The Pros and Cons of DIY Website Builders

Have you been thinking about creating a website for your business? Well, there is no better time than now. With do-it-yourself website builders, you can create a business site yourself and save on design and development costs.

You don’t need technical knowledge to start and the process is fairly easy. The builder takes care of all the design, development, and backend work for you. However, with all the pros that come with the builder, there are a few cons. We highlight both so you can decide whether to go the website builder route or hire a professional to design your business website.

 

What you need to know before you start

Before you start to look into DIY website builders, you need to determine the purpose of your business website. Most businesses opt for one of the following:

• Brochure: a basic information-based website that provides customers with all the information they need about your business.
• E-commerce: a brochure site plus the functionality for customers to purchase products and services.
• Web application: a complex website that offers application tools for users to use.

You can easily make a brochure and almost any type of e-commerce website with a DIY website builder. For a web application or an e-commerce website that is more complex, for example, similar to Amazon, you will need to look into a web developer to help you design and develop. DIY builders won’t be enough and you will end up wasting time and money trying to build such a site on them.

 

Popular DIY Website Platforms

There are tons of website builders in the market from Wix to Squarespace. The platforms are easy to use and provide plenty of add-ons from shopping carts to animations to meet most businesses’ needs. But keep in mind that these builders aren’t as powerful as WordPress.

WordPress is essentially a content management system that allows you to create a website. It is quite powerful because it offers tons of tools and plug-ins, making it a comprehensive website builder. It offers users website templates and you also have the option to use your design. A reason why it is the most popular DIY platform. One thing to note is that with the templates, it is pretty much what you see is what you get.

Now, let’s look at the pros and cons of a DIY website builder.

 

Pros: Get an online presence at a low cost

Most small and medium-sized businesses look for ways to save costs. Hiring a developer to design and develop your website costs a lot of money, money they can save and invest in other facets of their business. A DIY website builder gives them an online presence at a low cost.

Most website builders charge less than $10 a month and give you access to develop and publish your business website. With WordPress, you can do it for free but are limited to the templates the platform offers. Adding the cost of the domain name and hosting, you can easily set up a website for less than $20 a month. Some builders even offer hosting and domain names within their package price, saving you even more.

 

Pros: You have all the control over the website

Once you get the hang of website-building platforms, managing the website is a lot of fun. The best part is, you have all the control over the website. This eliminates having to deal with a third party to make changes to it. At times there are a lot of communication barriers or creative differences which makes things tough when you don’t have complete control, which wastes a lot of time and money. So, having control is important.

 

Con: Your website will be as innovative and creative as you

Let’s face it, not everyone is creative. There are billions of websites online, and if you want to attract customers, you need to stand out. The lack of creativity may lead to you losing customers because they are tired of the same old template-based websites feeding them information.

Technology today is far more innovative than it was a decade ago. Websites use animation, videos, and other ways to attract and engage customers. So, if you aren’t very creative, your business website will become another website taking up space on the internet without much traffic.

 

Con: Building a website takes time

No matter how easy the website builder may be, designing your website will take time. Yes, the templates help make the process easier, but you will need to fiddle around with design elements. After all, you don’t want to be another basic, template-based website online. You will need to conduct proper research to see what your competitors offer online and develop a site that is unique and offers a bit more. Only then will you be able to generate traffic. So, if you don’t have time to invest in creating the website, you may be better off hiring a website designer to do it for you.

 

Final thoughts

Your decision to build a website on your own or hire a professional depends on the overall goal of the site and the time you have on hand. If your site requires a lot of backend development or you lack creativity then you are better off going to the pros. No matter which route you pick, having a website is essential for your business to succeed. It enables you to reach a wider audience and doesn’t cost you an arm and a leg.