This article is a response to an article we read last year on avoiding drop and drag builder websites. In this article we explore why you should embrace drag and drop website builders and be cautious around web developers who won’t even consider them for your website project.
Last year I read an article describing how business owners should avoid drop and drag websites. As an agency that builds many websites on a range of platforms including some drop and drag websites like Shopify and Squarespace, I read the argument with interest.
Whilst I understand there can be certain drawbacks to using drop and drag builder websites, there are also some very important advantages
So to balance the argument, lets list some of the positives of drop and drag websites.
Support. When you build with a drop and drag website, you get access to their support channels. Shopify offer 24/7 online chat support and Squarespace offer live chat support and email support.
Built in hosting. The drop and drag websites we work with including Shopify and Squarespace have built in hosting, so as a business that's one less thing you need to worry about.
Free from tech jargon. For the most part, drop and drag builder websites are targeted to non-developers therefore the language they use when an update is required or something needs attention, isn't filled with unfamiliar jargon but rather regular language that is easy to understand.
Designed for purpose. Shopify is specifically designed for eCommerce. The company invests heavily in continuous research in the eCommerce landscape and regularly roll out new and improved functionality.
SEO. It was mentioned in the article that drop and drag website are poor for SEO, however this is not correct. Drop and drag websites provide full access to optimise on page elements, Shopify now allows access to the robots.txt file, provides URL redirection options and both Squarespace and Shopify provide full xmll sitemaps. Keyword research and backlink building, both of which are imperative to SEO have nothing to do with the platform a website runs off.
Budget. Drop and drag websites can leverage advantage from prebuilt themes, helping start ups and small businesses to create a highly professional and effective website without the budget requirements of a custom build, hand coded website.
Huge user base. The popularity of Shopify in recent years means that the user base is large and therefore resources to assist and support are easy to find.
Easier to use. Lets face it, as a business owner you’re busy enough. The last thing you need is to spend a crazy amount of time and stress just to add that blog post or update that phone number on your website. The admin panel on Shopify and Squarespace is user intuitive and the learning curve to using it is much shorter than on something that has been build by a developer who feels very comfortable in surrounded by jargon and code.
A website that is rarely updated, overwhelming to use and causes endless frustration is a not good website solution for any business. It's my belief that clients should be allowed and encouraged to explore the pros and cons of numerous types of website build options.
I take it as my responsibility during client discovery to determine the needs of the client, not just the immediate need of building a website but also the understanding of how that website will be ongoingly managed and used within the organisation.
If that results in a custom build website on an open source platform, then so be it. But if the best solution for the client comes in the form of a drop and drag builder website, you can bet that I’m going to confidently and strongly recommend that option to my client along with the reasoning behind that recommendation.
So to those developers who turn their nose up at drop and drag websites - I’d ask, who are you really serving by being so linear in thinking that custom coded websites are the only solution?
