Wix, Weebly, Squarespace. If you’ve ever danced around the idea of using a DIY website builder for your business, you’re probably familiar with these. Sure, you can get an aesthetically pleasing site but what about the consistent branding or the content strategy? How about robust functionality such as a client login? Or even more importantly, what about the ongoing support services? Sure, in some cases, DIY site builders may be your best option, but with these contracted agreements, come deep, dark surprises.

We’ve gathered a few “surprises” that you may want to be aware of before deciding to use a website builder:

  • You are under their rule. They have the ability to shut you site down with one click and also have the right to up charge you. And, yes, this does happen.
  • Forget talking to a live representative. Most website builders can only be reach through live chat (even when they say phone is an option), making troubleshooting a painful process.
  • Domains are aggressively overpriced. It may be enticing to purchase your domain through these site builders, but if you can’t stand being cheated, don’t fall into this trap.
  • Untested site-wide upgrades are a frequent problem, running the risk that your site may be down (or ruined) for a period of time.
  • When hosting through these DIY platforms, you don’t own the site or content, so forget trying to transfer your domain or export your site.

There are also quite a few very large foundational concepts and strategy that are missing when using a website builder, such as brand consistency and search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. These may seem like back-burner items when starting up a site but you’ll soon realize these require much expertise and skill.

You’re probably asking “What’s it worth to me? What do the ‘large’ upfront costs of a custom site get me?”

With hayWire, a one-of-a-kind site includes:

  • Complete ownership: You own the site, and everything associated with it, such as content.
  • Content strategy & creation: Just like web design trends, copywriting styles have evolved as well. Through our Killer Copywriting Services, we entertain the reader, while making them get a crystal clear idea of the product or service the site is selling.
  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy: Do you know what it takes to get your site on the first page of Google search results? We do.
  • Access to a library full of unlimited stock images (and not those cheesy, awkward stock photos you’ll find on brochure sites): We recommend you use your own high-quality photos, but as a worse case scenario, we have your back. Just promise us you’ll never use images taken from your cell phone.
  • Graphic design: Your website should have a balance of graphics and text. We help you create custom, one-of-kind graphics that help the user understand your business better.
  • Marketing strategy: With the help of passionate Marketing Gurus, our sites are built using a strategic foundation.
  • Thorough website training: Pre-launch, we sit down with you and your team and give you a comprehensive training over the back-end of the site. WordPress is very intuitive so it’s not difficult, but we empower you to make changes to your site, post blog articles, update images, etc. on a frequent basis without any stress.

And most importantly,

  • Ongoing support: Anything under 15 minutes (which is usually the case), we will fix, for FREE! However, if you do decide to work with another company post-launch, you unfortunately are no longer under this support warranty. (There’s nothing fun about us trying to collaborate with other web design competitors.) We get back to you typically within the same day and are available via email or phone, whichever you prefer.

Yes, it’s true, there is a larger up-front fee for a custom WordPress site with hayWire and we’re not trying to hide that. When it comes to price, DIY website builders blow us out of the water. It’s easy to get tunnel vision when you learn you can build your own site for a whopping $25/mo., however, you can expect some unpleasant surprises with little technical or billing support to help you along the way.

Our goal is to build your web presence, and you can’t do just that by simply launching a website and bypassing the foundational strategy. There are just under one billion websites, will yours truly stand out against your competitors? Your site is the forefront of your business, making it one of the most important investments you can make to boost business.

Still hesitant? Read our reviews and see what our clients think. Believe it or not, they are not colossal Fortune 500 companies with an unlimited marketing budget; they are often small-medium sized businesses that understand the cost and time savings, making their new website a well-worth investment. Of course, there are times when a custom website is not the best approach, and we understand that.

If a custom website is still an option for you, save some headaches and reach out.

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