If you're deciding how to build a website for your Richmond business, it usually comes down to one question: use a builder like Wix or Squarespace, or have a custom site built? Both are legitimate — they serve different situations. Here's the honest trade-off, without the sales pitch in either direction.
Where Wix and Squarespace win
Template builders are genuinely good at a few things. They're cheap to start ($10–$50/month), you can stand something up in a weekend, and you don't need a developer to change a phone number. If you're a brand-new business testing an idea on a tight budget, that's a reasonable place to begin.
Where they quietly cost you
- SEO control. Builders limit how much you can tune titles, structure, and schema — the things that help you rank in Google and local search.
- Speed. Template platforms ship megabytes of code your site never uses, so they load slower on phones — where most local customers are.
- The template look. Your site tends to look like thousands of others, which undercuts the credible first impression you're paying for.
- Lock-in. You can't move the site off the platform. If you ever leave, you rebuild from scratch.
- Fees that never end. The monthly cost runs forever and climbs as you add features.
The ownership test: ask "if I stop paying, what do I keep?" With a builder the answer is usually "your content, but not your website." With a custom site, your domain, hosting, and code are all in your name.
The custom route
A hand-built site costs more up front — in the RVA market, roughly $1,200–$2,500 for a standard small-business site — but it's designed around your business, loads fast, gives you full SEO control, and is yours to keep. (Here's the full breakdown of what a website costs in Richmond.)
A simple way to decide
- Testing an idea, near-zero budget, DIY-comfortable? Start on Wix or Squarespace and upgrade later.
- Established business that relies on looking credible and getting found? A custom site pays for itself — especially paired with local SEO.
The bottom line for Richmond businesses
Wix isn't "bad" and custom isn't automatically "better" — it depends on your stage. But if your website is a real part of how you win customers, the template shortcuts you save on today tend to become the ceiling you hit tomorrow.
Not sure which fits? Here's exactly what my web design service includes, or reach out for a straight answer — free, no pressure.