Today’s question refers to “web site builders” for standard HTML websites.

Dear Lara,

I’m in a quandry about a few things and was wondering if you could help. I have a site that I built using one of those web site builders that you find all over the ‘net. I was in a rush to get “something” up there, and it was just too quick and easy for me at the time since it was offered to me when I registered my domain name and set up the hosting.

Now that I think about it, I’m wondering if hiring a company to do a customized design for me would fare me better in the long run. I don’t know how to code HTML or anything like that - this was essentially a “point and click” type of setup.

I’m worried that it’s too boring and “amateur-ish”. I’m worried that there’s code in there that might be a hinderance in terms of search engine optimization. I’m worried that if I ever do really want to get into doing some serious Internet marketing that it would be a waste of money on a site that’s not “up to par”.

What do you think?

Sincerely,
Pamela B.
{last name and site address removed for privacy}

Thanks for your great question, Pamela! And first and foremost, stop worrying so much!

The real answer here isn’t a cut-and-dried answer, I’m sorry to say. There are lots of factors to think about when building a web site and code is definitely one of them. The bottom line is that if you can’t read code, you have no real idea what’s in there that could be a problem for you in terms of SEO or anything else, so you’re either going to have to take the time to learn enough HTML code or find someone who can help you decipher what’s going on “behind the scenes”.

That said, most of what I’ve seen in terms of “DIY” websites makes them very un-search engine friendly. Very often there are “frames”, where each page is displayed next to or below a menu and the search engines can never get to the true URL of each individual page. There’s also typically a lack of CSS (cascading style sheets) files that are used to make changes “globally” in a snap. Decided you prefer black text on a white background all of the sudden? You’ll likely have to go through and make those changes individually on each page. The graphics you’re provided are rarely what you really want, and often the file sizes are large which make the pages load more slowly.

Oh, I could go on and on…

That said, there’s been a lot of talk on the internet lately about “ugly sites” and how it doesn’t always mean that a company is bad if their site is “ugly”. In a very small way, I can see the point - Let’s say you run a mom-and-pop laundromat. You offer your website up with tips on stain removal, list your hours, maybe some details on your machines and “amenities”, and hand out some coupons for dry cleaning. Do you NEED to market your site to the world? Does it NEED to look like you’re running this “high class” place? It’s a single location, and costs about $2.00 to wash and dry a load of laundry. So no, you don’t want to drive people away by making them think you’re expensive, and you don’t need to have people across the country find you. (However this is not an excuse to not do any online marketing at all! It simply means you can probably spend less than you’d think, because you’re geo-targeting your traffic.)

So yes, it does depend on your situation whether or not you should try to do-it-yourself or hire an outside company. A basic, well-designed site won’t cost you a mint, but will always make life easier in terms of SEO and marketing if it’s done professionally from the start. If you’re looking to get into more in terms of marketing (ie. you’re not running a local laundromat, but rather an online business that serves or attracts people from around the country or world), then yes, my opinion is that you should fork out the cash to have the site redone professionally so that you can pursue a successful online marketing campaign. And please - don’t take your DIY site to an SEO and tell them you don’t want to redesign or re-code it! You should never do that with any site, as part of SEO is making the site search engine friendly, and there’s no way an SEO can do that without digging into the back end of the site or re-arranging things!

Thanks again for your letter, Pamela!

To send your own questions to us and possibly have it posted here, email us at ask@anubismarketing.com!

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