Why a WYSIWYG Builder Isn’t the Fairytale You’re Looking For

We’re going to cut straight to the chase here: If it’s too good to be true, then it probably is. Some things shine bright like a diamond (but are really cubic zirconia). All that glitters is not gold. (You’re welcome for this full onslaught of one-liners.)

All of those one-liners represent how we feel about WYSIWYG web builders, which are a fairytale — without the happy-ever-after ending.

But let’s back up a bit. What in the world is WYSIWYG?! (pronounced “wiz-ee-wig”!)

It’s an acronym that stands for “What You See Is What You Get,” and it refers to website builders. You know the ones. You’ve probably seen TV commercials and social ads for them, too. They are the Wix, the Squarespace, the Weebly… the drag-and-drop systems with predefined templates that show you exactly how your site will show up for everyone else.

And they are tempting. Every single one of them looks bright and shiny; every single one is accessible and affordable for anyone to use because you don’t have to know how to code or spend a lot of money or hire an experienced web developer.

But, here’s the thing: For many business owners, these website builders should probably be called WYGIWYW — What You Get Isn’t What You Want — instead. Here’s why.

Beauty can be deceiving.

It’s easy to be charmed by a WYSIWYG. They often offer a seductively simple and visually stunning solution for your site. Plus, WHO cares about the back-end code if the front-end looks pretty — right!? YOU should.

Don’t be misled.

Behind that pretty façade is often a dumpster-fire of an HTML code that isn’t streamlined and comes equipped with a lot of weird metadata that contains hundreds of URL instructions in the builder template. That all can lead to slow loading time, lack of optimization, and problems with functionality. And, all of THAT can lead to a poor user experience, impacting how long someone stays on your site, how many conversions from customers you have, how much you pay per click in paid search, where you rank in organic search, and more.

Not so pretty, right?!

SEO, SEO, wherefore art thou, SEO?

Speaking of organic search, a website with valid, non-dumpster-fire HTML is more likely to display and function properly, and that is important for your search engine ranking. The very thing that makes WYSIWYG attractive — its easy-to-use platform made for the masses — compromises your individualized SEO by its very nature.

Get set for control issues.

Not only is there a lack of quality control and SEO control for WYSIWYG builders, there’s a lack of all-around control. For example, do you really want to be constrained by templates that offer little to no flexibility? Do you really want your site to provide free advertising for the WYSIWYG service you’re using? Do you want to pay extra to NOT have restrictions over what you can do on your own site? We’ll stop there, but the list goes on.

See those flashing hazard lights?!

WSYIWYG site builders use the same code for all sites, so they aren’t all that secure and they’re an attractive target for hackers. Economies of scale mean that hacking every template site churned out by a site builder may be worth it.

Bring on the growing pains.

If your business needs an online presence (which is basically EVERY business), a WYSIWYG builder is going to severely limit your growth trajectory in the future — and your ability for your target audiences to find you. Pages built on site builders stay on site builders, because there is no easy way to transfer them. So, if you need to change to a different hosting platform — which you will — you will have to reconstruct the pages and whatever functionalities they contain into a new custom website, if you want to get serious about your online presence.

TL;DR

Long story, short. WYSIWYG is a quick fix, but not a long-term solution. And WYSIWYG may be free, but you get what you pay for.

At the end of the day, the better investment you can make for your business or brand is a custom website with custom programming. Will it take more upfront time? Yes. Will it cost more? Yes. Will it be worth it? ALSO YES.

Ultimately, a well-designed, simple landing page to start out with can even serve you even better than a badly programmed Wix website.

At CRANK Digital Marketing Authority, our team can walk you through the website-building process and achieve your vision for success — without those pesky WYSIWYG problems. We’re here to make it as simple and streamlined —and easy — for you as possible, so what you GET is really what you WANT. We know what works and how to make it pretty while optimizing user experience, SEO, security, and more. Let’s start the conversation!