Small businesses will often look to build their own websites in order to reduce costs. There are a myriad of solutions available to choose from and business owners are struggling to select a platform they are comfortable with.
Nearly 25 percent of DIY website builder users – those that use platforms like Squarespace and Wix – say their biggest challenge is getting started and knowing which web builder provider to use. Making these initial selections is more difficult than any functional aspects of the web building tools themselves. Once DIYers do navigate through the many web building options and select one, most strive to continuously improve their website through investing time and money. This data comes from a new survey from Clutch, a research and reviews platform for business services.
“Finding the most ideal web builder and technology platform can be difficult, so the best thing to do is work backwards,” says Michael Gaizutis, Founder of RNO1, a web design company. “Map out what solutions you need out of your web builder, and from there match that to the functionality and needs that align with what you’d like to bring to life.”
Working with more advanced features of web building is the second biggest challenge of using DIY web solutions, according to 21 percent of survey respondents. These advanced features include a mobile optimized theme, SEO tools, integrations with third party services, HTML/CSS, and e-commerce.
The third issue that was noted was lack of time to devote to improving their website. This a major obstacle for DIY web builder users, the survey found. If insufficient time is allowed to continue to improve a website, then it is probably that it may not reach the potential its creator had hoped for, according to web design experts.
“Create some kind of routine into your schedule to be sure you’re creating new content and improving the user experience on a regular basis,” says Shawn Parrote of Designli, a mobile app and web development agency. “Potential customers or clients will be searching for you, so it’s important to prioritize your web presence.”
Despite the challenges, individuals still see value in DIY tools. Nearly 50 percent of users indicate they plan to upgrade to a higher-end web builder pricing plan in the next 6 months.
If you are wanting to understand what the next steps should be for your website, industry experts recommend looking at what other web builders have gone through, as well as their plans for the future.
For example, some respondents said they plan to recreate their website on a content management system such as WordPress, Drupal, or Joomla, in addition to investing more time and money in their web builders. Industry experts agree that the benefits of transferring a website to a CMS can allow for the creation of a more complex site that regular web builders cannot support.
To read the full report, access this link: https://clutch.co/website-builders/survey
Clutch also used customer feedback to rate the top 10+ website builder tools. You can find the full research and reviews here: www.clutch.co/website-builders.
Clutch’s 2017 Website Builder Survey included 307 users of DIY website builder tools. Data was collected throughout December 2016.
