An excellent question and as a web development company, one that garners some of our company’s attention. The “build it yourself in under and hour” website builders have had a small impact on our business. Some small clients and prospects have peeled off and moved to the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) model. Those particular clients and prospects were driven by the potential cost savings and did not place value on the benefits of working with a professional development team. And for some businesses, the DIY model is the better option. For those business that see beyond the seemingly easy “I need a website and at the lowest possible cost” offered by the DIY solution, the investment in the counsel and technical capabilities of a knowledgeable and up-to-date web professional is wise. Those same clients are likely to see that there are lost opportunity costs to consider when weighing their web development options. The following list of questions and their answers may be valuable in determining which path a business should follow when moving toward developing a website: Is Search Engine Optimization important to your website’s mission? - If no, do it yourself may work
- If yes, seek a professional If the website will include eCommerce, is conversion optimization important? - If no, do it yourself may work
- If yes, seek a professional Is your web development budget more than $500.00? - If no, do it yourself may work
- If yes, seek a professional Do you, or someone on your staff, have the time and ability to keep the website’s content updated and fresh? - If yes, do it yourself may work
- If no, seek a professional Would your website benefit from interfacing with third party marketing and other tools? - If no, do it yourself may work
- If yes, seek a professional Is understanding and leveraging the latest in cyber security important to your website?
- If no, do it yourself may work
- If yes, seek a professional Is it important that your website have a clearly defined mission and have its success measured against definable goals? - If no, do it yourself may work
- If yes, seek a professional Is having your website completed quickly and cheaply the most important consideration in its development? - If yes, do it yourself may work
- If no, seek a professional
The list is not exhaustive regarding the number and kind of benefits that a professional web developer can provide to a web development project, however, if any of the questions are answered yes, it indicates that taking to 2 or more professionals and requesting proposals from each will likely be valuable to the web development decision. Will DIY website solutions be able to replace web developers? Yes, the “do it yourself” model will replace some web developers. It will not, however, supplant those web marketing professionals dedicated to delivering to their clients value beyond simple "build it and forget it" web development.
Adapted from a Quora answer Will websites like Wix be able to replace web developers?