Is it just me or have you too been hearing lots of commercials and advertisements about getting a “free” website from Wix or Weebly on the radio. As I’m writing this, I also witnessed a Facebook ad marketing the same thing. When you hear or see these ads say this with me out load “Wix and Weebly, NO THANKS!” Oh don’t get me wrong, I shall explain…

Wix and Weebly have been around for some time now, so these companies are, obviously, not new. However, I think most of us aren’t stupid. Somewhere down the line, when we all started our business we were advised that “if its too good to be true, it probably is.” This definitly goes for Wix and Weebly’s free website builder.

1. Have you seen the templates? Ewwww

Generic templates, drag and drop images, stretched out logos. These are design nightmares that make the internet a horrible place to visit. Unless you are a professional designer with the proper software to create proper graphic images, please put the mouse down. Your pixilated photos are not going to appeal to your users and you’ll do more harm than good. Building a website is not as easy as Wix or Weebly make it sound. There is some design knowledge required to create beautiful designs. With a free template, your risking looking just like your competition.

2. Free means cheap. If you want quality, Wix and Weebly charge.

When something says “free” you should be skeptical. Yes, Wix and Weebly are free…to sign up. You’ll be able to go through the steps of creating a generic template of a website if that’s all you need. However, if you’re a serious business that is trying to compete in the online market, you’ll need a bit more functionality that Wix and Weebly may or may not provide, but at a premium. Don’t believe me? Does this look like “free”?

3. Good luck finding Wix and Weebly sites on Search Engines (not good SEO)

Wix can make a decent website. There’s no question about it. But did you know that if a website is all Flash-based (which Wix is, for the most part), it’s practically dead to Google? Flash does not scale to fit a screen size. This is important for many reasons, but mostly because of accessibility for mobile users. Even the Android users who can see your website may not be able to see all of it without scrolling around on their devices. Google looks at accessibility when they decide where your website will rank for a given search term.

4. Browser compatibility issues. Wix and Weebly don’t give you complete back end control, not allowing you to format for a variety of browsers.

Not to mention mobile compatibility. How does the Weebly and Wix website look on a iPad or mobile device? These types of variables and different browsers require additional coding that Wix and Weebly may not provide you access to. In most cases, its worth it to pay a web designer to get a sufficient guarantee that when someone goes to your website on Chrome or IE9 they aren’t going to get a black screen with a bunch of code on it and misplaced images.

The list goes on and on, but rather bore you, just Google the issues yourself and make an informed decision. I understand there are people out there that need something basic for a web presence…like my mom. But if you’re a serious small business owner, don’t be duped by Wix or Weebly just because it advertises DIY “free”. Remember, you get what you pay for.

So you have a website, but it’s not doing exactly what you want it to do. You’ve spent all this money to get up and running, but does it perform?

Download this FREE educational whitepaper that explains 5 of the most important things your website needs in order to be successful.