Why Not Wix?
August 22, 2021
A few reasons you might want to choose a custom, self-hosted web application rather than a commodity site builder.
Why not a commodity site builder, indeed? Hosted builders are fine products in some circumstances. The cost of entry is low, and an entirely adequate website can be created in a few hours by pretty much anyone. If all that is required is some information, a few photos and basic contact details, this can be a perfectly sound solution.
The Costs Add Up
Unfortunately, once features are added, the cost can climb quickly. Most people end up wanting a little more:
- An event calendar
- A weblog
- A more comprehensive photo gallery
- Real search engine optimization
All of these “extras” raise the monthly bill, and owners can quickly wind up paying far more than they anticipated. Once a site needs real metrics for budgeting and advertising, more complex forms to accept recurring payments or gather information, geolocation and mapping, or properly managed SEO, a commodity site is often no longer adequate. Eventually it may not even be viable.
The Real Hurdle: Vendor Lock-In
This is where consumers of commodity web services can run into one of their biggest problems: vendor lock-in. When stakeholders decide to move away from a hosted builder, they often struggle to extract their own data. Images have been compressed into hard-to-reuse formats, proprietary code is everywhere, and everything is minified, obfuscated and compressed to the point of incomprehensibility. If you also registered your domain through the same provider, that adds yet another layer of complexity.
It can be a tough realization that the site that has been fine for years is no longer meeting your needs — especially after sinking thousands of dollars into monthly fees for “extras.”
The Upside of a Custom Site
A custom site solves these problems. First and foremost, you own your files and content, and you are free to do with them what you will. Other advantages include:
- No more monthly fees. When we are done, we stop billing you. You are free to use the host of your choice — we will even help you get set up.
- Portability. Your content lives in open, standard formats that any developer can pick up later.
- Room to grow. Calendars, payments, mapping and real SEO are all on the table because the site is built on a real foundation.
If you have outgrown a hosted builder, or you want to avoid that trap from the start, our web development service is built precisely for that. Let's talk.