25 Jan Why you Shouldn’t Use a DIY Website Builder
We’ve all seen those adverts for website builders on Youtube or TV, making it look oh so easy to achieve a professional looking website for your business without having to hire a designer. From first impressions it sounds like a great idea: sign up and pay a small monthly fee, select a template and start building, couldn’t be simpler.
There are, however, a number of downsides to using DIY type website builders over hiring a professional designer and here they are:
User Journey, Search Engine Optimisation and Website Performance
While these titles may not mean much to you, they do mean a lot to the likes of Google and Bing where your website is most likely to be found by potential customers. DIY website builders often use “one size fits all” templates which whilst being handy, often means that things like personalised calls to action, suitable headings and a well thought out user journey are often missed.
Similarly, as your access to the technical running of the site is limited, these website builders don’t provide as many options to carry out search engine optimisation or improve the site speed and performance which can have a huge effect on where you rank in search engines.
It’s far better to hire a website designer who uses open source platforms like WordPress as this means you have complete control and freedom to tweak and optimize the website specifically for your business, target audience and preferred search terms.
Support or a Lack There Of
While website builders like Wix and Amazon storefront claim to be extremely simple to use, unless you are very tech familiar, the chances are that you are going to run into an issue or have a question unique to your project. In comparison to a local designer these companies fall short in their support whilst developing. Most of these companies will run ticketing systems or a knowledgebase usually only addressing generic issues that other people have experienced but getting through to an actual person who can give you advise specific to your problem can be challenging.
When you use a local designer like BlueCoo Creative for, you know that the development of your site is in the capable hands of professional developers who can troubleshoot and problem solve any potential development issues. And if you choose to edit the website yourself, you know we are only a phone call away should you run into a problem.
Ownership
When BlueCoo Creative design a website for a client, it’s completely owned by you, meaning if you wished to move to another host or self-manage the site, you are free to do that – you are in complete control.
When you design a website using a DIY website builder, it is using their own systems, hosted on their own platforms and therefore it is near impossible to move it. If you outgrow your website or require functionality not provided by the DIY builder, you will have to build that entire website again in another platform, wasting a lot of your valuable time and at an expense.
So are DIY Website Builders a Complete Waste of Time?
With all the being said, there is a place for DIY website builders. If you are say a start up company or a hobbyist, and you simply don’t have the budget to create a professional website, a template driven DIY website might be the best option for a temporary online presence until you have the funds available to invest in a better website.
When the time comes that you wish to take it up a gear and really engage your customers and get the most from your website, that’s when we suggest hiring a professional who can guide you through the process and deliver a seamless website that really performs. If you have the ability to do this at the start of your journey to building an online presence, then we advise you save time and money and hire a web design company from the get-go.
Our team at BlueCoo Creative are passionate about high quality web design in Dundee and are on hand to answer any questions about the web design process. For more information on website design in Dundee and throughout Scotland call us on 01382 918525.