How to Build a Website and Be Better than Free

We are constantly bombarded by television advertisements on how to build a website, or building a website for free. We have all heard the saying, “you get what you pay for.” And in the case of free, you are getting free quality. Nothing in life is free, and your ‘free’ website will end up costing you in the long run. But if you truly need a free website, by all means, do as needed, but let our warning be heard. Creative Revolution can build a website for your business without the added complications that many of these advertisements neglect to mention, which we will go into in 5,4,3..2…1.

Why the Creative Revolution web design service is better than Wix, Squarespace, or whatever another free site you can get with a simple click.

Wix:

Wix advertises “Create Your Free Website,” and the free version includes advertisements slapped all over your page. You have no control over what advertisements are placed on your site. You also receive zero compensation for the advertisements.Your compensation is having a free website…that you built, and will ultimately literally pay for out of pocket.
No access to source code. If you ever need to alter HTML or CSS (which you will if you want your website to be seen on the internet), do not even try a free platform. Not even their premium version offers the ability to alter the source code.

Storage space is very limited. Their space ranges from 500mb to 20G, which could be sufficient for you. But if you are thinking about having a site larger than a few gigabytes; not gonna happen with Wix. You will be limited to the amount of content and images you can place on your website. Data backups could also suffer if they even offer them. We backup our sites monthly, which is included in our basic plans.
Email accounts are going to cost you in the long run. The Wix paid service offers one year of hosting (compared to our two years included). However, each additional email account is over 4 dollars extra per month. Do you have ten employees needing email accounts? You are already looking at $45 extra dollars per month, JUST FOR EMAIL. Our basic package includes up to 100 email accounts.
Domain names in the free version are not included, which is fine because it is free. You get what you pay for and in this case a free domain of www.92327xhwwbuad.com/wid8232. Very memorable and easy to type into your browser. Unlike Wix, we will work with you closely to get the ideal domain name that your business desires. This includes negotiating prices for domains already owned.
Bandwidth? Not very adjustable. If your site starts to develop a legitimate amount of traffic, you will find your website constantly being down due to server limitations. Our website packages offer unlimited bandwidth. With a paid Wix e-commerce site, your bandwidth is limited to 20G.

Are you thinking about selling stuff on your website? The Wix e-commerce will require their top-tier program at $20 bucks a month (not including email or additional services). With this setup, you will get the most basic e-commerce setup. For example, one flat rate shipping price, options for included taxation. Zero customization, just a plain Jane site.
Wix will not let you transfer or alter DNS information. Say, for example, you decide you want to transfer your service to another company (unlikely, but hey, we are speaking hypothetically), we offer DNS transfers with domain exchanges.

Templates are available, but you are given a sparse selection, and most of them are run-of-the-mill, at best. Once you choose a template, that is your template until the internet is no longer a thing.With Creative Revolution, we can alter your websites look and feel anytime you choose. We even give you a variety of mock-ups for you to choose from.
Say goodbye to customer support, their 24/7 “support” sends you to an FAQ page where you will have to decipher a solution through a page of prewritten text. With us, you get a personal email and direct line to the individual in charge of developing your site. You get a trusty flow of information and responses.
By the way, you have to build a website yourself. This will range from setting up emails, designing, to editing, the work is dependent on you and your ability to navigate their platform. You are essentially paying them so you can build a website. When it comes down to it, you are paying for one of their mass produced templates with an overpriced hosting plan.

Courtesy of: http://mpiresolutions.com/can-i-use-wix-for-my-business-website/

Squarespace:

We have personally used Squarespace to build a website. On the outside, Squarespace offers a nice crisp package, quite polished in fact. I would equate it to moving into a nice rented condominium…one that you are not allowed to control the temperature, water, gas, or any of the real necessary items. You get the keys to the condo and are allowed to move your furniture in, but have to place your furniture in predefined spots inside. The spot for your couch is labeled couch on the floor. Yada yada, you get the idea. Welcome to the world of template-based websites with limited access to source code.
Their pricing for business pages starts at 30 dollars per month (compared to our $50). Pretty fair, but keep in mind you are back to doing all of the work and design yourself. You are not getting monthly updates or backups. And to be honest, I am not sure if that included e-mail accounts. How much do you value your time to back up, build, edit, and monitor traffic?
The drag and drop interface can be tricky to work with and lacks any form of customization. Like we said before, the metaphorical couch has to go to a predefined location marked out.
Forget about SEO. Squarespace claims their sites are prepped for “SEO,” but to even get the most basic metadata squared away will take some serious workarounds. On the site we built, we found it difficult to get the website’s pages indexed by Google. And you want Google to index your site, after all, that is where most of your traffic will be generated.
When customizing a site, you may be interested in 3rd party extensions, apps, widgets, etc. You will find that Squarespace is limited by their template choices, which makes your condo rather boring, and part of a cookie cutter neighborhood. The point of branding is to stand out from the rest.
The Squarespace e-commerce is limited as well. It’s more of a payment receiving platform, a small selection when it comes choices in display modes, payment platforms, and taxation.
Creative Revolution offers a much more favorable solution for you to build a website because we take care of all the tricky work. We work with the source code, we set up the databases and hosting plans. Our websites are fully customizable, packed with one on one support. Each site comes prepackaged and ready for Google and Bing. We optimize the content, keywords, and metadata. We optimize your website and hopefully your brand.

Derek Brusin

I am the one who likes cupcakes.

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