Website Builders

Are Website Builders a Good Choice?

Any small business web design project could be inexpensive via website builders and a great way to get started with a cheap website but be forewarned that there are many drawbacks. Since most small companies and even small non-profits need a website, searching for an inexpensive website usually starts with website builders. A small business owner might think that the ideal plan for his company might be “drag-and-drop” website builders. As the company grows, this becomes an increasingly unsatisfactory option. Top websites never tend to use such drag-and-drop website builders.

The advertisements for these sound attractive. However, even small business owners may find website builders fail to meet their expectations. Some web design tips and the disadvantages of using a website builder are:

• Website Builders have limited flexibility.
• You will never actually own a site builder website
• Issues using Website Builders for large websites
• Added Expenses
• Unrelated advertising and limited bandwidth/file storage options

Following are various drag-and-drop website builders:

Wix

Reviewers list many disadvantages of Wix. According to Steve Benjamins at Site Builder Report, Wix allows too much freedom for non-designers, displays advertisements unless you are willing to buy one of their premium plans, has a potentially confusing interface, doesn’t allow templates to be changed, and has a lot of poor graphics and templates that must be waded through to get to the good ones. By too much freedom, Benjamins refers to what he calls a “blank canvas editor” that can become “messy and unstructured in the hand of inexperienced designers.” The interface can be confusing because menus will drop anywhere you click, and he is bothered by advertisements that always display in set locations and can’t be moved or closed. Advertising another company or service on your company’s website does not communicate the image of a reputable company and can stand on its own.

Two cons of Wix

Two of the cons of Wix are the pricing plan (and the included advertising) and templates that can’t be changed. In addition, there is no access to the source code, and the maximum depth of navigation is two. Remember, your main goal is to rank and get traffic! We don’t recommend Wix if effective for online marketing and  SEO.

Even the top plan doesn’t allow unlimited file storage, many of the apps are not dedicated apps, and Wix doesn’t allow the user to edit any CSS. But, according to Wix.com, unlimited bandwidth can be purchased. However, Wix’s webpage of price plans displayed a scaling issue with lines overlapping if the browser was too small. Hence users should also wonder if their templates handle scaling well.

Weebly

The following are the disadvantages of Weebly:

• Installation of Softwares
• Site Backup and Modification
• Blog Limitations
• Forum Limitations
• Shared Web Hosting and Blocked Sites
• Image Management – not user-friendly
• Page Management
• Migrating to Weebly and from Weebly
• Weebly’s Terms of Service
• File Deletion

Most of these we have seen before in some form, but a few merit further discussion. Weebly owns the servers and has decided not to allow your private software on their servers and not let you delete any files, including your own. There is a lack of transparency and ease of use, illustrated by the inability to create usable backups (you can look at them but not rebuild starting with them) and images stored strictly with numbers that will not help with SEO and optimization.

Square Space

In a review of Square Space. The two cons are listed as “Adding, and Dragging and dropping Blocks in Square space was slightly buggy in tests, and not as smooth as other business website builders” and “Square spaces Style Editor gives you the ability to customize or style almost everything on the website without going into codes” which “could be a bit overwhelming to beginners. An example of the issues with dragging and dropping did not have the screen automatically scroll from top to bottom. The second con seems to be the problem of having too many choices. Thus having them spend too much time figuring out or playing around with them.

Shopify

Shopify is a paid platform that could be negative for small businesses just starting. In addition, Shopify only accepts payments from certain countries unless you use a payment gateway which will cost you extra money. Also, the method for creating a drop-down menu is over-complicated. Shopify’s other setback is that unless you purchase the $179/month “Unlimited” plan, you will always have a 1 – 2% transaction fee. In addition, not all apps are free. Finally, Shopify can be challenging to customize because, besides HTML and CSS, Shopify has its coding language called Liquid.

Advantages of Website Builders

Of course, there are advantages to using online website builders :

1. Price
2. Little or no need for  Coding
3. Graphics are available
4. Ease of Use
5. E-Commerce capability

As we have seen, the “Price” advantage can be hard to calculate if potentially lost income is included while owners and regular employers develop the site. The right price must also have apps, additional storage, capacity, etc. Avoiding “Programming & Coding” may mean less flexibility as your business grows. It may also mean less careful and logical thought goes into the website. The free “Graphics” that a website builder may provide are available to all users and won’t help brand your website. Finally, “Ease of Use” can vary between website tools and depend on your website’s needs.

Search Engine Optimization

Whether you a small business, an attorney, or a large manufacturing plant, SEO and digital marketing services will be needed to attract customers to your website. This should be on your list. Once your website is up and running, will the website builder give you complete control regarding SEO and Digital Marketing?

Final thoughts on Website Builders

A small business owner should consider the following before choosing a drag-and-drop website development for a small business or even deciding to use one:

Web Design

• Flexibility – Will the website tool provide sufficient flexibility to allow for change? For example, could you change the website color or even the layout? Some lock you into a few templates or once you have chosen a template.
• Design – Will the website tool provide enough guidance, or will the owner (or his designate) have the sufficient design expertise to create an attractive website?
• Ease of Use – Is the user interface understandable to you? The number of people using a website builder can be deceiving. Are they just there because it’s free? Take advantage of free trials to see if this website builder will work for you.
• Room for a Large Website – How many pages will you have, and how much space will be available for your business on the servers?
• Time – Will the time spent on running the business be absorbed by rearranging the website? Will it become a computer game-like addiction?

Ownership & Costs

• Terms of Service – Will your venture fall within the agreed-upon terms of service?
• Ownership – Will your business be well served by renting a website? Could your venture outgrow the website builder?
• Hidden Website Costs – Are the apps your venture needs to be included? Are they available, and how much extra will they cost? Can you have your domain name, and will that be another expense?
• Unrelated Advertising – Is this something your venture can live with? How much extra will you have to pay to avoid advertising your competitor?

Keeping the above in mind, the prospective user can determine if the benefits outweigh these potential disadvantages.