast you expect them done.
Ask them to tell you when a change is live, so you can check it on your phone.
Keep a list of who has access to what, and review it once a year.

Choosing your setup this week

Count how many website changes you needed in the past year, and what they were.
Decide which of them you could make yourself if the editor allowed it.
Check you hold the logins to the domain, the site and the email.
If someone else updates the site, agree in writing what a small change costs and how fast it happens.
If nobody can update the site easily, that is the real problem to solve.

If the current site is too awkward for anyone but its builder to touch, you can see your site rebuilt first with a panel for the everyday changes, and keep the bigger jobs for whoever you trust with them.