The Lowdown
Templates and template driven site builders are the newest trend in web design. There are numerous sites that business owners can go to and download a template or go through an easy step by step process which will put them online in a matter of minutes. There are some good, bad, and ugly things about this and I just wanted to share my honest opinions.
The GOOD
- Price – it’s a very cheap monthly payment
- Availability – you can get started anytime online
- Convenience – you can use it and access it from any computer with internet
- Support – someone will always answer the phone or email
- Reliable – godaddy is the world’s largest hosting provider
- Transparent – it’s easy to see what you’re getting
- Choice – they offer 1000s of available templates
- Bundles – you can usually get hosting and email included
- Access – you have instant and direct access to make changes on your site
The BAD
- Process – while easy it’s not the easiest to get a great looking website
- Features – beyond the standard features you’re usually out of luck
- Choice – although they give many templates they are just 100s of small variations
- Quality – the overall quality of design and layout is VERY poor
- Ownership – you never actually own your website
- Flexibility – if you want something they don’t offer you’re out of luck
- Location – they are not local and odds are you’re speaking to a call center in India
- Interaction – setup requires too much interaction (by phone and email)
- Results – generally the sites are not good enough to produce quality results
- Marketing – they don’t offer any internet marketing services (seo, ppc, etc…)
- Responsibility – you are completely responsible for your website and it’s success
- Visibility – the websites are NOT optimized for search engines
- Changes – if you don’t have time to make the changes they can’t help you
- Difficult – no matter how easy it will still be “hard” for some people
- Upgradeability – if you are ready for a bigger/better site they can’t help you
The UGLY
- Expertise – there is VERY little help with marketing strategy
- Dedication – they created a $$$ maker (for them) not a business builder (for you)
- Hosting – the quality of hosting is worst in the industry
- Relationship – the longer you stay does not build ANY more of a relationship
- Unique – literally millions of people are using your exact website
- Usability – most template sites are simple but not created for ease of use
- Recognition – each time you call you receive a new person to speak to
- Value – although the price is very cheap the value you receive is also cheap
- Content – you’re completely on your own for creating website content
Final Verdict
Overall, going with an online site builder is an extremely cheap way to get online quickly. However, it’s my personal opinion from years of helping clients in the aftermath of a online sitebuilder gone bad that the quality is terrible and there is no-one vested in your online success. It’s up to you to determine how much you invest versus how much you plan to make in return for your investment. Choose well!