Not Everyone Needs a $10,000 Website (and that’s OK)

Let’s set the stage. You want to take a trip to the Grand Canyon with your family of 4, but plane tickets cost $1000 each. Plus there’s the hotel for a week and food, not to mention other expenses. Instead, you decide to take a few extra days off work and drive there because it would save you literally thousands of dollars. What if someone told you that if you can’t afford to fly, you shouldn’t go? Now think about this: you just started a business and you know you need a website but you can’t afford a $5-10K one. Someone you know says they can make a website for $500 using WordPress and a page builder. Are you wrong for accepting that? I say no.

This blog post is a result of a spirited discussion I was having on Twitter, based on a tweet that said:

Site ‘builders’. I bet 90 per cent of your small business clients don’t need a CMS. It’s you – with your lack of coding knowledge – that do.

I responded with a few thoughts, but the result was us discussing the merits of people claiming to be web developers when they are site builders, as well as having a $500 website.

“You are not a Web Developer”

I started building websites in the early 2000s using Front Page. Would you believe that people told me that wasn’t the right way to do it? They did, and perhaps they were right. But I was getting paid to make websites using it. Then, I had a friend in college who taught me the right way, and encouraged me to try it coding by hand. That’s when I took the next step, because he didn’t just criticize; he showed me the right way. Today I have my career due in part to that conversation and his continued guidance.

2016 is very different. You can basically make a website in minutes with WordPress or Squarespace. Does that make you a website developer? Probably not. But maybe you took your skills a little further, and you know how to install WordPress, and you can use a site builder like Beaver Builder. Now you can put pages together nicely and help your friend, who needs a website for her restaurant, with content. Now you’re getting somewhere. You don’t know how to code, but you can definitely build a website.

Code Alone does not a Website Developer Make

The axiom that you need to know how to code to be a website developer is a fallacy, because there’s a whole lot of things to consider like:

• Content
• User Experience
• Design Elements (fonts, color schemes)
• Driving Traffic

Those things do not require knowledge of code to get them done; today, most of those can be done without writing any code at all. Many take issue with the fact that site builders call themselves developers or even engineers. That’s a big disingenuous, I’ll admit. I think it comes down to education and guidance.

Note: If you’re a person who claims to be an engineer to get more money out of people or make them believe you’re doing more than just building a site, that is wrong and I (and many) take issue with that. Those are the type of people who truly devalue our work.

[bctt tweet=”Code alone does not make a website developer.” username=”jcasabona”]

Site Building as a Stepping Stone

Site Building can also be a stepping stone. Lay a few sites down, get paid a bit to do them. One day, you get curious about how it all comes together from a coding standpoint, so you learn HTML and CSS. You take a crack a Javascript, and you keep going from there. But what if someone told you that you were a fraud before you got to this point, instead of trying to teach you? Would you keep doing it? I wouldn’t.

I would encourage anyone who’s willing to learn to try HTML and CSS. But you don’t have to start there and if someone is willing to fund your education or your hobby, then that’s fantastic.

$500 Websites are OK

There was a second part of this discussion that got under my skin a bit more; it’s the idea that if someone can’t afford a multi-thousand dollar website, they don’t deserve one. It’s the whole reason for the opening story, and it lacks something I talk a lot about: empathy.

Just like the family who’s trying to save money by driving instead of flying so they can have a nice vacation, if you can get a suitable website for $500, then that’s great for you. I would say this: it’s a great first step and a good way to get your budding business onto the web.

[bctt tweet=”There are a lot of reasons for a $500 website.” username=”jcasabona”]

Here are a few scenarios where someone might only be able to afford a “$500 website”:

• New restaurant owner who needs a website but has little budget
• Contractor who only needs a website to display his portfolio
• Retired hobbyist who doesn’t make a lot of money
• College student who wants a resume for her new idea or resume

None of these folks should be denied a website. Some can’t afford something more, and some simply don’t value websites at more, no matter what. If you’re a web developer who codes from scratch, these are not your clients.

[bctt tweet=”If you’re a coder, the $500 website people are not your clients.” username=”jcasabona”]

It’s About Knowing Current Limitations

A $500 (or $700, or $1000) website comes with  some constraints. You probably won’t be able to get the exact thing in your head for that amount. But that’s OK. If your website budget is $500 and you can find someone to build you a site using WordPress and a page builder, then go for it. You have more important things to focus on, like running a business I know nothing about.

It’s like this: you need a car to get you to work and you have a $1000 budget for it. You aren’t getting the Series 7. But you will get a vehicle to get you from A to B so you can maintain a job. BMW, or any luxury car manufacturer, shouldn’t be telling you that if you can’t afford their car, you don’t deserve to drive.

Maybe one day in the future, you will upgrade your website. Maybe not. I did a website for an electrical contractor years ago – one of my first clients. He got a website because he was forced to have one displaying his portfolio and some other information. That website went untouched for basically 10 years (aside from new portfolio photos). He simply didn’t need anything more. I recently moved him over to my new host, and setup up with WordPress + the default theme, Twenty Sixteen.

Have Empathy & Teach

I’ll end with this: as a freelance web developer, I’d love if everyone was willing to pay what I charged or more. However, that simply isn’t feasible. I also used to think that site builders devalued my work. I know now that isn’t true either. It’s the difference between going to a high-end Steak joint like Ruth’s Chris and going to Burger King.

To the site builders out there: never stop learning and growing.

To the developers who hate site builders: let it go. Better yet, if you really want them to get better then teach them. Don’t attack them.