You worked hard to become the best at what you do and you want people to know what you offer. Using an online website builder seems like a logical way to reach them, but don’t get sucked in by their glittering promises.
It’s the stuff of marketing legend – “Build a website in just a few minutes for the price of a coffee!” You’ve likely seen a website builder commercial while binge-watching your favorite show or watching the Super Bowl. It’s the stuff of marketing legend – “Build a website in just a few minutes for the price of a coffee!”
A website maker like Wix, GoDaddy or Weebly promises to help you create your own website for cheap. However, these web design tools rake in millions from naive business owners who don’t know the difference between one of their pages and a professional business website.
Luckily for you, we’re going to share with you 15 essential reasons why you should avoid using one of these online website builders to create your business website, saving you time and heartache.
- Frustrating Tools
- Lack of SEO
- Site Ownership
- Mobile Friendly
- Advertisements
- Domain Names
- Ecommerce
- Secure Certificate (SSL)
- Storage and Bandwidth
- Growth and Portability
- Speed and Optimization
- Template Cookie Cutter Websites
- Stand Out, Drive Traffic
- Custom Functionality
- Devalues Your Business
1 Frustrating Tools
You can make your own website in minutes. Everything you could dream is a drag and drop away. A website builder boasts it’s easy to create the business website you’re picturing in your mind. Those are some of the promises implied in commercials and ads.
There is only a glimmer of truth there. When they say create your own website, what they mean is you’re the one responsible for building it. However, website builder tools aren’t always easy to use. Their interfaces aren’t always intuitive. And you’d be surprised how many seemingly basic features are only available when you pay extra.
You’ll likely end up frustrated after searching hours online for answers. You might have to choose between settling for a lackluster business website and giving up when getting stuck leaves you overwhelmed. We believe your business is better than this.
A frustrated Wix user on their support forum.
2 Lack of SEO
Website maker ads often say they offer tools for SEO (search engine optimization), but they really don’t. When your business website is optimized for search engines, your pages are much more likely to rank well on search engines so your customers can find you.
The thing is, when you make your own website using one of these website builder services, you can’t access and modify the components that are most critical to SEO. Sure, maybe you can change your page titles and add a blog post, but you can’t get to your site’s actual code and structure, aspects that truly affect your SEO.
For your business to grow online, people need to find you. An online website builder that lacks SEO features won’t do that for you. This is why our website packages don’t just have this standard, it’s a measurable goal.
3 Site Ownership
Who really owns your website? If not you, what might happen if you choose the best website builder advertised and later you want something different? What if they no longer offer what you need for your small business website and you want to switch.
With many website builders, you don’t actually own the site. They do. You’re licensing the tool and you only get to use it as long as you pay monthly.
That website builder owns the code, the layout, sometimes even the graphics. If you need to make a switch, you could lose everything you’ve spent time and money creating.
Quote from Wix.com support site.
4 Mobile Friendly
A Think With Google article says 84 percent of Americans are shopping online. Almost half of those pick up their mobile device. Sixty percent of visitors to websites are on their smartphones.
That’s why Google has recently implemented a mobile-first algorithm for prioritizing search results. In other words, mobile version of your website is what search engines look at first to determine where you rank and what you offer that’s relevant.
Most website builder tools have substantial limitations when it comes to mobile. Sure, your site may look okay on a desktop but it could be distorted, confusing or difficult to use on mobile devices. No one should have to experience that. This is why our websites are designed, optimized and tested to be fully compatible on mobile devices.
5 Advertisements
A free website builder will most likely cost you much more money than you realize. If you get your business website free, the website builder is likely going to place their advertisements on your page. This creates three problems.
Visitors become distracted from your brand and the action you need them to take. Your business looks like it can’t afford to invest in professional web design. But it doesn’t end there, visitors feel undervalued like they’re being sold more than what they came looking for.
6 Domain Names
Your domain name is your business’ online address. For example, ours is www.stoodeo.com. A website builder doesn’t provide you a domain name by default, they provide your business website with a sub-domain.
You’ll likely need to pay more to own your domain name. But here’s the problem, if you want to move your business website away from that site builder later, it can be a battle to take it with you.
This is a Weebly example.
7 Ecommerce
Template website makers don’t have ecommerce as their specialty. Using one is like hiring a Craigslist jack of all trades to build your dream home. He doesn’t have the in-depth knowledge or the tools to build what you need. Instead, you’ll get a disaster. We invest in quality tools and expert knowledge.
Online website builders don’t do ecommerce well. Features like automated email confirmation, shipping and tax configuration, and the capability for multiple payment options often aren’t even an option.
8 Secure Certificate (SSL)
Google’s algorithm favors secure (SSL) websites. So, if your site doesn’t have a secure certificate, customers might not find you as well.
Many website builder tools don’t include secure connections. They’ll charge you extra or users will see a “Not Secure” message next to your web address. That message reduces trust and scares potential customers away from your website.
How web browsers display non-secured domain names.
9 Storage & Bandwidth
Your business website needs ample storage and bandwidth to grow online and create brand awareness. Website builders limit both.
What happens if you need to go over? Without enough storage, you can’t add files. Low bandwidth means slow network performance that makes your visitors feel as frustrated as they do sitting in bad traffic. Your business isn’t growing or reaching customers online.
So, we offer unlimited storage and bandwidth with each business website. Next, we’ll look at why web design is important for business growth.
10 Growth & Portability
Your business needs to grow and succeed online. Website builder tools don’t accommodate expansion.
Many of them purposefully limit your ability to move away from them. Their goal is to make it hard to switch so you’ll keep paying their fee.
With our website packages, you own your business website. If you ever decide to leave, we’ll help you migrate everything. However, our clients stay because they see growth and expansion that outperform their highest hopes, with steady traffic and revenue increase that doesn’t stop.
11 Speed & Optimization
Many site builder tools don’t rank well on speed and optimization tests. Website speed is important both for your visitors and search engines. When your business website is slow, visitors hit the back button and you lose potential customers. Search engines take note also, your ranking drops, you have fewer visitors and the penalization continues.
With website builder services, your website shares space with many other websites. That means everyone shares server resources, which slows your website’s performance. Website builders don’t offer server-side tools to fix or tweak things either.
You have a better option. Stoodeo optimizes every site for speed and load times as well as search engine and social optimization.
12 Template Cookie Cutter Websites
If you’re looking at a website developer that boasts a million users, and they offer 24 templates, your site looks the same as all the others using the same template.
Template Based Business Website
Plus, templates are typically aimed at specific industries. They might have just three for construction, four real estate templates and one for floral designers. Your business won’t stand out, and your brand needs to stand out to potential customers online.
13 Stand Out, Drive Traffic
Why is it so important to stand out? When you create a website that shows how you are unique, you motivate users to choose your brand. If you blend, they click your competitor’s link.
Website builders don’t offer the features you need to showcase your brand and messaging. You want a unique web design that reaches potential customers and attracts new ones. Our website packages include this by default.
14 Custom Functionality
What if you want to add a members-only area to your site? Maybe you want a live chat feature or custom lead generation forms. If you choose an online website builder, custom functionality isn’t an option. By the time you realize what you need, it may be too late.
Our websites are equipped for whatever you need and we build them with your business’s growth in mind. With our websites, custom features can easily be added.
15 Devalues Your Business
Your business and brand deserve more than what even the best website builder offers. Though, it’s up to you what potential customers see.
You’re standing at a crossroads. You have the opportunity to choose between an online website builder that devalues your business and pigeon-holes you into using their service for as long as they can keep you ensnared, or you can invest in a professional website that works for you and grows your business online.
The choice is clear.
Grow Your Business The Right Way
You started your research wondering if there’s something more you should be doing to create traffic and generate leads. You may have been tempted to waste time and money on a website builder only to end up with a website that limits your online growth.
Now you know there’s a better way.
We’ve helped numerous clients create successful websites that transform and grow their business. We can help customers find you online so your business experiences consistent growth. Get higher search engine ranking, more website traffic, new customers and increased revenue with a professional website that works for you around the clock.
Schedule your free consultation by contacting us online, or call us now at (903) 871-5170