Pros and Cons of “Website Builders” – Should You Do it Yourself or Hire a Pro?

These days, it’s easy for just about anyone to create a basic website. All major hosting providers and domain name registration services have “website builder” services that will let you point and click your way to creating your own website.

But even if today’s website builder software doesn’t require any programming or technical knowledge – there are still some pros and cons to consider. Whether you hire a professional web design company or go to do-it-yourself route, read the following list to see which solution fits you best. It could make a serious difference for your online business!

Do-it-Yourself Website Builders (such as GoDaddy’s Website Tonight, Yahoo Store Builder, Web.com and others)

Pros:
• Can be inexpensive to get started. Some services offer a free 30-day trial.

• Lots of pre-made templates to choose from. These templates serve as the “building blocks” of your website and create an overall look and feel to it. If you’re struggling to think of a layout for your new website, a pre-made template can help give you inspiration.

• Start selling online. Many products, like Yahoo’s Store Builder, enable you to start selling online quickly by answering simple questions about your products.

• User-friendly layout. Most web building software has the simplicity of drag-and-drop features that let you shuffle around the different areas of your page until you’re happy with the result. All requiring no programming language or technical skills.

Cons:
• Limited growth of your business. When you want to add things, such as a coupon code area, live help or a blog, you may find these services too limiting to accommodate your business growth.

• Inflexible design choices – Just because there are lots of templates to choose from can also mean that your site looks just like one of your competitors.

• Larger per-transaction fees – Some online stores will set you up with an e-commerce shopping cart, but they’ll also take up to 7% out of each transaction on top of the monthly fees you already pay them.

Hiring a Professional (Get a Free Quote for your website at iElectrify.com)

Pros:
• Custom website design – Your site will be more unique and memorable and set you apart from your competitors. With a custom web design, you have more flexibility to have the features you want added to your site without upgrading to a larger, more expensive package.

• Knowledgeable support – You are free to ask your web designer any questions at any time, without having to deal with outsourced “tech support”. You can get easy-to-understand, “plain English” answers to all your website questions – which helps you focus on growing your business instead of waiting “on hold” for hours.

• Full content management – Many web designers are specialists in helping you to update and manage your own content, without having to rely on (and pay) your web developer every time you want to make a change. This gives you the freedom to add photos, video, text, new pages and much more to help your company grow and succeed.

Cons:

• Cost can be more at startup – Nearly every web design professional wants to give you a cost-effective way to have a website when you’re just starting out. But you may find that the starting price is a bit high for your growing business.

Since all web designers charge differently and according to different features, you’ll want to get a free quote from each one you’re interested in working with.

• Extra features not included – With the do-it-yourself services, often things such as web hosting and domain registration are included. When you work with a web designer, you’ll need to purchase these items separately (although you can get them cheaper this way). Ask your designer if you’re unsure about how to get web hosting or how to register a domain name. They’ll be glad to help!

More questions? Why not contact iElectrify or get a free quote for your web design now? You may be surprised at how affordable it is!