In the last couple of years there has been a trend for websites in a day. Essentially, you book a day of a designer’s time, supply all the information the website designer needs and, approximately 8 hours later you have a working website. Even I can see that it sounds great, but the expectation and the reality are two different things.
Here are 9 reasons I don’t offer websites in a day
It takes time to plan and get to grips with a website build.
Websites are multi layered; there's the hosting, connecting up the domain, installing the platform (I use WordPress), choosing and installing the theme, adding any plugins and connecting APIs, it's not an out of the box solution.
For the last 2 years running I’ve won awards for both, my website builds and the services I offer. This is recognition of the work that goes into planning out a website, including the architecture of the site, then the design and functionality.
You can only do this if not custom building so it’s most likely going to be a template.
Completely custom builds usually take between 50 and 80 hours to complete, depending on the website size and complexity. Therefore, a website which is built in just 8 hours is likely to be using a template. Whether this is one a designer has built previously or from a template shop, it means the premium price you pay for a website in a day won’t reflect the quality of design the other side.
Which means your website will look like everyone else’s.
One of the most important roles of the website is it’s where you really get to create and show off your brand identity. Unlike Social Media platforms where you’re trying to fit your brand into their boundaries, with your website, you get to make it intrinsically yours. All your brand design, including what you go on to create for Social Media, should come from the initial design of your website. If your website is build in a day, using a template, then you’re not going to have that unique brand identity that you deserve.
The tech stack won’t be great.
The tech stack on a website takes a lot of thought, including matching the right platform to your needs, ensuring you have the right design tools and training to be able to use it after it’s been built, as well as ensuring you have the right plugins and coding to make sure the website is a great fit for your needs. This can include checking out premium themes and plugins and writing custom code. This can’t be done well if there’s a limited time to get a website published.
In a lot of cases the designer will have their tech stack sorted already and stored as a zip file for easy installation. The tech stack won’t be specific to you, it will just be what’s easy for the designer and, most likely, what’s cheap to use in bulk
You pay a premium for the designer’s time.
Building a website in a day is time consuming and takes a lot of concentration. This means that there isn’t time for anything else, such as conversing with other clients, marketing, working on other website designs, updating existing websites or troubleshooting other issues. Designers charge a premium for you to have 100% of their attention and you could end up paying up to triple the cost of the website if it was built over a series of days or weeks.
You won’t get to feedback and have the website customised for you.
A good website, one which you really love will involve collaboration; where you get to view the website as it progresses and give feedback on the design. That way you’re involved in the process and you’re not stuck with design elements you really don’t like, or which grate on you. When building a website in a day there really isn’t time to go back and forth, or for you to see the design, mull it over and then feedback to the designer. So the chances are, you’ll pay a premium to have a website that doesn’t 100% fell like a good fit.
Chances are, it looks ok but the functionality is low.
Websites go through vigorous testing prior to going live. This includes making sure the mobile view is perfect, that it also responds well on big screens. The website should be connected to accounts like Google My Business to give the best SEO results. Cookies notices should be employed, page speeds registered and the website optimised so it loads quickly and efficiently. On top of that, all the plugins functionalities need testing, links, forms and baskets should be thoroughly tested and any APIs hooked up. When building a website over 8 hours there just isn’t time to do this efficiently and, combined with the likely, cheap tech stack it’s built on, the performance isn’t going to be great.
Which means search engines won’t like it.
With so many websites competing for space in the search results it’s super important that the website is completely optimised and accessible for search engines. Get any of these stages wrong and it could have a catastrophic result with the search engines. Un-optimised websites can take up to 30 months for Google and other search engines to index them. You don’t want to pay a premium to have your website built in a day and then have it not chosen by search engines because there wasn’t time to put in some fundamental elements.
Good websites take time and are a collaborative experience.
Your website is your personal brand, your online home and your biggest online asset to your business. It’s not something that should be rushed or thrown together. You should feel confident in the website which is the result of the hard work you and your designer do and this shouldn’t be rushed.
When working together the main thing I want is for you to enjoy the process, be involved in the design and feel it really reflects you. It helps to know the process of website builds and what you need for it. You can read more about it in these posts:
How to choose between a website developer and an agency
How to prepare for your website build or redesign
If you’re thinking of having a new website built and would like to discuss whether we’re a good fit, you can book a free, no-obligation call with me, using the button below.
