In recent years, we have seen an explosion of new website builders coming onto the market. These builders are great ways to build your very first website. But they’re not perfect for every kind of website.

Below, let’s take a deep look at the question: are website builders worth it?

First, What Are Website Builders?

Website builders are tools that allow you to quickly build a beautiful website without any prior coding knowledge. They usually exist as completely separate platforms, such as Squarespace, Weebly, and Wix, or as add-ons for certain hosting packages. They are mostly used to build smaller websites, as opposed to large-scale content websites.

These online site builders typically allow you to choose a template and drag and drop different elements until you are satisfied with the design. Some are equipped with built-in hosting, while others have to pay for hosting separately.

Advantages of Using a Website Builder

Using a website builder can be quite useful for some kinds of website owners. If you want to create a simple and functional website for as little time as possible, then it’s worth testing. Below, let’s take a look at some of the biggest reasons people decide to use website builders when creating their first website.

1. It’s a quick and efficient way to get your site online.

If you have limited time, the web builder is the way to go. Website builders are designed to make the construction process as quick and efficient as possible. You start the process with a set of pre-designed templates and themes, ready-to-use tools and add-ons, and sometimes even pre-populated content. All you need to do is enter your content and images and print them out.

2. Zero Tech Skills Required for a Gorgeous Site.

Website builders are designed for people who have little or no technical skills. Since website builders mostly use drag-and-drop technology, you can visually arrange your website until you have something you like. You can do things like upload images, change text and font, change color scheme, and more with a simple click of a button. The templates are also designed by professionals, so you are virtually guaranteed to end up with a professional-looking site.

Disadvantages of Using a Website Builder

1. It could be difficult to scale.

With website builders, you are often limited by the size of your site. If you’re trying to build a massive content site, you’re going to have some restrictions on the builder. It’s possible to build sites with hundreds of pages, but you’re going to work against the platform instead of having a tool that supports you. If your goal is to build a massive content website, then you’re much better off using a CMS like WordPress.

2. You don’t have complete control of your site.

With many website builders, you are technically not the owner of your website. It’s more like renting a space on the web instead of buying a virtual property. It’s usually possible if you want to migrate your site, but it’s going to be quite difficult to modify your site without your previous builder.

There is also a chance that your site may be taken down because you do not comply with their terms of service. Since you generally do not have a separate hosting account of your own, the future of your site is out of your control.

3. Overall Functionality Can Be Limited.

With site builders, you’re limited in what you can do with your website. If you want something simple, they’re working perfectly. But if you want to build custom features and have complete control over the future of your site, then you’re going to face the limitations of the platform. If you want to build a heavy site feature, you’re going to have to come up with a workaround or work without a full feature.

Is a Website Builder Right for You?

It’s easy to see why website builders are such a common choice nowadays, especially for beginners who want an online website as soon as possible. However, they are not the best fit for users who are trying to grow a large-scale website.

If you’re unsure, take one for a spin and see if it has the necessary features, but keep in mind that may not be the best choice in the long term.

Does Your Business Need a New Website That Arings in New Business?

Remember, when creating a website you have two equally important audiences: Humans and Google.  Most website designers stick to designing for humans. Why? Because the client wants a beautiful site first, and the designer is interested in making that client happy.  But unfortunately, that’s where most designers stop.  Magnified Media designs sites for both Humans and Google. Why again you ask? The reason is simple – if you don’t make your site Google-friendly, it won’t ever get seen by Humans! Interested in seeing what we can do for your business? Schedule your free Online Presence Audit now.

Using a good website builder is also one of the quickest ways to set up your website. Many free and paid website builders provide simple, drag-and-drop tools that make the creation of a website simple and straightforward.

However, not all website-building tools are the same. Some are more flexible and/or more reliable than others.

1. Wix (Free or $13 and Up)

Wix.com is an all-in-one website-building solution that allows you to build a professional and optimized website on your own. The best thing about Wix is how it delivers its features and how easy it is to grasp the entire platform. No matter your level of experience, you’re going to be able to build a beautiful and functional website that doesn’t lack any essential features.

Key Features:

• Wix Editor. It’s a drag-and-drop website-building tool. It’s fully visual, which means that you can build your website design by moving elements around – no coding skills are required.
• Wix ADI. It’s an artificial intelligence module for website design. Basically, it asks you a range of questions about your idea for the site and then suggests a ready-made website that’s optimized for your needs.
• A fully functional eCommerce module. Wix allows you to add an eCommerce store to your website and sell whatever products or services you wish.
• Wix Logo Maker. A logo is a must-have when building a website. Wix offers its logo maker tool that’s just as easy to use as anything else in Wix.
• 500+ designer-made website templates.
• Good SEO features and social tools.
• A custom domain name.
• Advanced analytics and stats.
• 24/7 phone support in English. Support is also available in other languages during working hours (Monday-Friday from 5 am to 5 pm PST).

2. Constant Contact Builder ($10.00)

Constant Contact is one of the leading players in the email marketing area – offering a functional email delivery service.

They have also entered the website builder market with an interesting, budget-friendly solution for businesses and small stores that need a website quickly.

Key Features:

• A comprehensive AI website design module. The builder will ask you a couple of questions about your site and suggest a whole website design based on your answers (with individual pages and images included in context).
• A visual page-building tool. You can tweak your design by adding new sections on the page and changing the specifics of what they look like.
• A fully-featured eCommerce module.
• A free image library (500,000+ professional images to choose from).
• Built-in integrations with a content delivery network (CDN).
• SEO features and optimizations built-in.
• Integrated with Google My Business.
• Optimized to be viewed on all devices.
• An analytics module.
• A blogging module.
• An integrated logo maker.
• Support is available 24/7 via live chat, email, and also phone on higher plans.

3. WordPress.com (Free or $4 and Up)

WordPress.com is a commercial edition of WordPress open-source software. We discussed open-source WordPress earlier in this roundup when we were talking about the DreamHost website builder.

What you get from WordPress.com is a self-contained website platform that is designed to serve the DIY beginner user.

Key Features:

• An all-in-one platform for building a website yourself and launching it to the public.
• A visual content editor that’s easy to use and supports drag-and-drop.
• A separate design customization interface.
• Hundreds of free and paid website templates.
• A top-of-the-class blogging module.
• An eCommerce module. You can sell products and services. Worldwide payment processing can also be integrated with ease.
• Thousands of add-ons are available. For things like contact forms, collecting leads, subscriptions, backups, and more.
• SEO tools, Mailchimp integration, Google Analytics, and more.
• Advanced reports and website statistics.
• Apps for iOS and Android.
• One-on-one sessions with support staff to help you get started.
• 24/7 live chat support.

4. Squarespace ($12 and Up)

Squarespace is one of the most popular web-building tools out there. It’s also the only website builder to have a Super Bowl ad, which is proof that the company is really confident about its product.

Squarespace is proud of its beautiful designs and intuitive interface. Great if you’re going to build a business website.

Key Features:

• Hundreds of professionally made and award-winning designs to choose from. The designs come in different categories based on the purpose of your site.
• Fully visual and drag-and-drop enabled website editor.
• A blogging module.
• A fully functional eCommerce store module allowing you to sell products (physical and digital, services, and subscriptions).
• A complete all-in-one package of SEO tools.
• Advanced analytics to help you understand what’s going on right now but also what the overall traffic trends of your site are.
• App integrations with Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Google Maps, Unsplash, Zapier, Dropbox, Open Table, Xero, and many others.
• A functional mobile app to work on your site on the go.
• A logo maker.
• 24/7 customer support via live chat and email.

Does Your Business Need a New Website That Brings in New Business?

Remember, when creating a website you have two equally important audiences: Humans and Google.  Most website designers stick to designing for humans. Why? Because the client wants a beautiful site first, and the designer is interested in making that client happy.  But unfortunately, that’s where most designers stop.  Magnified Media designs sites for both Humans and Google. Why again you ask? The reason is simple – if you don’t make your site Google-friendly, it won’t ever get seen by Humans! Interested in seeing what we can do for your business? Schedule your free Online Presence Audit now.

There are so many website builders on the market, how do you know which solution is right for you? In this article, we’re going to help you choose the best website builder.

1. Wix

Wix is a very beginner-friendly website builder that gives you total creative control over your site. Unlike some other builders, it does not sacrifice power or customizability for ease – instead, it combines simple drag-and-drop editing tools with a wide range of features.

It has a free plan and eight premium plans starting at $14 a month. You’ll get over 500 templates to choose from, but choose carefully – you won’t be able to change your template when your site goes live.

2. WordPress

WordPress.com is the basic web-building platform offered by WordPress. WordPress.org, on the other hand, is a more advanced content management system that offers more power but requires more technical expertise. If you’re interested in WordPress.org, check out our WordPress.com vs WordPress.org comparison. But for now, let’s dive into WordPress.com.

WordPress.com is not the easiest website builder to use – in order to make the most of the builder and expand your site, you’ll need to get a grip on some basic coding. WordPress.com has one free plan and four premium plans, ranging from $4 to $45 a month (billed annually).

A lot of features, high-quality blogging tools, and reasonable prices make WordPress.com a great choice. Easier to use than WordPress.org but still unfit for novices, WordPress.com is perfect for bloggers with some technical confidence.

3. GoDaddy

GoDaddy is very user-friendly and the fastest open website builder to create a website. Its design assistance means that you just need to enter your details before GoDaddy creates a customized website for you to customize. Simple layouts and guidance on adding elements to your site make it extremely easy and quick to build.

However, GoDaddy is not the best choice for powerful or complex websites – it may offer speed and simplicity, but this also means that it is not the best choice to build a truly personalized website. GoDaddy may be the best website builder for speed, but its prices aren’t that impressive – plans range from $10 to $25 per month. Luckily, GoDaddy has a very generous one-month free trial, so you can make sure it’s right for you before you sign up.

4. Weebly

Weebly is a simple website builder that nevertheless has a powerful impact when it comes to features – especially e-commerce and blogging. It’s pretty easy to use, but it’s also more limited than its competitors in terms of design and customization.

It has a free plan, and three paid plans ranging from just $6 to $26 per month (billed annually). These cheap starter plans make Weebly one of the most affordable website builders on the market.

5. Squarespace

Squarespace is a sophisticated website builder that has a lot to offer to both creative and business. It’s not the easiest builder to use on the market, but it won’t take long to get used to – it just needs a little more time and patience than Wix.

Where Squarespace really shines is its design template – it’s the best on the market and it’s perfect for creative people who want a visually stunning website. It’s not a matter of style over substance, however – Squarespace also has a wide range of features to give your site the power it needs.

Squarespace also has a free trial of 14 days. If you love the trial and want to sign up, there are four premium plans to choose from, starting at $12 per month.

Does Your Business Need a New Website That Brings in New Business?

Remember, when creating a website you have two equally important audiences: Humans and Google.  Most website designers stick to designing for humans. Why? Because the client wants a beautiful site first, and the designer is interested in making that client happy.  But unfortunately, that’s where most designers stop.  Magnified Media designs sites for both Humans and Google. Why again you ask? The reason is simple – if you don’t make your site Google-friendly, it won’t ever get seen by Humans! Interested in seeing what we can do for your business? Schedule your free Online Presence Audit now.

If website builders like Squarespace, Wix, and Weebly are so affordable, why shouldn’t they all be used? If a professionally designed website could cost more than $10,000 and a website builder costs $50/month, don’t you save more than $9,000 by choosing a website builder?

Not really. The reason is that this is not how much a professionally designed website costs. It’s just how much it will cost you and your business if you don’t have a professionally designed website.

So if you run a professional services business with more than $1 million a year and need help with your professional web design services project, you might be much better off hiring a professional.

Warren Buffett, recognized as the world’s largest investor, says that the most important consideration when it comes to investing is opportunity cost.

Opportunity Cost

Opportunity cost is when you consider not only your return on investment for a specific transaction. But when you compare all the options available, you can determine what is the best overall course of action.

So let’s say you own a construction company, and your average transaction is worth millions of dollars. In scenario A, you use a ‘free’ website builder and don’t pay for your site. In scenario B, you pay $10,000 to a design firm for a professionally designed site. Which one of them is the best value?

In scenario A, you have the hidden cost of the time your employee used to make the site. If the paid employee has taken 100 hours of time to set up the site and the employee is paid $50/hr, then their time needs to be factored in the cost.

In scenario B, if the business lost even one million dollars of contract it might otherwise have won with a more professional-looking site, that cost must also be taken into account.

Advantages of Hiring A Professional Website Designer

Professional Design

You hire a professional when you hire a website designer. Someone whose job is to understand the design of best practices, fonts, colors, harmony, and balance. They also understand the user interface, the information architecture, and how design affects the flow of visitors. All these skills are brought to the table when you hire a professional.

Optimized for conversion

Most templates are not optimized for the conversion of visitors. They really can’t be because they’re trying to appeal to a wide range of user types and can’t be designed to create a clear conversion path tailored to your specific user path. When hiring a web designer, at least when hiring a good one, they will help to structure the design in such a way that it is designed to optimize conversions – which means more leads and more sales.

Ongoing Support

Have you ever been to a live chat with tech support to talk about how you need to update your DNS when you don’t even know what the DNS heck is? Not a lot of fun. When you hire a professional, those problems will go away, and you’ll get to pick up the phone and talk to a human being who will solve those problems for you without being made to feel like a simple tone because you don’t understand tech jargon.

SEO optimized

A good website designer or firm should have knowledge of Search Engine Optimization and be able to perform keyword research, help identify the best keywords to rank, and ensure that your site is tagged and structured to be optimized for those keywords. Most of the website builder platforms have minimal SEO tools.

​

Unique design

Remember the reloaded matrix? Yes, it was a horrible movie. But remember, when Agent Smith started to clone himself, Agent Smith’s matrix was overrun by the sea? Well, that’s how things start to feel about design. All websites are starting to look the same because they are all using the same templates. Hiring a website designer will allow you to have a unique and original design.

Does Your Business Need a New Website That Brings in New Business?

Remember, when creating a website you have two equally important audiences: Humans and Google.  Most website designers stick to designing for humans. Why? Because the client wants a beautiful site first, and the designer is interested in making that client happy.  But unfortunately, that’s where most designers stop.  Magnified Media designs sites for both Humans and Google. Why again you ask? The reason is simple – if you don’t make your site Google-friendly, it won’t ever get seen by Humans! Interested in seeing what we can do for your business? Schedule your free Online Presence Audit now.

Website builders provide an interface for creating a website without any code or design knowledge. This interface includes the editor and the tools needed to drag and drop items such as headers, text, images, videos, buttons, tables, boxes, drawings, forms, etc.

Business websites need quality design, SEO coding, and professional features. Last first impressions. More often than not, consumers will never visit your website twice if you have a cheap design.

The design of your site is not just for aesthetic purposes, according to a study, 4 percent of people believe that the design of the site is the number one factor in determining credibility. So if your purpose for this site is business, you should hire a web designer for higher quality and visual aesthetics.

Not Customizable

If you want a really good website, you need a professional experience. Most website builders are not custom-designed. Their free templates look generic, they may not work on mobile devices, and they do not have additional SEO features. Plus, if you need something extra to be effective, most of the time, it’s impossible. They just feel and look inadequate if you’re looking for a more professional layout.

No Domain Name

Free plans often do not allow you to use a URL of your own. You will be assigned a free URL to use that consists of your business name plus your URL. For example, instead of sarahsbakery.com, you’re going to be stuck with sarahsbakery.wix.com. In all, not very professional.

Slow Loading Time

While the look of your site has a lot to say about your credibility, that’s not all. You also want a website that’s going to load quickly. Sites built using free website builders load too slowly compared to more robustly built websites on paid platforms.

Advertisements

It’s another big one. Many ‘free’ website builders will need ad placements on your site. This is how they justify the freedom of their offer. You’re paying nothing, and they’re going to serve their ads to your people. Some may even go so far as to inject affiliate links into your page. You might get something for free, but it’s going to take you down a notch or five in the eyes of your potential clientele. You might even lose a lot of people along the way who click on these ads, just because you thought you could save a couple of bucks.

Limited storage

Free and paid builders will limit your bandwidth and storage allocation, but with free builders, you get a lot less. You may only have a few megabytes of storage to use, which will severely restrict you in terms of content and prevent you from hosting high-quality images or other media.

Poor Customer Service

Free builders don’t come with the best customer support, so if you have a technical problem, you’re pretty much on your own. The only thing you can do is consult the forums and ask for advice or pray that their support team will respond miraculously to your email.

Does Your Business Need a New Website That Brings in New Business?

Remember, when creating a website you have two equally important audiences: Humans and Google.  Most website designers stick to designing for humans. Why? Because the client wants a beautiful site first, and the designer is interested in making that client happy.  But unfortunately, that’s where most designers stop.  Magnified Media designs sites for both Humans and Google. Why again you ask? The reason is simple – if you don’t make your site Google-friendly, it won’t ever get seen by Humans! Interested in seeing what we can do for your business? Schedule your free Online Presence Audit now.

Website builders are designed to allow novice users to build different types of websites without the need to process design and programming skills. If you don’t know if website builders are worth it, here’s an overview of the benefits of website builders.

Website builders will give you every little you need to build a powerful website. A single professional service helps you to choose a domain name, register your business email address, and provide you with all the software you need to host, customize, and optimize your site. They are also known as Content Management Systems (CMS) because they offer easy content management on the website.

Every site builder has something unique to offer. While some are great at designing a website store, others are found to be better at hosting blogs. There is an explosion in the market of service providers. 

Below, let’s take a look at some of the biggest reasons people decide to use website builders when creating their first website.

It’s a quick and efficient way to get your site online.

If you have limited time, the web builder is the way to go. Website builders are designed to make the construction process as quick and efficient as possible.

You start the process with a set of pre-designed templates and themes, ready-to-use tools and add-ons, and sometimes even pre-populated content. All you need to do is enter your content and images and print them out.

Easy to create.

Website builders can be used by anyone with minimal computer knowledge. They allow you to create a website within a matter of a few hours. Every task is as easy as dragging and dropping as you want for your design. You don’t need to learn more about coding and design to use website builders. Most popular website builders have a simple CMS layout that allows you to arrange the blocks of your website with the utmost ease.

​You can start with a very small budget.

Overall, website builders are an incredibly cheap way to build your website. Instead of having to buy a separate theme and potentially hire a web designer to build your website, you can do it all yourself for a low monthly fee.

Even with higher-paid plans offered by some website builders, they’re still cheaper than hiring outside help. Plus, a lot of web builders (like HostGator’s) are bundled with hosting, domain names, and website technical support.

Support and management.

One might raise the issue of whether website builders are worth it when it comes to offering technical support. But in those aspects, website builders are worth it. They let you get in touch with technical support experts whenever you face a problem or a problem while using the product. The service providers will allow you to conveniently collect a ticket that is decided by the experts. In addition, it is extremely easy to manage your website over time. Not only does the provider provide support by the way, but making changes is a breeze. You don’t have to make elaborate HTML changes, but you can simply use the settings to tweak and update the look of your website. From changing the color scheme, inserting images, deleting sections to changing font sizes, all can be done with just a click of a few buttons.

​Website management tool.

If you’re wondering if web builders are good, you should keep in mind that they’re equipped with web management tools. Running an effective website requires these essentials to ensure the smooth functioning of your website. Subscribing to a website-building service will give you access to several pooled tools, such as statistical and reporting integration, eCommerce, social media, and more. You can say that you get the best out of your website when you choose a website builder.

Does Your Business Need a New Website That Brings in New Business?

Remember, when creating a website you have two equally important audiences: Humans and Google.  Most website designers stick to designing for humans. Why? Because the client wants a beautiful site first, and the designer is interested in making that client happy.  But unfortunately, that’s where most designers stop.  Magnified Media designs sites for both Humans and Google. Why again you ask? The reason is simple – if you don’t make your site Google-friendly, it won’t ever get seen by Humans! Interested in seeing what we can do for your business? Schedule your free Online Presence Audit now.

While this may seem like a perfectly fine option, there are several reasons why using an online website-building service may not be in your best interest. Here are the reasons for this:

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Design

And live in an aesthetic-loving world. Almost every potential customer you get will always choose a professional and unique site on a run-of-the-mill website any day… even if you’re selling the same products! To attract customers, it is important to stand out and call attention to challenge your competition. First impressions are vital and the most successful way to get a beautiful website that suits your business is to have your website professionally developed and designed. There is no opportunity for a unique website with limited design choices that the DIY website builder gives you. Your site will end up looking like thousands of others, all of them using the same template.

Slow Website Speed

Slow websites are bad for visitors, sales, and even search engine rankings. Google knows all about your website, including how long it takes to load it. If it takes a long time to load, you’ll be dinged in the search engines, and probably by your visitors as well.

With companies like Wix and Squarespace, you’re on a server with lots of other people. This creates fewer resources and slower websites that are bad for everyone. Websites should be hosted on a fast server that does not have a large number of other websites hosted on it.

Ownership

If you choose to DIY a website through platforms such as Wix or Squarespace, you choose to give them rights to your website. If, over time, these platforms lose money or decide to close down, your website, along with your hard work, investments, and/or customers, you may have to go through the site. These scenarios are non-existent by choosing a professional developer. Even if your chosen developer closes its doors, it can transfer you and your customers to a new developer without losing their rank.

Flash Based

Another reason that SEO builders are bad about websites is that they are based on Flash. Google and other search engines can’t read Flash, so they don’t know what the website is all about. Not to mention that the Flash is very slow and kind of old-school.

Flash is also very unsafe, it can’t be searched, it doesn’t have text content, and it’s a nightmare for search bots. I strongly suggest staying away from web builders who use Flash.

Cost

It’s a common misconception that you’re saving bucket loads of money by building your website. What most business owners don’t realize is that there are more than just photos paired with text on a successful website. Professionally developed sites initially cost more than DIY sites. What business owners need to remember, though, is that a professionally developed website will attract more customers and make you more money in the long run than any ‘free’ site could ever have.

No Competitor Diversification

With 180,000 other people using the same template, how are you going to differentiate yourself from your competitors? If a customer had a choice between a business with a Wix website or a business with a custom website, who do you think they would choose?

Does Your Business Need a New Website That Brings in New Business?

Remember, when creating a website you have two equally important audiences: Humans and Google.  Most website designers stick to designing for humans. Why? Because the client wants a beautiful site first, and the designer is interested in making that client happy.  But unfortunately, that’s where most designers stop.  Magnified Media designs sites for both Humans and Google. Why again you ask? The reason is simple – if you don’t make your site Google-friendly, it won’t ever get seen by Humans! Interested in seeing what we can do for your business? Schedule your free Online Presence Audit now.

SEO is a set of techniques that help websites rank higher in search engines (e.g. Google or Bing). The final goal is to increase visibility, ideally ranking at the top of the search engines, which means more clicks and more visitors. Unlike paid traffic (e.g. Google AdWords, Facebook Ads, etc.), visitors coming from your SEO efforts (also known as organic traffic) are free of charge.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is so important because it determines whether your website content will attract the audience it deserves. That’s why you need to choose a website builder that not only makes it easy to build a website – it also needs to support your uphill search results.

Use this as the ultimate guide to choosing an SEO website platform in mind.

1. Wix

Known as a drag-and-drop web builder, Wix had a bad reputation when it comes to SEO. However, many of the issues that have plagued Wix in the past have been addressed (such as the inability to customize page titles) and remain a decent choice for most of the needs. It could be appropriate for blogs, personal websites, and certain types of small businesses.

Wix has different prices, ranging from basic domain plans to VIP. Bundled with the plans are $75 ad vouchers, builder apps, and site booster apps that enhance value.

When it comes to SEO, Wix is a fairly standard choice that is acceptable but certainly not remarkable in any way. It gives you some flexibility, it’s easy to use, and it works out of the box. It’s a good first choice, but in the future, you’ll need an upgrade. And if you’re looking for total SEO power, it might be best to search for a more complete platform from the start.

2. WordPress

WordPress is one of the best SEO-friendly website builder platforms out there. WordPress is highly customizable and can be used to build complicated large websites, as well as simple beginner blogs.

The use of the basic WordPress website builder platform for SEO is possible to some extent. However, where WordPress thrives as a platform, there are plugin options. It allows you to customize the level of control you have over many parts of your website, including SEO. There are two major SEO plugins on the market. All in One of the SEO Pack and Yoast. Either of these plugins will help you understand and optimize your SEO websites. 

Yoast has a lot of features. The most helpful one is the ability to let you know your keyword for focus. Yoast’s going to scan your webpage and tell you what you’re doing right and wrong, trying to rank for that specific keyword. It also has a feature that focuses on the overall writing quality of the work, including ‘easy to read,’ which is important for encouraging people to stay on your site.

3. Weebly

Weebly is a straightforward do-it-your-self approach to web building. You can create a free website and the basic tools allow you to edit metadata such as tags and descriptions. There’s a fairly comprehensive help page that will help you with things like metadata optimization and SEO on-page, but as an SEO investment, Weebly doesn’t stack well against its competitors and falls short of its lack of features.

Weebly is a great introduction to website platforms, but it is overshadowed by competitors like WordPress and Wix, which offer more control, customization, and features. It’s one of the easiest platforms to start, store, and affiliate websites. We highly recommend this to our clients who are just starting.​

4. Squarespace

Squarespace is another similar website builder, known for its easy-to-use drag-and-drop tools. They advertise as the best place for beginners to create a website. But what we’re interested in is how good they are for SEO when the site is created. Squarespace has worked on its SEO features in recent years, even earning praise for some of its features, such as clean HTML markup, easy site maps, and customizable page titles. They also allow alt text in images, as well as tags.

All these features are built into Squarespace, making them easily accessible. However, be aware that there are no free options with Squarespace, so you pay for all the features. One of the issues people raise with Squarespace is that while they do have certain SEO features, they sometimes call different names on the site, which means that it’s more difficult for a beginner to understand.

5. Joomla

A free and open-source solution that competes with WordPress. Millions of downloads, lots of developer support, and a great opportunity for businesses of all sizes.

Unfortunately, due to its nature as an open-source platform, it requires extensive developer knowledge to configure its tools for optimal SEO use. There are a lot of settings to change, but once you get the basics, it’s a popular and powerful tool that gives you a lot more control than competing solutions.

Does Your Business Need a New Website That Brings in New Business?

Remember, when creating a website you have two equally important audiences: Humans and Google.  Most website designers stick to designing for humans. Why? Because the client wants a beautiful site first, and the designer is interested in making that client happy.  But unfortunately, that’s where most designers stop.  Magnified Media designs sites for both Humans and Google. Why again you ask? The reason is simple – if you don’t make your site Google-friendly, it won’t ever get seen by Humans! Interested in seeing what we can do for your business? Schedule your free Online Presence Audit now.

Bad SEO

One of the worst parts of using a website builder to create a business website is that the builder is spitting out a jumble of code that isn’t well structured. It doesn’t contain the elements needed to help Google rank websites better.

SEO stands for search engine optimization and its methodology to make your website appear higher in Google and other search engines. There are a lot of SEO parts, but one of the most important parts is SEO on-page. This is the code and structure of the website and has a major impact on the SEO-friendliness of the website.

When you build your site with these website builders, you don’t have control of the code, just the design. You cannot use structured data to increase your local SEO or even add content. Growing your online presence is a big part of getting more online visitors and customers. These website builders do not allow you to create new content, so you rarely rank in Google.

No structure of the website or data

The other issue with only 1 page is that you do not have a website structure that is essential to SEO. When a website is organized nicely and according to a site hierarchy, you make search engines very happy and they’re often going to rank that website higher.

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Not mobile friendly

Mobile devices now account for more than 50 percent of all web traffic worldwide Why DIY Websites are Bad Idea-Responsiveness. This percentage is even higher when you include tablets. Your website must be formatted in a way that provides a good user experience on mobile devices.

The best way to ensure a good mobile user experience is to build a responsive website. This will allow your website to adjust the size and size of the screen used to view it. This is important not only for your user experience but also for your search rankings. Google will penalize websites that are not mobile-friendly, resulting in a lower ranking of search results.

DIY websites are not built using responsive design. This means that you will have a tough time addressing the needs of mobile users, and your website will make search engines poorer.

You could be promoting your competitors.

Let’s face it, there’s nothing free with no strings attached to it. Some of these free website builders and even paid services might have chains attached that you don’t realize. You may have ads placed on your new website, and the worst part is that they might be promoting your competitor. There may also be small text links on the site.

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You don’t own the website.e

Often, when you use a DIY website builder, you won’t own your website. In many cases, the DIY builder may own the design, content, and images used on your website. If you stop paying for their services, you may find that you will not be able to use these assets in the future. This will force you to start and build a new website from scratch.

In addition, when a DIY builder is created, you will not be able to migrate a website to another server. This means that you can’t use another host down the road. Essentially, for the lifetime of that website, you’re stuck on their platform and server.

The website may not be that unique.

After the latest rounds of Google’s search algorithm updates, one of the main things that can affect a site in the search results is how unique the site is. Consider how unique your site would be if you were to build it using a DIY website builder. The design and much of the linking structure will likely be like the hundreds of other sites that have been created using it.

Does Your Business Need a New Website That Brings in New Business?

Remember, when creating a website you have two equally important audiences: Humans and Google.  Most website designers stick to designing for humans. Why? Because the client wants a beautiful site first, and the designer is interested in making that client happy.  But unfortunately, that’s where most designers stop.  Magnified Media designs sites for both Humans and Google. Why again you ask? The reason is simple – if you don’t make your site Google-friendly, it won’t ever get seen by Humans! Interested in seeing what we can do for your business? Schedule your free Online Presence Audit now.

What is a Website Builder?

Unlike custom-designed websites, DIY websites are websites that you can build online from pre-set themes or drag-and-drop templates. Companies such as WordPress provide thousands of free or paid customizable themes and companies such as Wix offer drag-and-drop paid themes that anyone can modify and publish immediately – even if you’re not a web designer. You can also get a drag-and-drop editor from Visual Composer for WordPress, which requires slightly more technical capabilities than Wix but is much more customizable and mobile-friendly.

The downside, huh? DIY websites have limited technological and design capabilities, generally have low-cost hosting, suffer from slow loading times, and often look generic (even with your modifications to a theme).

It may be tempting to try to build your business website when you need an advanced or custom website to achieve your business goals. Having said that, micro-businesses or hobbyists may find value in a DIY solution.

Let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of DIY websites from a variety of angles.

The Pros

• Easier and cleaner design. The main pro of drag-and-drop work is that you can design in HTML or CSS without any knowledge. You don’t need to code anything because you can go to the platform and place headings, text, photos, and email subscription bars. Many of the drag-and-drop website builder platforms also have pre-made templates that already look attractive.
• Support for technology support. Sometimes website builders will have customer service that you can get in touch with for help. If you need technical support, read through the service features and the agreement to choose the best platform.
• Speed. The ease of design means that you can get up and run fast.

The Cons

• Appears generic. Lack of customization can make your site look like a lot of other sites because you’re using templates that a lot of other people use. Take some time to do what you can to personalize to combat this. Play with fonts, colors, photos, and copy to set your site apart from others. You might have to pay a little extra to remove the name and branding of the website builder platform.
• The cost. You pay for the ease of using drag-and-drop web builders. The fee may be monthly compared to, say, a WordPress self-hosted site where the website builder is free and you pay for web hosting. Compare a shop with multiple website builders to see which one fits your budget while giving you the most capabilities.
• Can’t customize the site as much as you can. Lack of customization is where you may encounter problems with your drag-and-drop platform site. There are limits to what you can and can’t do that can make you feel pain.

Does Your Business Need a New Website That Brings in New Business?

Remember, when creating a website you have two equally important audiences: Humans and Google.  Most website designers stick to designing for humans. Why? Because the client wants a beautiful site first, and the designer is interested in making that client happy.  But unfortunately, that’s where most designers stop.  Magnified Media designs sites for both Humans and Google. Why again you ask? The reason is simple – if you don’t make your site Google-friendly, it won’t ever get seen by Humans! Interested in seeing what we can do for your business? Schedule your free Online Presence Audit now.