Just got off the phone to a very talented artist with a heart-wrenching story that, sadly, we keep on hearing...

A few years ago, this talented artist came to us for a website. We discussed their particular target market, the functions they needed and the functions their customers needed and offered a number of solutions, which was a custom build and design because of the nature of their work.

The 'should be famous because they're great' artist (really!) opted for a cheaper website solution from another web developer because... it was cheaper. Oh dear, I hear you say.

I appreciate money doesn't grow on trees. But my point is because money doesn't grow on trees don't throw it away on the cheapest website you can get. It will bite you on the bum later on and you'd have just wasted your hard earned money - just like this artist did. The web developer they chose used a Word Press website with plug-ins for a gallery. And I must say I am reticent to call them "web developers" because as it turns out (and we hear this lots too) these 'developers' couldn't design or code this simple website and couldn't fix the continuous bugs in it either!

WordPress Website Woes

After speaking with the client to ask how things were going (because we assumed they didn't have a website yet as we couldn't find it anywhere in Google - and we tried hard!) they replied thus:

"I don't like my WordPress website, I don't like the colour, I don't like the way the WordPress site works, some of it doesn't work at all so I've given up using it, the home page cuts off my images, there's no support, my questions to the designer don't get answered properly, they cannot fix bugs in the site, the designer doesn't know how to fix the problems in WordPress sites..."

And that was just the start of the clients woes....

To add insult to injury the design is a template (of course) so their amazing images were all squashed in to the framework and therefore as a whole, the website doesn't work well for their business. And sorry but if that wasn't enough, the client also didn't realise that even though they've had that WordPress website for over a year now, it's still not indexed in SERPS - specifically Google - for the most obvious of search phrases - one of them being the artists name and even the occupation and partial address!

WordPress Website Tragedy

This is yet another WordPress website tragedy. It was cheap - now you know why.

To all those who are looking for a new website design, please be careful when choosing who designs and builds your website. Make sure they know what they're doing and if they use template websites like WordPress/Joomla/Drupal/Magento, etc - ask them why do they have to use template websites? Is it because they don't know how to code a website themselves? Ask them straight and hopefully you'll get a straight answer. If they say, "Of course we know how to code a website without the need for open source website templates" - get them to show you the custom designed websites and speak to their clients to make sure the support is there if needed it and the website works as it should for their business.

Why do I want a WordPress website?

Then ask yourself - why do I want a WordPress website? 

WordPress websites aren't for everyone. Don't buy a template website just because it's cheap and because you think you should use template software. It's cheap for a reason and you'll have to spend more money putting it right, so it really isn't worth it is it? The answer to fix these website problems is a custom built website - search engine friendly, W3C and WAI compliant, bug-free, bespoke designed website especially for YOUR business.

Speak to us about custom built websites - Call 0845 224 5806 - We care about your website because it's our reputation too!

Written By Kirsty Paget