Website Builders: Are they right for you?

Website builders have been around for a long time in one form or another. Whether it's something like Squarespace or Wix, or even a CMS like WordPress, has been an option for building websites without a dedicated Web Development team. They can be very useful for businesses of various sizes, as they empower you to create your websites. However, there are considerations to be taken when choosing if a website builder fits your needs. Before starting, I do want to talk about the elephant in the room: I am a web developer and I would prefer that all businesses use a professional web developer. However, I have personal experience with these website builders and I hope you consider the advice I'm giving despite my bias. In addition, this isn't an indictment of website builders, but more of a clarification of pros and cons.

What are website builders?

Typically, website builders are online tools that allow users to create websites without having to hire a developer. This often takes the form of a drag-and-drop menu where the user can drop in an image and write the necessary text. Builders also come with templates and themes that can be customized to suit the needs of the user. These themes are often built by web designers who work for the company or in some cases independent parties. More often than not, if a user wants to build a simple website then the default settings and functionality should be enough. However, there often is a plugin or extension market that bundles helpful functionality. WordPress for example has plugins for integrating things like newsletters to ecommerce.

Pros of website builders

1. They are easy to use: They are designed to have a low barrier to entry and can get as complex as you need them to be.
2. They are easy to customize: They can be customized to suit the needs of the user with the use of plugins and themes.
3. Opinionated: Because you are not a developer the builder makes tech decisions for you so you can focus on your business.
4. Low cost: They often have a subscription or are free to use.
5. Developer Support: There are often developers who specialize in these tools. WordPress for example has a large community of web developers.
6. Independence: You're in control of everything. You don't have to rely on a professional.

Cons of website builders

Time Allocation

By design, they have to have a low barrier to entry. This makes them easy to use. However, this means they are highly opinionated. Meaning that certain conventions need to be followed and tool-specific verbiage to learn. A user will need to become intimate with how the builder works, and techniques on how to make things look good. Now this won't be an issue if you have a simple website, that just displays information. However, even simple websites will have to look good so users trust you as a business. In addition, as your business grows, you will need to update your website to solve these complex business needs. All this to say, that regardless of the type of website you have at first you have to dedicate your time to building your site, and as a small business time is a currency easily spent but hard to regain. Therefore, when working with a builder, it's important to factor into your decision-making the time it takes to essentially pick up a skill set regardless of how easy it easy to learn and then the time it takes to update frequently for better search engine optimization. There is also time you have to spend on security upgrades and ensuring that any updates to the builder don't break your current site.

Now this may not be an issue if a user is great with time management and focus. However, as any business grows, it gets harder to spend time on everything, and you will either need to hire a web developer or train someone yourself to be a subject-matter-expert in how to maintain your website.

Customization with guard rails

There are a lot of customization options that are part of the DNA of a good website builder. However, if you're looking to stay with only first-party features, you'll soon find the edge of the builder. As previously stated, the way these builders work is by making the tech decisions for you. As a developer, I have spent countless hours architecting the tech stack to make sure I have met all the needs of the clients as well as focus on maintainability. Being a developer though means I have the freedom when it comes to customization. Any design or customization that needs to be there can be coded in time. However, because the builder is focused on making itself accessible and user-friendly, that means you can't make the design of a site 100% yours without a lot of time. Which is not always something that people want to sign up for while building their business. In addition, while there are a lot of themes available, they take a long time to customize if you want to truly break from the design even in a small way.

That doesn't even touch on the plugin/ extension market. A lot of these plugins are third-party and are maintained by either an independent person or a team. A user would have to rely on that creator to maintain security and performance over time. If for some reason they drop support it may leave you with a critical part of your website that needs to be replaced or fixed. Even if you decided to stay first-party with any plugins and themes, it's still possible that you can break your design as each plugin and theme is developed independently and could still have support dropped. That's not even mentioning security. Each plugin and theme is developed independently, and would therefore need to be assessed as a potential attack vector for your website. To protect the user and all their potential users you also have to maintain updates and stay on top of critical information about each feature of your site in case they are compromised.

Bringing in a professional at the wrong time

You may look at the previous cons and conclude that you need to hire a professional. Which is always an option, however not many people have the money to work with a web developer while starting their business. If you do have the money and time to work with a professional then you should consider bringing them in as early into the process as possible. While independence and ease of use are the key features of using a website builder, it's important to acquiesce to a professional's experience and knowledge in the subject as early as possible. If you bring in a professional at the wrong time you may end up spending more money on fixing your website, than you could have avoided by hiring a professional from the beginning.

One tool doesn't fit all

While there are a lot of customization options, it's important to consider what type of business you have or the purpose of your website. If you have a business such as a restaurant, or a photography portfolio, having a website that is simply a landing page with information and some high-quality images is a great option. However, you may find that if you have a business that is more complex than a simple display of information, you will either need to get creative with plugins or hire a professional early to help you.

Conclusion

Website builders are helpful tools for starting your business's online presence. Even as a web developer, I still consider them as a viable option for those who want to build their own websites without learning how to code. It's important to consider how much time you want to dedicate to building your website. Anecdotally, I have found that a lot of the work I do is learning how to work with these builders and fixing issues with them. There are a lot of users that underestimate the time it takes to build a website. They sometimes even find that they spend too much time working on their site rather than working on their businesses. Here is some simple advice:

1. Be honest if independence and control of your website are more important than just having a professional do it. I am pretty handy around the house, but sometimes when there is an issue I hire a professional. Not because I am not capable of fixing it, but because I don't have the time to dedicate towards doing it I need to delegate it.
2. Consider what you functionality you need for your website. If you need a robust e-commerce store, consider choosing a builder that specializes in that. If you find that the builder doesn't specialize in the functionality you need, you may want to consider at least discussing it with a professional. Either that or come up with a plan with actionable steps. Allowing you to get a basic web presence out and slowly roll in features as either time or funds become more available.