The hidden costs and risks no one tells you about
6 Reasons You Shouldn’t Build Your Own Website
Building your own website sounds easy. The ads say it is drag, drop, and done. But the truth is, most DIY sites end up costing more money, more time, and more stress than you ever expect. Here’s what you need to know before you head down that path.
Why Hiring a Professional is Smarter Than Doing It Yourself
“How hard could it be?” That’s the thought a lot of business owners have right before they open a website builder account. After all, the ads say it’s simple. Drag. Drop. Publish. Done. The reality is different. Building your own website isn’t impossible, but it’s rarely the best use of your time, and it often costs more than you expect in money, in stress, and in missed opportunities. Let me break down the part nobody tells you.
1. Wix, Squarespace, and Similar Builders Aren’t the Bargain They Appear To Be
Yes, they start cheap. But if you want a site that does more than look like a digital business card, the starter plan isn’t going to cut it.
| Platform | Annual Cost for a Business-Ready Plan |
|---|---|
| Wix | $324–$432 |
| Squarespace | $276–$432 |
And those numbers don’t include email hosting, premium features, or add-ons. On top of that:
You don’t get full access to your files.
You don’t get server-level control (no cPanel, no advanced tools).
Moving your site to another platform later is almost impossible.
It’s like renting space in someone else’s building. You can decorate it, but you don’t own it, and you can’t take it with you if you leave. You can see Wix pricing here.
2. Themes, Tools, and the Hidden Costs
Even if you build with WordPress, you’ll need a theme. Free themes exist, but they are usually limited, outdated, or unsupported. A solid premium theme often runs anywhere from $40 to $129 per year, and many require renewals for updates and security patches. And many offer “add ons” that end up being crucial to your website.
Now add in:
Stock photo subscriptions
Hosting (cheap hosting is slow hosting)
Backup and security tools
Form, plugins and email tools
Photo editors or image optimization software (you cannot just upload raw phone images and expect them to work)
AI tools for content or image generation
Pretty soon, that “cheap” website isn’t cheap at all. And you still have to put in the hours learning how to use everything.
3. I Already Own the Tools (So You Don’t Have To)
Think about it like this. Every small business owner has their tools. A plumber has the truck, the inspection camera, the wrenches, and the knowledge to use them. Could I go buy my own well inspection camera? Sure. They sell them. But here’s the problem:
1. I wouldn’t know what I was looking at when the camera got down there.
2. It would cost me a fortune to buy something I would only use once.
It would be smarter and cheaper to hire the person who already owns the equipment and knows what to do with it.
That is what you do in your business too. You have already bought the tools, learned the trade, and invested the years. People pay you because you know what you are doing and you already have what they don’t.
Web design is the same way. I have already invested in premium tools, plugins, hosting, software, SEO tools, photo editors, stock photo licenses, and everything else that goes into a professional website. I use them every day and I know how to make them work together.
So when you try to build your own site, it is the same thing as me crawling around with a well camera I don’t know how to use. You look at me and think, “What is this guy doing?” And I look at you the same way when you try to build a site from scratch.
That is not an insult. That is just the truth of how small business works. We hire each other because we have already put in the investment of time, tools, and experience.
4. SEO Isn’t Optional, and It’s Easy to Get Wrong
Most people assume SEO is just sprinkling keywords around. It isn’t.
DIY sites often fail because of:
Missing or duplicated titles and meta descriptions
Headings in the wrong order
Images that are not compressed or labeled
Pages that aren’t even indexed by Google
Plugins and builders don’t fix this for you automatically. If you don’t know what you are doing, you can actually hurt your chances of showing up in search instead of helping them.
5. Websites Need Maintenance
Websites are not “set it and forget it.”
They need:
Updates to themes and plugins
Regular backups
Security monitoring
Speed checks as your content grows
When something breaks, and it will, you are the tech support. That is not a role most business owners want to take on.
6. Your Time Is Valuable
At the end of the day, building your own site is possible. But is it really worth it?
Every hour you spend trying to learn CSS or figure out why your site doesn’t look right on mobile is an hour you are not spending running your business. That trade off rarely pays off.
When you hire a pro, you get someone who has already made the mistakes, solved the problems, and figured out what works so you don’t have to. I’ve built, broken, fixed, and improved more websites than I can count. I’ve put in the time for you already. That means less trial and error for you and more results from day one.
Why Work With Carolina Web Pro
When I build your site, you don’t just get a good looking design. You get:
A fast, secure website that you fully own
Available fully managed hosting with backups included
Foundational SEO built in from day one
Images optimized and formatted correctly for the web
Ongoing support from someone who knows your business
It is one less thing you have to worry about and one more piece of your business you can count on.
Final Word
If you really want to build your own site, you can. But know what you are signing up for. The learning curve, the costs, and the upkeep are all more than they look like on the surface.
For most business owners, the smarter move is to let someone else handle it so you can focus on the part of your business that actually makes you money.
TL;DR: 6 Reasons You Shouldn’t Build Your Own Website
You can build your own website, but it will cost you more time, money, and frustration than you think. Between themes, tools, image editing, SEO, security, and maintenance, you will spend hundreds every year and still end up with a site that does not perform. A web designer owns the tools, knows how to use them, and builds websites every day. Hire a pro and focus on your business.
Shea Forbis is the founder of Carolina Web Pro, a Burlington-based web design company. With more than 14 years of experience in web design, SEO, and digital marketing, he helps small businesses build websites that perform and compete online.