​What to Look for & Avoid in a Web Design Service Provider

What's the difference between a website builder like Wix and a coded website?

How does this differ from using Wordpress, Joomla, Webflow or another coding platform?

PROS OF DRAG & DROP PLATFORMS

• You can pay upkeep fees to one or two providers instead of acquiring your domain, hosting, and your SSL certificate separately.

• Your website will be easier to setup and design, meaning you pay less money overall.

• When your site is finished, you, the user, will have the ability to update and manage your website easily, without having to worry about damaging the code and causing errors.

• Your website is also far less likely to “break” periodically and require paid fixes and updates. If your site did go down, either your MT2U consultant or the paltform’s customer service can help you get it back online without paying additional fees.

• These platforms offer most of the same functionality and performance available in coded websites but in a way that is easier to set up and manage later.​

CONS OF DRAG & DROP PLATFORMS

• Limits on features and customized designs. Drag and drop platforms work within a pre-coded space with that platform's tools. This means there may be minor limitations for specialized features or design options. These limitations are typically not an issue for general websites, but if you have a very specific vision or want advanced design, it could become problematic. Drag & drop platforms have the majority of desires functions. An example of a limitation is the inability to add html viewport meta tags, which means there are limitations to where you can place objects and text near the borders of columns and the edges of the website. Most people don't find this to be much of an issue.

• Less secure, sort of. Any site could be hacked, drag and drop or coded, but coded sites have to be hacked one at a time; whereas, a hacker could infiltrate a web builder platform and have access to more than one site at a time. Drag & drop sites still have a full array of security measures and may actually provide extra support if there were a security issue. The types of sites that are in a higher security risk bracket and would want that extra protection, banks or credit card companies, are generally not supported on web builder platforms anyway.

PROS FOR CODED WEBSITES

• Almost unlimited functions and features are possible.

• A coded website has less limitations.

• You have more more ownership and control over a site you developed yourself.

• You could build a very unique site.

• Some added security, depending on level coder can provide.

• If you are a coder, it's a great way to build experience and practice.

• You aren't reliant on a company.

CONS FOR CODED WEBSITES

• Hiring a developer or coder/designer is ultimately more expensive.

• You cannot access, change, or update your own website content without paying additional fees to the coder/designer.

• Errors, down sites, and broken sites happen more often with coded sites.

• Additional features and fewer limits of customization are usually not worth the added costs to build and the costs to bringing the coder back in to fix common breaks and errors.

• Full ownership and control isn't really full when you rely on a coder or developer you have to pay.

• Coded websites can break or not work correctly without an observable reason thus easily going unnoticed. Have you ever been to a website that has one very important link that just doesn’t work? How could they let that happen? Simple. They don’t know about it. This can also be an issue with drag & drop platforms but it happens far less often.

• Sometimes coders only work off of a designer’s specifications, which means your need to hire more than one person to create your site.

• Fixing errors, making edits, or adding functionality or design features can require a lot of trial and error and take longer to achieve the goal, again increasing cost.

• Even with the gamut of options, usually the cost prevents using those advanced features and ends up with a lower quality site for more money.

• If a coder can’t figure out why something is happening on a website, they don’t have the same level of assistance from a customer service provider like those associated with drag & drop sites.