I got an email this week where I was asked how web designers can compete against the large “easy-build” website companies. Well, I don’t think there’s any competition. Web designers like me cater for a completely different market.
The Halo Effect
Psychologists have long known about the Halo Effect. It’s a cognitive bias in our judgments where a person,s physical appearance can influence our views of him or her. Unfortunately, the way we look, dress, speak and the sort of homes we live in influence other people’s impressions of us.
The Halo Effect works with websites. The way a website looks and works effects our impression of the company or individual behind it.
You’ll notice I said “the way a website works”. Because websites created by simple website builders may look quite professional. But you will be severely restricted in what you can do with them. You may be happy with your 5-page website but what happens if you would like to:
- add certain social sharing buttons
- create a mobile version
- add a shopping cart
- create a membership area
- or even add extra pages and a blog?
Would you be able to do these things to your site if it was built with Intuit, 1&1 or any other “easy” website builder? I’m afraid the answer is probably “no”.
The Company you keep
Do a quick Google search for 1&1 and Intuit. The results speak volumes. Click on any of the results and you’ll see the usual spammy thin on content sites (like EasyBuildWebsite4U.com) saying how great those “easy” website companies are and not a lot else. Hover over the links to the websites and you’ll see that they’re affiliate links. A thin website with affiliate links? Run a mile!
A company may be satisfied with an “easy-build” website if they just want a few pages with contact details online. But, for a website to help a company it needs much more.
WordPress
It won’t come as too much of a surprise to regular readers here but I will recommend WordPress as the software that powers 90% of my clients’ websites.
I don’t care how many templates, plugins and features “easy-build” websites may have – WordPress will have more.
Why? Because WordPress is, and always has been, open source software. This means you are free to redistribute it and free to access its source files. It is developed by the community surrounding it – a core team supported by hundreds of unpaid developers and testers.
It’s popularity and ubiquity on the web are not in doubt. It is used by an estimated 15% of the world’s top one million websites and is the most common CMS (content management system) on the internet.
For these reasons, almost anything a client will want to do with a website, will be possible on WordPress and there will be considerable documentation to help you achieve it. (With great popularity comes increased attacks on vulnerabilities so it is necessary that you secure WordPress).
How to use WordPress
The best way to use WordPress is to first decide on your 4 essential steps (research, domain name, host and content/design), install WordPress on your host, perform a few basic tasks for SEO and the like and start adding great content.
You could, of course, hire a web designer to do this for you. However all the documentation and guidance you will ever need for WordPress is out there on the web – mostly in the Codex.
If you’re not sure about this you could always dip your toes into WordPress’s free version at WordPress.com and set up a blog there within seconds.
However, WordPress’s founder developer, Matt Mullenweg, likens WordPress.com to renting an apartment and setting up a self-hosted WordPress.org site to owning your own house. If that’s the case, an easy to set up website through a company like Intuit or 1&1 would be like living in sheltered accommodation or in a cheap hostel!
What about you?
If you’re a web designer, can you think of many more ways employing you to build a website is more preferable to using an automated service.
If you’re thinking of setting up a website but don’t know what to do, I’d love to hear your comments down below!
Eye photo: Photo credit
Rob, thanks for writing this. I’ve been thinking about this very subject myself. A lot of people looking quick unfortunately go this route and are surprised I’m sure to find out later that their quick and dirty website doesn’t really help their business.
I’m finding that I’m having to do more educating about the differences between a fully functioning website and a brochure type of website. Unfortunately some business owners have been so burned by these kinds of sites they are hard to convince that a website can be a real asset to their business.
One last thing, why is it that so many think they can build a website for their business without the aid of a professional? We don’t think like this in very many other areas of our lives – especially our business lives. We recognize that we don’t know tax law so we hire an accountant ect. I guess this is just a point of frustration to me that so many don’t view web designers and developers as professionals in the same way they do their accountant of ever their doctor.
Thanks again for the good info
Hello Craig, we’ve obviously had some very similar experiences here.
Certainly, potential clients who want quick, easy and cheap aren’t worth bothering with – I’m sure you’ve learned that. Another thing I’d say is that accountants have been around for centuries and people see that they are necessary to invest in. However, web designers have only been around for a few years.
I think so much of our job is education – explaining to clients that just a little bit of investment and effort towards the website will see stunning ROI. We’ve just got to keep at it. And, as you say, we’ve got to convince people that might have been burned in the past. Not easy, but possible!
Hi Rob,
I realize that this may be nit-picking but Graphic Design (of which webdesign is a subset of IMHO) has been around for centuries as well 🙂
Albert, did you read the post? Lots of graphic designers make beautiful easy built sites. They often don’t work for them because they don’t understand (to repeat Rob) “the way a website worksâ€.
Perhaps you mis-interpreted or did not realize that my post is actually response so let me clarify:
This was just a comment Rob’s response to Craig Wilson where he (Craig Wilson) asks the question of why is it that so many think they can build a website for their business without the aid of a professional.
In my humble opinion (IMHO) Web DESIGN is a subset of Graphic Design, which has been around for centuries. Like I said, it’s nit-picking and it’s my opinion. I completely agree with Rob’s article and it’s premise.
Sorry Albert I was a bit rude. I did understand what you were doing and agree Web Design can be seen as a subset of Graphic design.
My worry is that I think many people who use easy built sites also see it that way. The allure of them is often the professional graphic. Unfortunately most don’t know that designing for the web also involves the less sexy business of SEO, functionality, browser compatibility, load times, accessibility and issues of progressive enhancement etc.. If graphic design was generally seen as subset of webdesign I wonder if so many would be tempted by easy built sites?
Admittedly my thoughts are influenced by seeing a lot of visual artists sites. These folk instinctively know how to use negative space, calls to action and placement of navigation, but then built a site with Flash.
I can certainly detect frustration in your voice there, David, and it’s a frustration I can identify with. Some clients can make the mistake of thinking that a “web designer” makes a website looks pretty whereas web designers like me can provide the full service – all the things you mention. These extra (less sexy) elements are every bit as important.
Actually, Albert, I think I was expressing myself a bit lazily by saying “accountants have been around for centuries and people see that they are necessary to invest in. However, web designers have only been around for a few years.” Whereas, the point I was trying to make is that web design and, you’re right, graphic design in general, is less easily to quantify in terms of ROI. You know you need good design but you can’t say $100 of graphic design will give you $200 dollars profit.
Thanks for your input, David!
@Craig Wilson
Craig I totally agree with you that it is much better to hire a professional to make a website for you than attempting to “make it yourself” as you would paint your house for example, yes you may be able to do it but it will be far less perfect and will take you triple the time and effort if a professional does it for you.
@Rob Cubbon
Although I somewhat disagree on your WordPress views, and having this discussion here is a bit of controversial within your position as well, because you are telling people how to “do it yourself” WordPress and in the same breath you are supporting Web design professionals, I still very much agree that people has to be educated about World Wide Web in general.
But also think about it, with the speed the Internet develops we should not need CENTURIES (like them accountants 🙂 ) to be recognized as specific area professionals and be looked for in the field.
Mark, not every business person is the same. Some will enjoy the experience of creating a website themselves even if they’re not from a design or development background. Others will prefer to get someone to set it up for them so that they can use it to grow their business. In the first case they’ll be better off with WordPress. In the second case they’ll be better off with WordPress 90% of the time.
Are you affiliated with premade.us in anyway? That would explain your reluctance to agree with my WordPress views.
Hi Rob,
thank you again for your kind reply.
I have actually created http://premade.us but I do enjoy nice talk about webdesign views and I’m quite interested in WordPress myself.
Do not take any offense from my words please, they are purely in the name of the good debate and I’m sure that many people will agree with my views.
Why are you so flattering to WordPress, are you affiliate with them? 🙂
Thanks again and my sincere apologies if I have offended you in any way.
No problem, but I think you’re being a bit disingenuous expecting us to take your comments on WordPress seriously when you’re actually trying to promote your site.
I don’t mind that – but you’re not going to agree with my comments that WordPress is better for SMEs either with or without a designer setting it up for them because you would like me to say that they should use your site. I very definitely don’t think they should.
I promote WordPress because it’s the best option out there both for most of my visitors and most of my clients. This is something I’ve come to find out after7+ years of building these types of sites. (I assume you’re joking about being an affiliate. 🙂 )
Rob thanks again, this conversation was really joyful.
And to prove you wrong I will say that WordPress is better for SME and for some weird reason is even better for SEO (although I matched the SEO it with many modifications and tryouts) and for these two reasons alone it is the best choice for anyone who is decided to dedicated themselves to creating their own website.
I was not implying at all that http://premade.us could compare to WordPress capabilities, sophistication and expandability.
I was more touching on another factor – ease of set up, ease of use and speed to go live as quick as possible for all those lazy business people who want to dedicate their time to something more valuable to them – making money from their own business.
Other than that I think that WordPress is great. I started with WordPress 7 years ago, back in the time when even Movable Type was better developed platform, so I too speak from experience.
Thanks again for this conversation.
And yes, it was a joke being WordPress affiliate 🙂 (although it would have been a nice option, don’t you think?)
I’m glad you’re finding this conversation really joyful, Mark, but I disagree with you that WordPress is difficult to set-up.
I’m about to make a video of how to set up a fully functioning site with a JavaScript slider, featured articles with thumbnails, navigation menu with drop-downs, sidebar which is responsive to mobiles and tablets all in 5 minutes with a Genesis child theme. I think that’s pretty good.
Although I can’t claim to have tried every other option out there – I don’t think any one person has!
Mark, setting up WordPress is a simple as pie. I have been using the free, well supported and highly configurable theme Atahualpa. Even if you are not a coder, Atahualpa allows you to set up column widths, and control all sorts of parameters. It took me a only a few minutes to set up a look that I like. Added some basic plugins, including SEO (Yoast), cacheing (Quick Cache), and WP editor mods (I like TinyMCE Advanced) and voila, instant website. It loads very quickly. I’m not a coder, but I like to know what goes into a site so that I can take it out. I tried an “easy build” option and didn’t know how to change it or use it. Better to learn a little WordPress. Then again, I drive a stick. Oh, Atahualpa let me select my own font without coding. I used a clean-looking font that Rob featured a few posts back (and uses on this site).
Interesting to see what plugins you are using there, Corky. And, I’ve looked at Atahualpa many times and I’m amazed what you get in that theme – and it’s free! Looks like you’re doing really well with Bongotronics.
Thanks for the encouragement, Rob.
DIY website builders (and indeed DIY ‘logo’ makers) are incredibly misleading. They’re both free or cheap, because they lack what you are actually paying for when you hire a designer; their expertise!
Sadly these cheap and free ‘alternatives’ will continue to plague and belittle creative professionals. I think it’s important to continue try and educate clients about the bonuses or using a professional and not worry about the ones looking for the cheapest (or a free) option. Chances are you’d probably regret taking their job anyway.
Yes, Paul, I think we’ve also got to define our market. As you say, the sort of customer that is attracted to a DIY logo and website is probably not for us. We need to be able to explain to our clients that their investment in a proper website will be worth more than 100 bad DIY websites. The facts are on our side, we need to be able to present them to the potential client.
Hi Rob
Thank you for writing this article. It is – like all your work – well-written and therefore easy to read and contains excellent advice. I just wish you had written it four years ago!
That’s when I started off on what has unfortunately been for me a very long, arduous and twisting-and-turning path of anxiety, depression and frustration due to wasted energy, money and time being trapped by the unscrupulous (expletives deleted) who peddle these shit websites.
I suppose I’d be sued if I named those companies I got tangled up with because I didn’t know any better at the time. It’s absolutely outrageous how unethical they are because their marketing is all about how they will give their clients XYZ benefits but for tyros like me who don’t know what we don’t know what we soon DO know is that their products will not provide our small businesses what we need.
And that was a very long sentence! You know what I mean.
You may already have done this and I don’t have time right now (4:27 on a cold Aussie winter morning) to research all your articles to find out. An article showing aspiring business owners who wish to use the Net as their main product delivery vehicle but don’t know what they MUST think about and decide on exactly the steps 1-2-3 they must go through to reach their business objectives online would be very useful to such people, in my opinion.
If I had seen an article which asked a full list of intelligent questions so I could say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ or ‘Maybe’ or ‘I have no idea whatsoever at this stage’ and then could add up my scores so the results showed me what it was I wanted – which then would show me what I had to do to get it – I would have saved all that energy, money and time. I know what I want now, so it’s too late for me. Those resources have been lost and I can never get them back. (Well, the money I can get back by getting a website built which does precisely what I want it to do; I can regard the money I spent in the Web wilderness as an investment which will save me money in the future if I want to take a philosophical stance.)
But maybe you could help other poor souls out there who are expert in their subject areas avoid becoming the natural prey of the unscrupulous operators of companies such as those you are discussing.
Caitlin,
I appreciate your comments. Perhaps you could without mentioning company names of course detail what some of the problems and unethical practices you encountered when you did business with them. That way we as web designers could speak intelligently with those who have a web site built with those companies or are considering going in that direction.
Thanks
Good call, Craig, it would be great to hear Caitlin’s specific experiences, but we don’t want her to wind up in jail in the process!
Hello Caitlin, a very eloquent comment as usual. I’m sorry you have been burnt and seen the worse of our industry. If any client of mine was unhappy with the service they’d received from me they’d get their money back – simple as that. Unfortunately, the larger organisations don’t work that way.
About your suggestion, I am thinking of putting together a video course for small business owners to create a site themselves. I could walk them through, deciding on the domain name, choosing keywords, purchasing the domain, getting a host, setting up WordPress, making the site look good and, finally, how to blog, get traffic and clients/sales.
However, I’m not sure if I could do your suggestion of having a range of questions and providing solutions dependent on the answers. That would be too much work – doesn’t that sound terrible!
It’s a matter of finding the time.
WordPress is nice but it’s mostly good for it’s blogging capabilities and there is again a learning curve that no one can avoid. Ready made websites on the other hand are easier to set up and less time consuming. What would you say about purchasing a ready made website like the ones on http://premade.us for the price of a nice looking WordPress template?
Hello, Mark. I would say that WordPress is quite flexible and they have added a number of different features in the last few years (custom fields, custom post types) that makes it a bona fide CMS rather than just blogging software.
However, if I had to choose between WordPress and premade.us I would go for WordPress every time! You can get a really nice theme that does all that for $50-$80 plus you’ll get all the capability, support forums, plugins and strength in numbers that WordPress gives you. Plus, if you want to move from WordPress to something else you can. Whereas, with some of these proprietary CMSs, you’re stuck with them and you can’t grow.
Yes, there is a learning curve for WordPress. But it’s a skill that you will use again and again and will serve you in good stead.
I think it’s just a matter of preference – and the customer’s POV. Personally, I prefer WordPress. Then again, there are a lot of business sites that don’t run on WP but still make money because of customers who aren’t picky. On the other hand, there are customers who look at a website and think “Perhaps the service is as unpolished as the website.”
I agree Earl. I think if someone just wants to have some sort of web presence and that’s it, then they could consider a really cheap easy-build option. Also, I don’t want to give the impression that WordPress is the only other option. There are many fantastic CMSs out there (both open source and proprietary) that can do an excellent job if WordPress doesn’t meet requirements – Joomla, Drupal and Expression Engine, for example.
Great article Rob and I have to laugh at the constant repeating of “promote my site please” from Mark. Stop it. Please. Its nofollow anyway. Silly man.
I end up repairing (read rebuild) alot of these poor souls websites and invariably they cost more but they perform and are ‘designed’. Personally I’m not a massive fan of WordPress, but this is mainly because I also get given these to restructure and rebuild after another poor devil has got his mum/nan/dog to build one for him on the cheap. For a good designer, WordPress can be a work of genius and guys such as Orman Clarke do stunning things with it. Unfortunately it also means every chicken and its Auntie can claim to be a ‘web designer’. And they cant. I own a screwdriver, but I cant claim to be an electrician. I guess its down to how lazy people want to be – buy a template, populate it, launch it and look the same as a million other sites. However, if you buy a template, develop it, create its own identity and make it work better than the bought template. Im all in favour.
Great post Rob. Enjoyed it…
Glad you liked the article, Jim. I agree with your approach to tools such as WordPress. Use the tool to create something with it’s own identity. Spot on!
I’m loving the comments on this post. I agree with Paul Murray’s comment on expertise and your follow up, but Caitlin’s experiences are probably very common. I’m just an amateur who has done small business websites for friends and family, but they come about after they have had bad experiences with “professional” web-designers. Sure, the client got a website, but they failed in producing a ROI. In one case the website was well designed but every minor adjustment was too expensive for them (£200 to add the Google analytics code. £1000 for a HTML email newsletter template).
Do you Rob (or anyone here) take on clients who are effectively wanting to make their own website (perhaps amending a template), but just need guidance? I has always struck me that this could be a useful service for small business. I think another problem is that I’ve not really seen any good designers publicly break down and roughly cost the various jobs that go to making a successful site. The poorer web design companies tend to do better on displaying their prices.
Incidentally Caitlin’s suggestion sounds like a great info-graphic begging to be created.
I’d say there are a lot of good web designers out there who already break things down so clients know what they should be doing. Having a site is one thing, being found and building an audience is another. I find the truth is quite off-putting for many small business owners.
To combat this I do one-on-one coaching for web design clients so that they can learn to use their sites well and understand what it takes to build traffic effectively. I am looking into holding groups sessions to allow people with lower budgets access to my coaching.
I don’t like to take clients who don’t want the coaching option (unless they are already knowledgeable) because unless they understand what is actually happening and how much work a successful site requires, their sites will fail. There are a few people who really don’t care about traffic, because all they want is a web address to put on their literature. It just depends on what outcome is required. My method is to figure out what they need and then tell them the truth. Some run to the hills. The others take the coaching.
Thanks Liz, an interesting approach. I definitely know the “all they want is a web address to put on their literature” folks. My guess is many are like my brothers:- local trades people who traditionally have taken out small Yellow Pages, BT and local paper ads and think they should try this new-fangled interweb thing.
These folk may spend thousands a year on various advertisers, but want only to spend a few hundred with a web-designer, because they don’t understand the web, how users interact with it and they don’t have the time for it. Probably the most frustrating type of client for a web-designer, because these see a website as another simple advert to place rather than an ongoing part of their business strategy. These folk are great hunting ground for the “build it yourself” brigade and those “Bronze, Silver and Gold” web template designers.
Both of my brothers are the type to initially send web-designers to the “clients from hell” site to regain their sense of humour, but both are actually good clients in the long term. Their simple sites took no time to build, but loads of time went in to badgering them to understanding what they had to offer (they could not see their best selling points themselves) and who they wanted to attract for the SEO and feel of the sites.
It’s worked well for us. After a bit of ongoing SEO tweaking I now have a small passive income and they have saved much more on being able to drop the likes of Yell.com.
“but loads of time went in to badgering them to understanding what they had to offer”
It’s the “loads of time” part that tends to be the killer. I do my brother-in-law’s site and “loads of time” went into that and still does … Clients I am not related to have to pay for all that time, knowledge and cajoling.
But this is a trust issue, as many have been burned and they really don’t know who to trust. This is where referrals work. If someone has been referred to you by someone they trust, it can make the whole process much faster and therefore cheaper.
The cost of the project is directly proportional to how much time the client chooses to take to make the right choices. The success of the project is about their making the right ongoing choices according to their goals.
So true Liz. Fortunately my brother’s HTML sites only needed a small amount of “long tail” local traffic and to be more personal looking then their competitor’s “Easy build” sites to fair well. They have continued to pay so have been good business.
In contrast my wife’s WordPress based eCommerce site would have been a non-starter if she had needed to pay me the going rate. I probably love WP as much as Rob, but lot of time can go into site that rely on plug-ins.
Web design is not my job, but occasionally I get the offer of work and have struggled on how best to charge. Is it best to have a fixed fee for a job completed or work by charging less up front but having an ongoing relationship? I suspect the ongoing relationship is probably the one which can achieve the most.
Chances are I’m probably more likely to point potential work here.
It was really great to see this conversation unfold over the weekend. I wanted to get involved but I was so busy that I couldn’t.
David, you’re right about Caitlin’s idea being good for an infographic. I should put some thought into doing one.
Liz was actually making me feel quite guilty about only taking on clients who wanted coaching as well. I create websites for a great number of clients who seem sure they know what they want but then need a lot of coaching/cajoling to get the best out of their websites. It is an ongoing serious problem that very often someone asks you to build a tool for them that they don’t then use to its fullest extent.
It’s a question of constant education which I try to do here.
To answer your question about fees, David, I always find the best way to charge is with a flat fee for design and development of a website the functionality and extent of which is agreed first. Ongoing charges are then billed by the hour. But I always leave the client with a website that they will be able to add to and would require minimal maintenance.
But, I like to have an ongoing relationship with clients because it is only this way you can be sure that they are making the most of what you’ve built for them.
Thanks Rob, what you say again makes perfect sense. Here is a great resource for clients and I image a pretty effective way of attracting like-minded professionals as customers.
It says something about the industry that I get asked about web design without having professional presence. I’m capable, but (borrowing from Jim above) I could be a chicken’s aunty for all they know.
I’m pleased you wrote this post. I know a lot of people with lovely looking “easy build” sites that are just not doing the business.
I remember being asked to do a lot of web design back in 2006 before I really knew a lot about it. Lots of people want website design. But, in the worse case scenario, they want to pay a few hundred for a website that’s going to bring in business on auto-pilot. OK, most clients aren’t like that but you do have to work hard on explaining how to use the website once it’s built.
Anyway, to answer a question of yours from earlier. Yes, I do take on clients that want to build their own website but just want the occasional bit of guidance. I’m just working with a marketing company now who are doing just that. It’s actually quite rare though.
We need a range of options for people. And to match that, a supply of web designers from the hobbyist, low -cost guy through to the top notch agency. When it comes to buying a car we have a choice of price, performance and quality. Same for websites. If the client wants a yellow three wheeler with no MOT, that is perfectly fine.
We can niche ourselves. For example I am not interested in e-commerce clients with hundreds of products to sell, but someone else here might be. I like working with solopreneurs with an ebook to sell, or those wanting a membership site because they want to sell a course, or affiliates who want to really turn up the conversion. I’m interested in people who sell information.
But plumbers and hairdressers are not my thing. I specialise in teaching my clients to use content to get traffic so they can get it without me. My job then becomes building tools and plugins they and I can use, topping up their knowledge, and not endlessly (and pointlessly) tweaking their sites. But that’s just me. High street clients may be just right for someone else.
Each web designer is unique, as is their offer. Based on who you are, I think you can define the precise person you want and go attract them and only them. We all do WordPress here, but we all probably cater for different types of people within the WordPress market.
I absolutely agree, Liz, and you put it extremely well. I do a lot of work for solopreneurs but I also like to create sites for large companies (by large I mean with a workforce of 5-35 people) because these sorts of sites challenge me the most. Larger sites for larger organisations inevitably require larger companies than mine to help them.
It’s important not to spread yourself too thin and say “I’ll take on anything” as you’ll end up spreading yourself too thin and not being particularly good at anything. However, I do like to explore new avenues and I’m constantly on the look out for other opportunities and different types of projects.
This article helps alot.
That’s good, David.
Hello Rob,
This as usually is an outstanding article.
After buying your e-books it has encouraged me to develop my own website to promote my architectural illustration business. I’ve made a number of false starts on the way. I was a little overwhelmed with the downloaded software from wordpress and for the moment I am using the “rental” version. But do like the way that even the basic versions can be made “me” rather than a standard template thing.
But reading your blogs and readers comments I know that I still have a long way to go but isn’t it fun!
Hello Mark, good to hear from you. I’m so glad you’ve been encouraged to develop your own website. We’ve all experienced those false starts! The fantastic thing about starting on the “rental” version of WordPress.com is that, when the time comes, you can move from WordPress.com to a self-hosted WordPress.org site and keep your content.
Yes, it’s all good fun. Please let me know if you have any questions along the way.
Rob,
Good article, I couldn’t agree with you more that 1&1, Intuit.. and more like Godaddy’s sitebuilder, VistaPrint(ugh!!), etc., are garbage.. what they produce is difficult to look at.. and I do love WordPress. On the other hand, to be fair , sitebuiders have come a long way. Look at Basekit (which you can get free access to with any HostGator account), SquareSpace, LightCMS.. that’s a sitebuilder with terrific templates. Basekit can even import sliced layered psd files and can tweak the css, but for non designers, simple customization of existing templates comes out looking very nice. Zoho Sites is in the game now, very simple but one notch above 1&1, and for something really cute and amazingly useful and elegant, check out Sidengo!!
Hello Jim, great comment! You make several good points about other smaller CMSs out there that we shouldn’t overlook and can do a job for us if needs be. I have limited experience of both SquareSpace and LightCMS and they are useful site builders. LightCMS, in particular, lives up to its name and is great to look through for those learning PHP because it’s so simple! I’m going to check out Basekit, Zoho Sites and Sidengo. Still, for me, the ones I’ve seen aren’t enough to knock WordPress off its perch just for now.
Rob,
I don’t think WordPress has anything to worry about.. on the other hand, I like to see variety, just for the sake of variety. There’s a new wave of sitebuilders, thankfully, as we’re all so sick of Parallels, SiteKreator, et al, the stuff that normally comes free with Hosting. Basekit blows those legacy builders away. Also notable are: IMCreator (artsy..), 22slides (very artsy, for photogs, ec.), Plebu (intriguing, and a new v. coming out), Lifeyo.. , OnePager.. and this niche just won’t stop growing.
Exactly, Jim, WordPress has nothing to worry about but you’re right this area is really growing. There’s a huge blog post to be written about all these site builders – you seem to know about a lot of them.
What a great site Rob, it has all the info I need at the moment and a long night awaits going through all the relevant articles and e books. I’ve recently come back to graphic design through my new role as a real estate agent in the French Alps (before that I had a hotel business for 10 years). I saw a need for photo realistic 3D renderings of new build properties in my area and have been mastering the various programs and techniques for the last year or so leading to setting up Threed Visuals. I’m seeing a prospective client tomorrow about creating renderings for a block of luxury Alpine apartments but it occured to me – why not do everything? I have a background in graphic design and especially typography(a long standing interest) from working at Face in Sydney and have built 3 sites in Dreamweaver for my own businesses so I’m confident and keen for this to come off. Your posts and articles on WordPress have intrigued me greatly as I can set the site up myself and run it by a friend who is a WordPress evangelist for tweaking in good time as well as take care of the billboards, brochures, POS and other material. The information on contracts and billing best practices is gold dust and has me already clear on how to proceed with what I hope will be a vibrant design business. Thanks a lot.
Hello Steve, I’m so glad you have found the site useful. Please let me know if you have any questions so that I can recommend any specific articles that might be of use to you.
You have a very interesting background and there are many people who have gone into web design via other disciplines who have done extremely well. You also have print design experience and I can vouch that this is extremely useful.
I agree that it’s best to offer a broad range of services if asked although it’s also, paradoxically, good to specialise! All the best 🙂
This thread has made me feel very insecure! I’m a web designer by trade, but mostly self taught, and use WordPress. I do have experience in print journalism so I have a decent eye for what looks good, but I seek to hone my craft site by site.
I’m in the business of trying to convince people that rather than try to design a “free” site themselves (it’s only free in monetary terms, how much time goes into it for the business owner?) they spend a few hundred pounds and use me. As you were saying earlier, you don’t print your own cards and do your own books, so why do you think you have the time to put together a quality website in the evenings?
Increasingly, I think it’s not enough just to have a website – your site needs to stand out, in a good way. My preferred “ultra-budget” method would be a WordPress install with a premium theme, but of course this does require a certain amount of nous to get the thing set up in the first place.
I am a little worried about my business model as there seem to be an ever-increasing number of build-it-yourself solutions appearing, but the results of most (naming no names) are still awful. And, as you say Rob, the functionality for the client further down the line is poor.
Don’t be worried. There is room for everyone.
Hello Dom, I would echo what Liz says (thanks, Liz), there’s room for everyone. You do not need to be competing against easy-build websites because you do not want clients like that!
I wouldn’t concentrate so much on the clients who want a website for a few hundred. You’ll end up getting a lot of hassle for very little money and then when you’ll eventually get paid you’ll end up never seeing them again. This is not the sort of client you want.
Try to get clients that will spend at least a thousand on a website. These are the clients that are serious about their web presence. And they are more likely to return to ask for more services in the future as their business improves. Good luck!
I completely agree with Rob’s last comment. When your first starting out in the business you may think that any client is a good client. Sometimes that’s how you have to start. But I can say from experience that Rob is right stay away from people who don’t see the need to make the necessary investment in their website. They will drain the life out of you.
Final note don’t give away your services unless it’s for charity ect. The worst experiences I’ve had have been with those who I’ve done a favor for. They won’t in most cases appreciate the level of skill you possess and when you dare suggest that they begin to pay for what you are doing for them they will go looking for the next sucker to take advantage of. It’s not worth it! There I feel better! 🙂
Hear, hear!!!
Absolutely, Craig, get it off your chest. I agree, as well.
Oh dear – I do need to say something about low cost site builders.
We have just released a product that does just that. I don’t believe in low cost site builders and would not use them, but I think our product is different! I will ask Rob if he will do a review.
Very interesting comments I can relate to a lot of the pro’s and con’s of a site builder 1 & 1. They are limited my experience has been with Intuit and the free site they offer through a partnership with Google. It is only 3 pages and limited file storage. However I have found a workaround. This has allowed me to get a free unique domain for one year and free hosting for one year. Granted It has been over almost a year now and my website is only now coming along over trial and error. I did start with the themes they offered (plain) but soon wanted more like photo light boxes and large image sliders. I also wanted a responsive website unfortunetly these would come at a price. So I taught myself basic HTML, JAVASCRIPT, CSS, AND JQUERY. This allowed me to color scheme a free opensource responsive theme. I built it on a free version of coffecup HTML editor. I then copy and pasted the HTML into the corresponding areas uploaded my files to the Intuit server and published it. I was able to get what I would say is better than what the 1 &1 has to offer and it was all free. Granted it took me almost a year to figure out what I was doing with SEO, and the customization but I feel good about learing. It was interesting now I would like to take it to another level and upload WordPress.org database and play around with the free plugins. Though I dont think I will have enough file storage to upload eveything and so I may have to find another hosting provider and pay monthly. However what I have learned is pricless and will only help me if I do use WordPress.org. I’m thinking of a community site that does shirts and a membership option maybe a small ad campaing to generate some revenue. Sorry for the long post but I had to throw my 2cents in becuase with some hard work and stratigic thinking even the limited free options can be made to look and function better! Oh and about the three page issue I found if you intergrate social media like FB, IG, Ytube, etc into the HTML you can add more to the menu bar and make you homepage look like it has 5 to 6 pages! Even a store that is hosted by someone like BIG CARTEL who also give you a 5 list of items for free.
Thank you for your insights, Gabe. It sounds like you are ready to burst out of your Intuit cocoon to spread your WordPress and/or independent butterfly wings! 🙂
”If you’re thinking of setting up a website but don’t know what to do, I’d love to hear your comments down below!”
Re you invitation above!
I attended a seminar in London 7th June 2013.
I did a great presentation and built a great website before the delegates eyes.
adding features within seconds of a delegate raising a question.
I was very impressed.
From my viewpoint this seemed okay.
So what extra benefits does one get from WORDPRESS.
My concern is I simply do not know the questions I should be asking
and then would not know if the answer was ‘ complete’
i have spoken to and seen the work of local web designers but SEEM to get conflicting answers, or never a complete picture without digging deep…. but I am not the expert, the web designers do not instill GREAT confidence.
so going into the arms of a big company seems okay…. but may have problems l;ater
thanks
Frank
It’s a tough one Frank. The industry is in constant change, unregulated and not all web designers are equal.
I’m not a designer by profession, but I’ve made quite a lot of sites and would recommend WordPress for nearly all. There is a steeper learning curve with WP, but more freedom and flexibility (if you download WordPress and host it yourself)
Some say that up to 25% of all websites are built on WordPress and certainly it has continued to grow over it’s ten year history. There’s no shortage of free support out there and being “open source” with a whole community it’s not going to close down in a hurry.
I’d say the main benefit are:
You own it not rent it
SEO is good by default (Google in the form of Matt Cutts says so!)
Your content is stored in a database so you can change WP themes (if something new comes along – like mobile responsive design did).
I’ve not used 1&1, but judging other easy builds, I would be surprised SEO was really any good. They sell because folks generally want a site they build quickly that look goods. The problem come later when it is not visited much or you need to make tweaks.
Hi Frank, What David says is absolutely right. It depends on what you want from your website. If you want your website to have an important role in your company then use WordPress. David’s right, WordPress will give you more freedom and flexibility but it’s a steeper learning curve.
Hi there,
So I was trying to create a hiphop website but all these sites want me to pay a lot of money for their products. I went through Godaddy.com and although its do it yourself.. it is confusing and expensive. how would I go about purchasing a domain name and then using word press or any do it yourself products that actually work.. I am pretty lost. 1&1 talked me in to them building and maintaining my site for $100 a month.. and now I realized that is too expensive… what to do?
Hello Nikki, don’t worry. You don’t have to pay 1&1. You should be able to cancel your arrangement with them.
All you need is the domain name (which is only $10/year) maybe you still have it with GoDaddy.
Then you need to get hosting with Bluehost or Hostgator or Vidahost in the UK. That should be less than $100/year. And then you can set up WordPress which is free.
You need to point the domain to the host.
It will be cheaper and better!