One of the most common situations I come across (almost daily) is that a client, or potential client tried to design their own website through a website builder and ultimately realised it’s not quite as simple as it looks.
The issue is that often you’ll have bought your domain through them and you’ll also have found yourself tied into a contract.
Essentially you’re no further forward. Here’s 6 reasons why you should avoid them entirely.
1. Mobile (un)friendly.
By design, the vast majority of these website builders aren’t built to be responsive to mobile devices.
As of October 2020, 48.88% of all internet traffic originated from a mobile device. That means that all your hard work in getting the site to look good from a desktop perspective is only really visible to half of your potential customers. The ones that are mobile responsive have banner ads all over them to promote themselves and it draws attention away from you.
If you owned a bricks and mortar shop, that’d be like ignoring HALF of all of your customers that walked through your door. You simply wouldn’t. Save yourself a boatload of time and double your potential customers by picking one of my plans instead.
2. They don’t index properly for SEO
You’ve done all the work in getting your site to look decent and present itself in the way you’d want to be represented. Now you’ve got to drive people to the website.
Issue is, a lot of these sites are flash based and Google won’t index it. Essentially the technology they’re built on isn’t read by search engines therefore no one can find you via a Google search.
To add insult to injury, you can’t verify your website via Google’s Webmaster tools and view the analytics in their console. Which (you guessed it) impacts the ability to be ranked on Google again.
3. Professionalism & Credibility
You want a website to represent your brand and bring you the credibility your business deserves. If your site is made by a builder the chances are it’s going to have advertisements on it and it’s not going to look like what you had in mind. The chances are it’s not going to give you either professionalism or credibility when completed.
So if you hire a professional (like me!), who’s packages are priced to help small and micro businesses open a digital space it means I’ll create exactly what’s in your mind for you, at a cost that’s not any more expensive than these building technologies.
4. They’re truly horrific to customise.
You’ll get the very, very basic elements of a website for free. Everything else will be locked behind a payment gateway.
Want to display some photos of your team and give them a bio? Pay money. Want to display some testimonials from your customers? More money. Want to add a newsletter subscription mechanism? Dig deep.
By using a professional designer, everything is designed to your specification with absolutely none of the stress or added cost besides what was agreed up-front.
5. Efficiency
Realistically it’s going to take you between 20 and 40 hours to create a site that looks decent enough, functions enough for you and roughly represents your brand.
How much could you do with an extra 20-40 hours with your business? Would it result in more than £349? If so – my most expensive package is saving you money in the form of time.
6. If I didn’t mention it already…
By using these builders you will undoubtably spend more money, either in actual £s or time, building this site rather than letting a professional handle it. My packages start from as little as £99 for the year including the domain and hosting!
Pricing plans to suit every budget.
Whether you’re a micro business selling to friends and family looking to grow or an established SMB looking to grow their digital presence, I have a plan that will work for you.