Are Ready-Made Websites Threatening Web Design? - Our Stories

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"I can do the same thing you do, using Wix."

Really? Is it still that surprising?

The advent of ready-made drag-and-drop website building platforms made creating websites so much easier, especially because there is little to no coding required. Frameworks and CMS like WordPress, SquareSpace, Wix, Weebly and Joomla are becoming more and more popular. There is so much competition, and all of these services usually targets casual clients to just subscribe instead of looking for web designers.

As someone whose bread and butter is designing or building websites, you surely wouldn't want your job to be replaced with an easier way to do stuff, much like how horses were replaced by cars back in the day. Are you already thinking, "OMG! These ready-made websites surely kill web design!"

But what if it doesn't? What if instead of killing web design, these ready-made websites are helping web design become more profitable? What if they are not cars replacing horses, but instead are the Ubers to our regular cabs?

Ready-made websites are friends, not foes.

The point of these services is to make the task of creating websites easier. A beginner, who is not attuned to how good websites are supposed to look like, may find it easy to use an online website building service. And if that person finds it easy, what more could an experienced designer do?

Now if you ask me, are ready-made websites actually killing the web design? My answer would be a firm no. Contrary to the popular belief, I think that ready-made websites are actually doing just the opposite, and I’m going to discuss just how.

No need to reinvent the wheel.

There is no substitute for creativity and originality, however, originality doesn’t always mean you create stuff from scratch each and every time. An intelligent designer can always produce an original web design even if he uses a pre-made website template by cleverly customizing it to his client’s needs.

A visualization aid for uninspired clients.

Ready-made websites provide good overall value to your clients because of their intuitive nature. Let’s say that you have a client who wants a website made but is dumb as a dishwasher when it comes to visualization. You discuss and offer him some prototypes and he still can’t visualize the idea inside your head.

So what’s a good way to make him see what you see? Use templates. By using templates, you can show how the design will most likely end up looking like. This means that you are saving yourself and your client a lot of time going through different lines of communication just to hit that right spot.

Does that mean anybody can do your job now?

Truly ready-made websites are very easy to use and literally anyone who has a computer can use them, does not mean anyone can be a web designer now?

The answer would be no. Yeah, the actual work of putting elements and customizing them can be done by anyone, but there are still things that have strings attached to them – things that can only be handled by a professional web designer.

Limitations of ready-made websites & “kiddie” designers.

Color scheme can’t be learned in one day.
In web design, it is utterly crucial to choose the right color scheme that would work for both user experience as well as aesthetics. It’s a skill that takes years of experience and a natural eye for colors that complement each other.
Fonts are what make websites subtly stand out.
In addition, not everyone is adept at choosing the correct typography and fonts. A seasoned web designer knows the psychology behind each family of fonts, when to use serif or sans serif, how to make headings and subheadings pop, how to make each paragraph more distinct, and the like.
Only experts know that it’s not just about the surface
Web designers also work behind the scenes in order to make each website they design works properly from the development point-of-view. There are some back-end optimizations to take into account such as meta tags and descriptions, how to make each website search engine and social media optimized, and overall responsiveness are things only a person with years of experience in the field can do.

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Conclusion

Ready-made websites aren’t killing web design. Instead, they are helping web designers and developers by making their work easier, more profitable and more valuable to their clients, if they are smart enough to see the upside of it.

As a web designer, you should not fret because you can’t be overtaken by ready-made websites yet. Yes, some businesses prefer easy to use and cheaper alternatives but nothing beats the flexibility, reliability, and originality of a website built by real professionals.

This article is inspired by Rean and his article in HongKiat: Are Ready-Made Websites Killing Web Design?