The primary focus of new business owners is to create a digital presence. They may have promoted their product or services on their personal social media channels, but now is the time to take the next step in business marketing. The one thing every business needs to make it in the digital age is a website. With disposable income at a minimum, the cheapest options can often be the most attractive; thus, business owners’ introduction to free website builders.

Popular website building companies advertise their programs as being efficient and easy to use. They target start-up businesses, reeling them in with a no-cost option and the suggested simplicity of building a website. Many business owners make the mistake of using these services, unaware of the many accompanying restrictions and limitations.

Poor SEO

The purpose of building a website is to expose your product or service to a broader audience. Website building sites do very little to assist in that effort. Seen as a benefit to the average consumer, users have no control over the coding of their website. This commonly results in their website having messy, unstructured codes which are both counterproductive and damaging to on-page SEO. Inefficient code can also slow page speed down to a crawl and negatively impact consumer interaction.

It takes more than simply having a domain to appear on popular search engines. How your site is constructed and maintained determines whether your site will appear in organic search results and if so, how your site will rank. This means having things like organized coding, a sitemap, and other features that make your website Google-friendly. When you choose to build a free site, you only have control over how it looks and what you put on it; the rest is out of your hands.

Limited Features & Pages

With search engine visibility aside, free website building services also have limited features and pages. In terms of web design, you only have access to pre-constructed, cookie-cutter design templates. There are only a few free templates to choose from, and the rest require payment. Even if you go the distance of purchasing a “unique” template, you still do not have control over the design. If you desire any form of creative freedom, you must upgrade to a paid plan and even then your options are limited.

Consumers value sites that are regularly updated and ever-expanding. Fulfilling this need with a free website builder is impossible. Many of these services restrict users to only a handful of pages and require them to upgrade their plan to gain access to more. Having few pages to work with means having fewer opportunities to plug in keywords, which equals to fewer converted searches, and ultimately less traffic. The best way to get the most out of your website is to acquire website construction services from the professionals.

Market My Market is a full-service digital marketing company that uses the latest technologies and programs to fully optimize our clients’ digital presence. Our digital marketing team can construct a fast, Google-friendly, and fully customizable website for both mobile and desktop viewing. Contact us today to speak with a digital marketing specialist.