How free site builders like Wix are destroying the web design industry

The below image sums up everything that’s wrong with the web design industry.

Wix web designers

If you don’t quite get what it means, allow me to explain. Wix is a free website builder, much like Geocities, MrSite, 20m.com, GBBO or the many other free website builders which came before it. Like the many website builders which came before it, Wix uses a really simple WIZYWIG interface so people with no experience of building websites can, well, build a website.

This of course leads them to think they can actually ‘build a website’ – as Rien believes in the comment he made on Facebook on a post made by Wix. Just because you have used a free website builder does NOT mean you’re a web designer, yet he’s all set to offer his ‘services’ to friends and companies alike… and they’ll pay him too.

Why? Because he can do it cheaper than a professional website designer. He has no overheads, no expenses, nothing. He’s using a free website builder and thinks he’s a web designer.

You don’t hammer a nail in a wall to hang a picture and suddenly think you’re a builder, and offer to build extensions for people. You don’t put a plaster on your finger after the aforementioned picture hanging went array and you’ve hit your finger with the hammer and then think you’re a doctor, offering to treat patients and do surgeries. You don’t change a wheel on your car and then think you can strip an engine, but, for some reason, any idiot can call themselves a web designer after using one free site building service like Wix.

Wix may be very good. It may offer great value for money (hell, it’s free, it can hardly be a rip-off) but using Wix doesn’t make someone a web designer. Claiming to be a web designer after using Wix is moronic and irresponsible. You don’t know what you’re doing and you’ll jeopardise someone’s business by taking money from them to ‘design’ their website.

I really feel there should be some sort of standard within this industry. What makes it worse is 16 people have liked his comment on Facebook, so he’s getting support and is being given the impression his idea is a good one.

We’re doomed.

Darren Jamieson

Darren Jamieson, aka MrDaz, is the Technical Director and co-founder of Engage Web and has been working online in a career spanning two decades. His first website was built in 1998 and is still live today.

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