The current issue of Inc Magazine ran a review of some DIY website builders and they seemed pretty happy with the results. They rated Weebly a 4 out of 4 star product and stated that they were able to build a sleek and professional looking 7 page site in 30 minutes.

So, are the days of paying a web designer thousands of dollars to build a site over?

LOL! I love this topic! Yep, this is perfect if you want a fast low cost site. But what about performance in search and code customization? Ask any Intuit, Yellow Pages, Site-Build-It, etc. customer how they liked it after a year or so?

Just like all of the other DIY builders and such, people get on this bandwagon, get their fast site and then call me a year later saying their site sucks and they want to build a site that actually does what it’s supposed to do – bring visitors. If bringing site traffic or code customization is not a concern, then a DIY builder like this is a great option.

John, another massive LOL here to. We build websites for small businesses out here in Australia. Can you go to weebly andd o it yourself? Of course you can. Can they have a website that functions? Yes they can. But does it work?

When you go to a hardware store and buy a drill you don’t need a drill you actually need a hole. It’s the same with websites. You don’t need a website you need customers. To do this your site needs to be a Google trap first and then it needs to convince the users to take the desired action which is typically pick up the phone and call you (what Yellow Pages used to do).

This is a top line and simplistic approach but it strikes at the core of what we do. Throw in the fact that a vast majority of small businesses can’t be bothered with building their own website let alone learn about SEO means that there will always be a huge demand for developers. 

The argument probably needs to be around the term “expensive’. What is ‘expensive’? We charge approx AU$2,500 for a typical website and 70 to 80% of our work comes from people that have had websites that don’t work and they have come through direct referrals of clients of ours who have sites that do work.

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@michaelpingree I also design websites for small businesses. Cost is always an issue. I’m sure you can get a site designed with Weebly but just because you can do SEO on a page by page basis do you want to spend your time learning how to do it properly? Site level html/css is fine but do you understand it well enough to fix it when things go wrong?

If you advertise and market your image then the question is how important is your businesses website appearance and functionality?

There are so many tools out there for everyone to build their website themselves. You can choose templates, colours, pick from a set of stock images and even use pre-written text blocks for your industry.

There is nothing wrong with it as long as you know what you get. You have to be aware that you have to wrap your head around what structure works best for your individual business, what you have to do in terms of SEO, how you write intriguing content and how you create call-to-actions.

If you want a proper website that works, you can’t just use the building blocks as they are. They are a good basis, but you will have to tweak and twist them and you won’t be done within 30 minutes. Two questions:

1. Is the value of the hours that you have to put in to do it yourself higher or lower than the AUD 2500 (or EUR 2000) for a typical small biz website made by a pro, like Karl mentioned?

2. Would you be ready to spend the money for a pro – after all the work you put in already – in case your site doesn’t bring the results you expected?

If yes and yes, I would tell my customers to go ahead and give it a try. I will be there awaiting them when the point has come to improve the site.

@michaelpingree yeah its easy to build a website for low costs. I have to say though about 90% of the work we do it redoing a cheap job. You want know why? because cheap is expensive. You cant cut corners on a marketing and expect great results.

So yeah you can get it done cheaply, but  what you get for cheap marketing is cheap results. Any hard working person will tell you there are no short cuts to success. 

Building a great website is not just a about good looks there are many variable’s:

1. Search Engine Optimization
2. Knowing how to craft good copy
3. Understanding the flow of visitors and knowing how to guide them 
4. Usability
5. Split Testing as to which landing pages work
6. Knowing what content to put on your website and what not to
7. Strategic calls to action..

Would you trust a dentist that learned how to fix teeth which he learned from a YouTube video? the key to running your own business successfully is to focus on what you do best and pay the right people with the right skills to do what you can’t.

Id listen to @amyhallbiz @karlmorris @johnkelly… there is no such thing as a quick fix. Good topic though,

@michaelpingree @karlmorris Sometimes you need a basic placeholder until you get the funds to invest with a web designer. The DIY will never replace the designer but the Weebly’s of the world help businesses get started…

@richardmclaughlin if you can do this yourself I am (assuming ‘we’ ) all for this. The question is do you want to do it yourself or not? and do you feel that you can do this competently? My point earlier is that most small business don’t have the skills nor do they have the desire to learn this. If this is the case see a competent developer.

@johnkelly @shemric @geoffrey-gordon @amyhallbiz, @supereb we seem to all be singing off the same hymn sheet, I think this really raises a larger issue of how do potential clients distinguish between great developers / partners and rogues???

LOL! I knew this would be a fun topic   Define the “average business owner”. There is no such thing. For any of you startups doing research here looking to get a cheap, quick internet presence, go with Weebly or one of those other quick fix website DIY builders out there. When you’re disgusted with its performance after the first year or so, give me a call.

@supereb couldn’t have said it any better, thank you! DIY website builders do not and cannot offer what an experienced website designer/developer has learned from blood, sweat and tears. Business owners need consultation too. After all, if you needed a new roof on your home, do you look for an experienced and reputable contractor or just go online and buy a DIY ‘Weebly’ roof installation system with videos and tutorials? Let’s face it. The only reason I spent any time on this topic at all is because fo how many people make this mistake. But hey! It keeps us expensive, obsolete website developers in business. So Thanks Weebly!

Neither, @michaelpingree. I’m saying smart business owners stick with what they do best and hire the right people to do what they do best in order to avoid the pitfalls of hyped up marketing. Just sharing my experience with hopes that someone researching this topic will find information to make the right choice; whatever that is for them. 

We did do a websiite in weebly for a churc ministry in Honduras. I do like the tools and some of the easy ways to build the site. But somewhere in their contract it states that they own everything on that site if you pubilsh it. I have also used WIX and had some good looking sites, but two problems occured.
 I did this for a client in Florida, he was not going to pay me a thing, but wanted a high class website done. He was going to give me a % of the company . I really did not want the job, but my brother asked me to help him out. So I took it on. One issue I found at least with Wix is that I choose a template that was like a booklet that would allow the user of the site to turn the pages. However, when I searched about SEO, I found it was an issue. Each of the pages were not having seperate keywords like I thought so only would show the front page and that did not help. Even though we did some Adwords and had some visitors we could not convert many of them. I also was not happy when I called them and found out that the website I have took a ton of time on, I could not just transfer the files. I am not a programer and the only reason that I did this for the client is that I had an agreement and my programmer never did antyhing to the site like agreed upon, so I had no choice and build the site in an all-nighter to fufill my contractual duties as promised to the client.

Some companies can’t afford sites that are over $500.00 so this is good option to hang a shingle, but it does not get business. I do have developers I work with and most sites we try to keep under $1,000 but some sites because the owner wants more features, or they want to copy something that is out on the web and put into their site can cost $10,000 + becuase of the programming.

I agree with @rich-brooks 2 things I would add:The importance of design should not be overlooked. People come to your site looking for information and make snap judgements about whether you have what they’re looking for. The first impression is visual, and that should make a statement about who you are and who you are speaking to.The other is that websites (as opposed to brochures, etc.) can be done in stages. You start with a professional look and feel with the basic information and as the business grows and you want your site to do more, you expand.
DIY is probably fine for some businesses, but generally if you’re professional, you want to look it, and have the capabilities to be it.“ Margie

Absolutely! I remember reading that article. It always amazes me that people see something they like – or not – and makes decisions based on that, and don’t recognize how important that is.

Apple makes great products, and they seduce you with design. Good design should be seductive.

@judithgotwald, well stated. The same mentality applies to many of these business owners with advertising. Everything they see, touch and own has been advertised somewhere yet they procrastinate over advertising until they eventually advertise their business for sale or going out of business. You can lead a horse to water…

Hi Louis — @louissayers

Here is the thing about SEO – It is a thousand times easier to accomplish the SEO goals of every developer by building a website from scratch.  It take SO MUCH more time to pour over the code of some other designers website than it does to start from scratch and just do it right the first time.  

This is not to say that once a website is live, it does not need more tweaking however, any web developer worth their salt, will have researched the online marketplace and pretty much know where the site will land.  We all hope for page one, position one but sometimes we have to climb a ladder that leads to page one, then more rungs to get a better position on that page.  

New website (by the thousands) appear everyday and most companies who have a P1-P1 position fight hard to keep it.  So they are tweaking all the time too. 

It really is a rat race for position and should be ongoing for most webmasters.

.02

I’m reminded of the 1000′s of subscribers of Jim Cockrum, Mike Koenigs, and other internet marketing leaders who would argue that getting the customer is first and foremost, while everything else can be jobbed out or automated. They’re right. And that is a huge threat to traditional web design firms who have NOT grasped that pretty does not trump customer-grabbing-functional — ever!

All the millionaires I know under 30 would most certainly and eagerly argue this point. I’ve been listening… and I must agree that customer optimization comes first, whether that be via SEO or specific targeted viral methods that do NOT require Google’s search engines at all.

I think that is why there’s a definite rush toward optimizing video above websites these days. My first job is to get me or a client in the number one spot on a YouTube and Google page. Video comes first now on most pages. Then, and only then, do I worry about what’s on a website… and I rarely care these days if that website is at the bottom of the Google heap. Depending on your optimization method, Google SERPS can rarely matter, if you can find another method to draw traffic directly to your site or YouTube Channel.

Meaning… things are changing up days… swirling around… and getting rather exciting… in terms of video and video channels trumping the need to pursue normal search engines.

When you can build a website 100% completely full of high quality yet duplicate content and beat everyone to the top of Google post Panda and Penguin within hours of your posting content, you bet something has changed that even Google can’t stop.

Makes me giggle just thinking of the unstoppable possibilities that video and mobile have added to the formerly stymied Google SERP algo mix.

Just my little bird’s eye view…

Robin Carlisle

@rich-brooks

One could argue that “Apple didn’t become the most valuable company in the world b/c they tried to make cheap products; they became the most valuable company in the world b/c they learned to make valuable products at cheaper and cheaper costs to them — overseas — despite any riots that may cut into their profits.

I build websites for clients. What I’ve learned is that nearly every business person can’t see their own business clearly. That’s not a criticism, it’s human nature. They take for granted what they truly do well, and they overrate things that actually are trivial.

I consider these 30 minute DIY website almost like spam. Yes, it’s a site and if they are created smartly and written with any decent content, they will help the business appear in Google search results. But will they help the business?

Let’s just say that I have a whole business stream of people who have used DIY sites and come to me when they are ready for a real site. Something that really captures their business products and services, and the passion of the owners.

Very interesting discussion. 

I’m guessing free blog themes doesn’t count here? 

@michaelpingree Weebly might offer some HTML/CSS features but you can’t optimize the sites and the code is generally horrible.

@jmeist I have to disagree. Just because you’re Tech savvy doesn’t mean you can make a good looking site that is optimized and works well. When in doubt take a class or hire someone.

@jmeist that’s awesome. Like I said I’ve seen both sides of the coin. I’ve seen people develop great sites on their own and others who have used templates in Wordpress and have majorly screwed them up. I agree $1800 isn’t cheap and it isn’t necessarily for everyone to have a Web developer help them out. I do love Wordpress because for the most part people can figure it out. But I wouldn’t write off using a Web designer for more advanced stuff. Also people don’t always have the time to setup their own site.

As far as $1,800, I’ve done my research and that’s middle of the road. Anyhow I full encourage people to try Wordpress out for themselves. I do suggest that they use the self-hosted version as they will have more control in the future.

I have been building Small Business Websites for a living since 2008.

Initially, I would sell ‘Brochure Websites’, but now that these have pretty well been mastered and people are able to mass-produce them with services like WordPress, WIX, Weebly and so on.

Now the game has changed and the challenge for Web Developers is to build websites that will generate better results for our clients – thus justifying the extra expenses involved.

There will never be a ‘perfect’ solution as all CMS’ and platforms are built for different purposes (i.e. WordPress isn’t for Small Business Websites, it’s for blogs).  

The game will continue to get tougher for Web Developers as they need to come up with more innovative ways to set their websites apart from the Website-In-A-Box products.

Gavin MaceGavin Mace Internet Marketing