Your website presence is a crucial part of any business in today’s connected world. Creating a website is not as easy as many people want to believe. So do you hire a professional website builder or use a DYI website builder?

Professional website builders work with you side by side to design a custom site specific to what you need. They are experts who keep up to date with digital marketing changes and trends. They are also current on the numerous “back end” technical things that will separate your digital presence from your competitors.

On the other hand, DIY website builders are cookie cutter programs that allow you to start inserting text, images, slideshows, etc., into a template that become your web pages. You may be familiar with some of them WIX, Weebly, GoDaddy, and FourSquare.

However, building a quality website, so it works for you now and in the future takes more than just a cookie cutter template. There are other things to consider if you are serious about making your website work for you. Here are some reasons why a DYI website builder might not be for your business.

1. You are Locked In:  DIY website builders advertise how easy it is to create a website using their templates. But it is not as easy as they claim, so just in case you get in a jam while using their templates, they have approved web designers to help you. Moreover, it isn’t cheap! Before you know it, the fees have added up to amounts you weren’t expecting. And, in the end, you still have a website built on a template that will look just like thousands of others. Nothing to set your business apart from the crowd.

2.  Difficult to change/Will Not Grow with You: Most of the DYI website builders like Wix feature a variety of templates designed for you to upload photos, copy, headlines, videos, etc. However, what if the result of the first template is not what you wanted. You would think you could just replace all of the content from the first template onto the new one. Unfortunately, all your hard work will have to be repeated using the new template. Talk about frustrating and time-consuming.

3.  You Don’t Own It: This is critical for you to know. When you use a DYI website builder, you may not own your website! This includes the website and all the content you worked hard to put on it. Make sure you read all of the fine print on the agreement because you might not realize this is the way it works.
When you hire a professional web designer, you own your website and everything on it. It belongs to you. If you decide to change who hosts it, you take it with you. If you want to use another designer for a future overhaul, you can because it belongs to you.

4. Lacking SEO:  Content marketing is changing every day. Google changes their algorithms and rules regularly.  Building your website’s presence on search engines is key to your customers and potential customers finding you.

For your business to become more visible to search engines, you need to make regular updates. Blog posts, videos, and page updates let search engines know that you are alive and well, that things are happening in your business, and they should pay attention.

However, there is more to it than just adding content. You need must also have the ability to add things like; title tags, alt tags, and other metadata that search engines use to help index your content.
Make sure that your DIY website builder has these abilities.

A DYI website could hurt your SEO. Poor page structure and missing features, and other “behind the scenes” issues will affect your visibility in search.

When you hire a professional web designer, you are working with an expert who will keep updated on current SEO strategies, work with you to discover what keywords pertain to your business and help design your website to grow as you grow.

Hopefully, this will help you understand the difference between a professional website builder and a DYI template builder.

Invest in your business and invest in a professionally customized website that targets your audience, keeps them engaged and converts them into long lasting customers.

 Cotts, Inc. is a digital marketing agency specializing in helping small businesses. We are located in the small city of Pottsville in Schuylkill County, PA 17901.

We build results-driven websites, expert social media content & strategies, custom interactive kiosk systems, digital signage systems and print campaigns so your business can compete in this digital world.

If your small business needs help with marketing in the digital world, reach out to us, our contact information is:
Website: https://cottsinc.com
Email: cs@cottsinc.com
Phone: 570.399.5662