DIY website builders now occupy a not-so-small corner of the Internet, proclaiming their easy to use services that extraordinarily require no coding experience or tech skills whatsoever.
The allure of DIY websites have many business owners trying their hand at building their own websites to save money. But the truth is, a free DIY website builder will cost much more than hiring a professional website designer.
DIY website builders may appear to be all sunshine and rainbows, but they can quickly lead you down the road of wasted time and frustration. Even if you are tech savvy and have a solid grasp on the basics, there is still a whole slew of mistakes you have to go out of your way to avoid to construct an effective website. If you’re a business owner, you’re time is just too valuable to be spent wrestling with templates and textboxes.
There are a bazillion mistakes to be made when you try to build your own website, but have a look at the five biggest mistakes of DIY websites:
- Search Engine Optimization
If Google can’t find your website, it might as well not exist. A high search engine ranking is important not only because it is free, but it is usually the number one way potential customers will find you on the Internet. If search engines cannot find your site easily, neither will your clients. DIY website builders offer virtually nothing in the way of SEO, meaning you have to piece together the puzzle of this perplexing practice on your own.
- Mobile First
As you’ve probably guessed by the name, mobile first simply means designing a website for mobile use before designing it for the desktop experience. Customers are demanding that your website be mobile responsive as 84% of small businesses who optimized for mobile reported an increase in customers and saw immediate and long-term benefits. DIY websites are not designed with mobile first in mind, which is disappointing to not only your customers, but also to your business and to Google, since the big G favors and prioritizes mobile responsive websites in search algorithms (*cough*SEO*cough*).
- Free Templates
Free website templates can make it easy for you to create a website quickly. However, these templates have no rhyme or reason and contain zero personality, making your website generic and boring. The aesthetics of your website directly affect your potential client’s perception of your business and an ugly website will usher in a massive blow to your credibility. The moral of the story: cheap templates look cheap. Don’t sell yourself short.
- Google Analytics
As the gold standard for website traffic monitoring, Google Analytics collects valuable nuggets of information for you, like number of visitors, how long visitors are staying, how they are getting there, etc. Reviewing your website’s Google Analytics report on a regular basis can shine a light on your strengths and weaknesses and help you determine where your best referral traffic comes from to help measure your efforts. DIY websites don’t include this in their services, so the only thing you will be analyzing is why no one is coming to your website.
- Hacker Protection
Hacking has been at the forefront of too many a news story lately, showing that you cannot take an “ignorance is bliss” approach to protecting your website. DIY websites can be easy targets, so installing Wordfence Security and purchasing an SSL Certificate (like a padlock for usernames, passwords, and credit card info) are necessary measures to be taken. Another precaution is manually installing WordPress and changing the default settings so hackers can’t jump in and wreak havoc all over your business. And yup, you guessed it, DIY websites leave all this fun stuff for you to suss out on your own.
Even if you buckle down and tackle the tedious task of building your own website, there’s still a good chance you will be left extremely disappointed with the outcome of all your hard work. Finding out that your site doesn’t display properly (or at all) will leave you kicking yourself for not hiring a website designer in the first place. DIY websites simply aren’t capable of allowing your business’ website to reach its full potential, so if you want your website to truly represent you, your brand, and your company, then you need to hire a website designer.
Net Designs has the tools, knowledge, and experience to efficiently deliver your message and ultimately help grow your business and boost profits, all while making you look good. If you aren’t using your website to its full potential, contact Net Designs today to get a glimpse of the seemingly endless possibilities your website is capable of fulfilling!
Author: Kendall Dick, Net Designs Blogger
- Why Your Business Website Needs a Blog May 5, 2017
- 15 “Must-Haves” For Your Website April 25, 2017
- Ugly Website? We Can Fix That! April 14, 2017
- What’s the Big Deal About Mobile First? March 13, 2017
- How to Attract More Visitors to Your Website February 27, 2017
- 5 Signs Your Website Needs Work February 16, 2017
- What Is Responsive Design and Why Does My Site Need It? February 1, 2017
- Why Do I Need a Website Designer? January 26, 2017
Net Designs, Wendy Bedell | (269) 428-5016 | wendy.bedell@netdesignsonline.com | Contact