Why not to use diy web builders

Posted on 30th Jan 2023

Author: Stuart B

Read time: 2 minutes

 

DIY website builders may appear to offer an easy solution for creating and launching a digital presence for your business, but the truth is that relying on these services can leave you with a suboptimal website that appears unprofessional. It's important to understand why investing in expert support for your business website is the better choice.

Lack of Expertise on How to Get the Most Out Of It

While DIY website builders may provide the tools to create a basic website, they do not offer layout expertise or guidance with how to get the best results from their service. It's likely that you won't have enough knowledge on web design and development to fully optimize your website for maximum visibility and engagement. Professional web designers have the skilled required to make sure features, like search engine optimization (SEO) and website accessibility, are properly incorporated into your site for optimal performance.

Limited Design Capabilities

DIY website builders come with many limitations - one of these being a limited number of pre-designed templates. What’s more, the CSS and HTML for the pre-made themes is not customizable down to the core (if at all). This limits your design capabilities and can create a generic looking website that won't stand out from the competition. Working with an experienced web designer will ensure your business has an online presence that stands out from the rest. They can create a custom design tailored to your business objectives, while making sure it looks great across any device or platform.

Poor Security Issues

Choosing a DIY website builder also doesn’t provide your business with the necessary level of security. Most websites are at risk from hackers, spammers and other cyber-criminals - which is why you need adequate protection. Professional web designers work to ensure their clients have the latest security measures in place, helping to reduce the risk of malicious activity on the website or any connected applications or software. A professional will be able to install regular updates and security patches, along with providing secure backups that can be used during an emergency.

Free domain name

You may have got a free domain name when you opened your account for a DIY web builder, which is excellent, but come the time you want to move your domain name to another provider, you may find it impossible as your DIY account provider will tell you that you don't own the domain and that they do. This will lead you to stay trapped in your account or start from scratch with a new domain name. All because you saved under £10 by getting a free domain name.

You don't own your own website

This is a problem that I have come across many times. You want to move your website to another provider. First, you will be told that you don't have FTP access to move your files, and then you will be told that because you used one of the DIY web builders templates, your DIY web builder provider owns the whole design of your website. So again, you are tied in, or you go and start again from scratch, thereby losing all of your website rankings in one fell swoop.

Difficulty Converting Visitors Into Customers

Another issue with DIY website builders is difficulty converting visitors into customers. Ultimately, you want to make sure that any traffic visiting your website is converted – whether it’s turning them into paying customers or engaging them with your brand. Professional web designers understand user interface (UI), user experience (UX) principles and know the best techniques for encouraging people to engage with your site. An aesthetically pleasing and intuitive website will have a better chance of achieving conversions than a generic looking template based website.

Limited Functionality & Features

DIY website builders will come with limited features and functions, significantly restricting your ability to customize your website. If you want your website to be truly innovative and stand out from the competition, it’s probably not the best option as you’d very quickly reach the limitations of the platform. Instead, using a web design agency gives you access to an extensive range of features that they can implement into your site to ensure it meets all your requirements.

In conclousion

Building a website using an online DIY web builder is a great way to get your first personal website up and running in very little time with very little expense, but if you are designing your website for your business, you should be looking to employ a professional, as this will lead to their vast knowledge on things like user interface design and digital marketing and safeguard one of your company's most significant assets, your website and your brand.