I’m a web designer, so you might expect me to say DIY website builders are terrible. They’re not. Wix, Squarespace and the rest are genuinely good tools, and for lots of businesses they’re the right place to start. But there’s a point where they stop helping and start costing you. Here’s how to spot it.
Where DIY builders shine
- You’re just starting out and need something online this week
- Money is tight and your time isn’t
- You enjoy tinkering and you’re decent with words
- You’re still working out what you sell and who to
If that’s you, go for it. I’d rather you spent your money on getting customers first.
Where it starts to cost you
Your time
The subscription is cheap. The evenings aren’t. If you’re spending hours fiddling with layouts instead of doing paid work, the “cheap” option is quietly expensive.
The words
The builder gives you a nice template. It doesn’t tell you what to say. The words are what turn a visitor into an enquiry, and they’re the hardest part to get right on your own. That’s not a tool problem. It’s a writing problem, and no builder can solve it for you.
Looking like everyone else
Popular templates are popular. If your site looks like three of your competitors’ sites, you’re not giving anyone a reason to pick you.
Renting, not owning
With most DIY builders you’re renting. Stop paying and the site goes, and moving to something else usually means starting again. The sites I build run on WordPress. You own the site, the domain and the content, and there’s no lock-in if you ever want to move on.
Signs you’ve reached the limit
- You keep meaning to update the site but never do
- The site brings in hardly any enquiries on its own
- You want to run ads but don’t trust the site to convert the clicks
- Your business has moved on and the site hasn’t kept up
There’s a longer list in 7 signs your business has outgrown its website.
Moving is less scary than you think
Most people worry about losing what they’ve got. In practice, we keep your domain, carry over anything worth keeping, set up redirects so old links still work, and you check every word before anything goes live.
If you’re curious what a proper site would cost, here’s an honest breakdown, or see what’s included with mine.
