The Appeal of DIY Website Builders
We get it. Wix and Squarespace are tempting. The ads show beautiful websites being built with a few clicks. "No coding required!" they promise. And technically, that's true.
What they don't show you is the business owner six months later, wondering why their site takes 5 seconds to load, why they're invisible on Google, and why they can't add the feature their competitor has.
The Reality: What DIY Builders Don't Tell You
- Templates look generic (everyone has the same ones)
- Bloated code = slow sites (4-6 second loads)
- Can't export your site or code
- Limited SEO control
- Ads on free/cheap plans
- Customer support is chatbots
- Beautiful templates, but limited customisation
- Slow mobile performance
- Basic e-commerce features cost extra
- No code access whatsoever
- Poor third-party integrations
- Templates all look the same after a while
Speed: Where DIY Builders Fail
Every DIY builder loads a massive amount of JavaScript—their entire editing framework runs in the background, even on your published site. This "code bloat" makes pages slow.
The numbers don't lie:
- Average Wix site: 4-6 second load time
- Average Squarespace site: 3-5 second load time
- Average Next.js site: 1-2 second load time
Google has confirmed that page speed is a ranking factor. Every second of delay costs you 7% in conversions. A 4-second load time means you're losing 21% of potential customers before they even see your content.
| Feature | Wix/Squarespace | Next.js |
|---|---|---|
| Page Load Speed | 4-6 seconds | <2 seconds |
| Google PageSpeed | 40-60 typical | 90-100 typical |
| SEO Control | Basic (limited meta tags) | Full control |
| Custom Features | Only what they offer | Anything you need |
| Code Ownership | None (locked in) | 100% yours |
| Platform Migration | Start from scratch | Take it anywhere |
| Ease of Setup | Drag and drop | Professional build |
| Monthly Cost | $16-65/month | -From $49/month (managed) |
SEO: The Silent Killer
DIY builders give you basic SEO controls—a meta title here, a description there. But modern SEO requires much more:
- Structured data (JSON-LD) for rich search results
- Proper heading hierarchy that DIY templates often break
- Core Web Vitals that platforms can't optimise
- Clean URLs without platform query strings
- Fast mobile performance (Google's primary ranking factor)
We've audited dozens of Wix and Squarespace sites. Almost none score above 60 on Google PageSpeed. Our Next.js sites consistently hit 90-100.
The True Cost of "Free" and "Cheap"
Let's Do the Real Maths
DIY Builder (Year 1)
- Platform subscription: $300-780/year
- Your time building: 40+ hours @ $50/hr = $2,000
- Your time maintaining: 2 hrs/month = $1,200/year
- Frustrated customers from slow site: ???
- Lost rankings from poor SEO: ???
- Total: $3,500+ (plus opportunity cost)
NullGlitch (Year 1)
- Professional build: FREE (15-day trial)
- Managed hosting: $588/year ($49/month)
- Your time: 0 hours (we handle everything)
- Happy customers from fast site: Priceless
- Better rankings from proper SEO: More leads
- Total: $588/year (plus time for your business)
Platform Lock-in: The Trap Nobody Mentions
Here's the dirty secret of DIY builders: you can never leave.
With Wix, your site exists only on Wix. If you want to move to a better platform, you start from scratch. Your content, your design, your URLs—all gone.
Squarespace is the same. No code export. No migration path. You're locked in forever, paying their increasing prices with no alternative.
With Next.js, you own your code. You can host it anywhere. You can take it to any developer. You're never locked in, never held hostage by a platform's pricing decisions.
The Better Alternative
What if you could get a professional website without the professional price tag?
That's what we offer. Our streamlined development process means we can build custom Next.js sites in 3-5 days. We use modern tools and efficient workflows to work faster—and pass those savings to you.
What You Get with NullGlitch
- FREE website build during your 15-day trial
- 90+ PageSpeed scores guaranteed
- Zero maintenance from you (we handle everything)
- Full code ownership (take it anywhere)
- Real developer support (not chatbots)
- Custom features built for your business
Stop wasting time on DIY builders that cost more in the long run. Get a professional site that actually helps your business grow.
