Over the last few years I’ve had many clients (and potential clients) ask me what my thoughts are on services that you see advertised on TV, you know the ‘create your website for 1p’ type jobbies. They often then go on to say something crass along the lines of ‘I bet you’re worried that they’ll put you out of business’.
At this point, an uncontrollable smirk appears on my face. I’ve tried to stop it but I just can’t because it really is very funny.
A great proportion of my clients are people who have tried these ‘website in a box’ services after being convinced that it’ll be cheaper than paying a developer or agency to build them a website. ‘Just drag and drop, click here, and type text’. It sounds so easy doesn’t it? And it IS easy to build a website like that. Until you want something that isn’t offered in that package.
‘Is it possible to add a <insert cool feature here> onto my website, I built it using <insert website in a box package name here>… ?’ is a question that is asked often. A lot of the time the simple answer is ‘no’. The result of this is someone who has a website that is missing something that they want, a half-completed website that they are paying a monthly bill for. And the best bit? If they stop paying the bill then it’s ‘bye bye website’.
When a client comes to me to get a website built, it’s hand-coded, can be customised in any way that is desired and can have functionality/features added weeks, months or even years after the website was built.
I really do like ‘websites in a box’ though. Because if they weren’t out there then people might not have decided that they need a website, had a go, struggled, and contacted me in the first place.
Long live ‘websites in a box’.