The Truth About Do It Yourself Website Software Packages
The failure of DIY websites
We live in a world of knockoffs. For every designer watch, handbag, or electronic gadget you could have your eye on, there are probably three others that look similar from a distance, but turn out to be cheap imitations once you’re holding them in your hands. That’s the same way I feel about small business do-it-yourself website “designs.”
Once the Internet started changing the way small businesses found and worked with customers, it didn’t take long for software and hosting companies to realize they could cash in on the trend. A good designer or creative team doesn’t come cheap, and they sensed eager entrepreneurs might be looking for ways to cut costs while taking their ventures online. And so, one after another, they started mass producing web designs – offering predesigned packages that could supposedly be used to make professional-looking sites within minutes, and at a fraction of the normal cost.
Soon, others started getting in on the act. Do-it-yourself website designs became a standard feature included with dozens of hosting packages and software suites. I’ve seen “ready-made” layouts offered inside productivity bundles, word processors, and even accounting software. The idea remains simple: fill in your information where it’s needed and you can have a custom website in a matter of minutes. It’s hard to find fault with this system, because it seems like everybody wins: the software company puts a few extra dollars on the balance sheet, and the customer saves some hard-earned cash.
And really, it would all be fantastic, if it weren’t for the results.
As you may already know if you’ve tried one, 99.5% of the ready-made, fill-in designs are terrible. I don’t just mean that they’re bad… I mean that they look like third grade computer science projects. From frames that don’t load correctly to colors that haven’t been in vogue since “elephant leg” jeans, they represent the exact opposite of what you want a customer to think about your business.
The biggest drawback to a “fill-in-the-blanks”, though, is that it hasn’t been designed for you. There are always going to be certain features, pages, or details that don’t quite do as much as you need them to, and others that are useless to your business. By attempting to come up with layouts that will work for anyone, in just about any industry, these companies are asking you to miss the forest for the trees. Sure, the do-it-yourself software is going to be easy from some to use – but most things that don’t stand any chance of making you money are.
Do it yourself website designs sound like a good idea in theory, and are kinder to your wallet. But if you’re serious about reaching your business goals, invest in an expert web designer who can create a layout that looks and performs the way it should.
