In our do-it-yourself world, the thought of unnecessarily paying a professional makes many business owners cringe. A website is no exception—a more expensive custom website may seem unnecessary. DIY websites like Wix and Squarespace do offer some advantages for businesses. But what are their limitations?
Pros of a DIY website
- Inexpensive
- Quick to set up
- Visual page editors make site editing easy; many are drag and drop
- Hosting and domain registration often included
- No coding skills needed
Cons of a DIY website:
- Limited customization of design and UX
- Standardized design templates may be used by competitors
- Limited to off-the-shelf functionality with no room for innovation
- Inflexible programming
- Limited support
- A Wix or Squarespace site is proprietary and your files are not portable. Your website stays with the Web provider; if you switch providers or need to add new features not available through the service, you will have to start over. (Read more about domain ownership in Do you Own Your Domain Name?)
- Limited integration options
- Advanced SEO options are limited—focused keywords, H1 headers, limited alt text capability
- Limited data types supported
- Limited number of site pages and page-type content limits
DIY websites may have a place and purpose, but they come with some serious downsides. Professionally designed and developed custom websites will always allow more customization to your brand, deeper programming capabilities, and audience-specific UX than a DIY website.