DIY Website Builders
If you’re interested in having a website for your organization you’ve no doubt come across many ads for free or low-cost websites.
“Free” products consider YOU to be the product they are selling – and will insert their own ads to your website. You also don’t have your own name – the base of the name will be the company providing the hosting.
Free
Wix, GoDaddy, and other hosting sites offer a free service. Your address will be yourcompanyname.wix.com, for example. They will insert advertising on your pages also.
WordPress.com offers free websites also – this name will be yourcompanyname.wordpress.com. They will insert ads on your pages. In addition, you can’t choose a theme (a “skin” to customize your site) or plugins to help with SEO or other tasks.
Build It Yourself Monthly Subscriptions
These do-it-yourself all in one services can provide you with some great looking sites, but there are drawbacks. You can’t unleash the full power of WordPress, with themes and plugins. They can also become costly, depending on the tier of service you need. If you expect thousands of visitors a month, you’re better off in the long run with a built from scratch site.
See PC Magazine for a good article comparing these sites: https://www.pcmag.com/picks/the-best-website-builders
WIX, SquareSpace, Weebly, and PageCloud are the best-known DIY Website Building tools.
If you’re tempted to go this route, keep in mind these drawbacks to DIY Website Builders:
- Custom domain name – is there an extra cost?
- SSL certificate (must have!) – is there an extra cost?
- What kind of support do you need – 24/7?
- Backups – how often? Does it cost extra?
- How much customization do you need?
- Do you need eCommerce (shopping cart + secure payments)?
- Does the hosting/build company force their own ads on your site?
- Do they offer SEO and Analytics (traffic) to your site?
- How much storage space for each plan?
- Speed of servers? How long will it be expected to take to paint your website?
