In today’s digital age, you need a website to attract potential customers. But what if you don’t want to pay someone to build a website for you? You can do it yourself! Time to start learning HTML. How hard can it be? Today, we are gonna list the pros and cons of building your own website.
You don’t want to learn how to code? We don’t blame you. You’re not the only one who doesn’t want to pay someone to build your site and doesn’t have the resources to start from scratch.
Fortunately, you have options. There is a large market for do-it-yourself website building, so there are many sites out there designed to help you do exactly that. Website builders like Wix, Duda, and Squarespace has thousands of templates to choose from. You can customize them by dragging and dropping text or pictures onto the page. In no time at all, you have a site that’s ready to bring in the customers.
The Benefits of DIY Website Builders
These sites are easy to use and are less expensive than hiring a web designer.
- Website hosting: If you are starting from scratch, most of these builders allow you to register a domain name. They provide site hosting. If you already have a site, many of these tools can reformat your existing site to bring it to their platform.
- Easy to edit: You will always have access to your own site; no paying a developer every time something needs to change.
- Monitor your social media activity: Many of them also allow you to incorporate social media and to monitor social activity.
- Mobile-friendly: They can even help you to create responsive sites, ones that look good on mobile devices as well as computers.
Website builders are great because they keep everything in one place. You are in charge of your own website and will always have access to it. If you are confident in your ability to keep on top of your site, then this might be a good option to consider.
What Problems Might I Face?
While designing your own website might be a good idea, you may run into problems.
One common complaint about these builders is that they rely heavily on the use of templates. This is great for the inexperienced user who only wants a pretty website, but for others it may be frustrating.
Templates take away much of the customization that web savvy people love. Web builders like WordPress are more sensitive to this need, and make customization a priority.
Another issue that may come up is load times. When your site is being hosted by a company that hosts lots of sites, it may not be as fast as consumers would like it to be.
Keep in mind that 40% of people leave a site if it does not load within 3 seconds, so a slow site can cost you customers. In some cases, web hosts have even gone down for hours, leaving their users without a working website.
You also should not be investing time and effort that you don’t have into a website. There is a purpose to your business, and it probably isn’t to watch your site all day long.
For some companies, having to monitor their own website takes away from their core focus. Stretching yourself too thin doesn’t benefit anyone. If you are going to go with this option then you need to have the resources available to do so.
Which Builder Should I Use?
When it comes down to it, there is no simple answer. Do your research and look into the services that each web builder offers. Make a checklist of things that you absolutely need to get out of your web builder. Does it need to offer hosting?
Do you prefer simple templates or want the option to customize your site more? What’s your budget? Do you need an online store? Compare your options and make sure that you make a decision based on your company’s needs. PC Mag has an excellent article that goes into detail about some of the most popular site builders.
What Next?
It’s important to remember that there is no one size fits all when it comes to website design. Now that you have the facts, do you think building your own site is the best option for you? Do you want to know what else is out there? Download our free guide to discover which option is best for your business.
