“How do you keep your business afloat when people can make their own websites nowadays?” This is probably the number one question that freelance web designers get asked when talking about their careers. And the answer isn’t always easy….
It’s true, everyone can build a website nowadays without having to speak to an actual web designer. There are many tools, known as website builders that everyone has probably heard about: Wix, Weebly, Squarespace, etc.
But are those DIY site builders really worth in the long run? We think they’re often the worse choice. If you think the same and want to convince your clients of that too, here are some of the most important arguments.
8 reasons why DIY site building tools are worse than real web designers
1. Custom builds are unique
If you know what you’re looking for, it’s easy to spot a website created by someone who did it with a site-building tool rather than an actual designer. There is a repetitiveness to those sites. That can make them looking boring and bland; just another website like hundreds of others you’ve already seen.
You don’t want people to get that feeling when they visit your site. You want them to feel the uniqueness of your business and your personality through the website. That’s hard to achieve with someone that thousands of people have already used before you.
2. Drag and Drop doesn’t replace design principles
Building a website is more than just looking at a box of puzzle pieces and dragging them together to form a full picture. That’s what website builders make the process seem to be. But it’s not the reality of good web design. Whether it is the right amount of white space to use, the importance of a real call to action or the pathway you want people to take through your site, design principles are an important part of creating a web page. You’re not playing with Legos here.
3. Depending on the success of the platform
When you use a certain platform for creating a website, you automatically become dependent on that platform. Will they update often? Are they going to make sure their websites look good on new mobile devices and operational systems? Will they change their SEO customization if Google updates its policy on how sites get to the top of search results?
The bottom line is, you can’t predict the answer to those questions. You have to put your trust in the provider. And if you have to put your trust in something, it’s better to trust a person you are actually working with than a site for which you’re likely paying very little to nothing.
4. Website builders often retain ownership
To add to that point, keep in mind that DIY site builders often own your web page. You are responsible for management and content, but the providers tend to keep a lot of rights for themselves hidden in the fine print of their terms of service. With a web designer, it is often as simple as paying them to create a website and getting full ownership after you pay for it. In the long run, that’s much less trouble.
5. Building a site for “free” costs clients countless of hours
Building a website for “free” is not actually free. That should be obvious to any business owner, but it doesn’t hurt to remind them. If you own a small to middle business, you surely have better things to do than learn how to build a website. That can take up hundreds of hours of your time. Congrats, you saved a couple thousand dollars, but wasted two months on building a website. That’s just not worth it.
6. DIY sites often perform poorly
There’s the final nail in the coffin of DIY site builders – they’re often simply too slow. The loading speed of a website is one of its most important metrics. It’s often a question of seconds. If a visitor has to spend five seconds waiting for your website to load, they’re extremely likely to close that window before they see anything. A web designer not only knows how to build a website that looks good, they also know how to build one that engages and retains visitors.
Good search engine optimization is another part of that of that skillset. And it is another aspect in which DIY website builders tend to come up short.
Web designers: Use these arguments to convince clients not to use DIY builders. Do you use DIY site creators for special cases or do you actually do it always yourselves? Share your opinion in the comments below!
