Website Templates
Clients and peers are often curious why we are such advocates of website builders like Squarespace.
The short answer–it saves time, money, and allows the client to invest where it really matters. While it’s not always the right fit, we find that it can often be a good solution for a small business, startup, or non-profit with relatively simple needs.
What has changed?
A marketing website in 2021 means something very different than it did in 2010. In 2010, tools like Squarespace were still in their infancy. Building a great marketing website was usually done from scratch, and required a tremendous amount of development effort to execute. The barrier for entry was high, and it usually took a team of experts to deliver a project end-to-end.
In 2021, tools like Squarespace have become almost ubiquitous. Where it used to be easy to spot a Squarespace template, it has now become nearly impossible (unless someone forgot to swap the browser favicon). The process of democratizing these tools wasn’t necessarily smooth, but it has left a lasting impact on the true value of a website.
Not so fast, commoditization
Many people wrongfully predicted that tools like Squarespace would turn websites into a commodity. What happened instead–some parts of the process became commoditized for certain types of websites. Between the rise of website builders and the evolution of other programming languages, the development skillset required to build a marketing website has become far less valuable. When you hired a company to build a website in 2010, a big chunk of their fee was going into development–with multiple front-end and back-end developers working together to build the site from the ground up.
Return on Investment
It’s true–there’s generally a correlation between website budget and overall quality. We would be the first to admit this–you can achieve a much higher level of detail and quality with a more customized approach. While it’s fun to geek out on the details and chase perfection (especially as designers), the smarter question to ask is: what’s right for your audience?
Out of the hundreds of clients we have worked with, most have been able to receive the full potential value of a website from a relatively simple approach– something that makes their business look great, amplifies their brand, has the right message, and builds a great first impression.
This type of site is often easy to achieve with a website builder and doesn’t take a massive budget to get results. Of course, you can spend a massive budget on these types of sites, but you should be clear about the cost vs. benefit. For a highly visible, well-established company–sometimes it is worth it. What we usually see is a point of diminishing returns, where the optimizations begin to have less and less impact.
When to avoid website builders
Just because a templated approach works for a lot of businesses doesn’t mean it works for everyone. When we conduct our Pilot session with a new client, here are some of the things we look out for that may suggest a more robust approach:
Unconventional layout/functionality
Very specific technical needs
Integrating with web app functionality
Heavy reliance on third-party integrations
Institutional websites with very specific internal processes
Heavy-duty eCommerce
Big organizations with complicated structures
In these cases, we may propose a number of different strategies depending on the situation. There are a variety of frameworks, content management systems, and levels of interactivity that can come into play depending on the goals of the site.
In an environment where your audience expects you to have a good website, just “having one” isn’t enough anymore. Website builders like Squarespace have raised the baseline, but haven’t commoditized the medium at all. The biggest areas of impact still remain–brand, content, and design.