Why not just use Wix?

People ask me this a lot. Wix and Squarespace are cheap. GoDaddy has a site builder. Somebody's nephew knows WordPress. So why pay me?

Fair question. Here's the straight answer, including when you shouldn't hire me.

GoDaddy

The price in the ad is for the first term. Renewals cost more, sometimes about double. Their site builder is do-it-yourself, like Wix. Their hosting gets you a server or a WordPress install. Either way, you're the one building the site and maintaining it.

Wix and Squarespace

These are good tools if you want to build it yourself. The catch is the word yourself. You pick the template, fix how it looks on phones, and keep it current. You're also renting. Wix says it outright: a Wix site can't move to another host. Squarespace lets you export some of your content, not the design. If you ever leave, you rebuild.

WordPress

WordPress isn't the problem. Most small-business WordPress sites are a theme plus a stack of plugins, each from a different company, each one needing updates. That's where the trouble is. Plugins are where the security holes usually are, not WordPress itself. Skip the updates and you're exposed. Run them and something can break. Getting people off sites like that is most of my consulting.

What I do instead

I code your site by hand. No plugins, no page builder, nothing to update every week. It runs on my own server. I build in technical SEO, and I handle security and backups. Need a change? Email me. On the Managed plan, edits are included. You own your domain, your content, and the code, so you're never locked in. Here's what it costs and how I work.

When you don't need me

If you like building things and want to do it yourself, use Wix or Squarespace. If all you need is your hours and phone number on Google, a free Google Business Profile might cover it. I'll tell you which one fits before you spend anything with me.

Stuck on a site you can't control? Send me a message.