Why not just DIY?
You can absolutely build it yourself or hire pieces of it, the question is what it really costs once you count your time and the gaps. Here’s the honest comparison, including the costs that never show up on the sticker price.
The four options
| DIY (Wix/Squarespace) | Freelancers (Fiverr etc.) | Hire in-house | A1 Digital | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | Low, but your time | One-off build fee | Recruitment + salary | $0 setup |
| Ongoing cost | Subscriptions stack up | Pay per task | $3k-6k/mo+ | From $49/mo |
| Your time | High, ongoing | Medium, you manage them | Medium, you manage staff | Almost none |
| Looks professional | Depends on you | Varies a lot | Usually | Yes, consistently |
| Google & Maps | You figure it out | Often skipped | If you hire for it | Done & managed |
| AI search (GEO) | Rarely | Almost never | Rarely | Included |
| Ongoing content | You write it | Extra cost each time | Yes | Every month |
| Updates & security | Your job | Not their job | Yes | Handled |
| One point of contact | — | No, many people | Yes | Yes, us |
The hidden costs of DIY
- Your time is the real bill. Every hour on a page builder is an hour not running your business, and the learning curve is steep.
- Half-finished setups. The site goes live, but Google Business Profile, branded email, reviews and AI visibility never get done, the parts that actually get you found.
- Tool sprawl. Separate subscriptions for site, booking, chat, email, analytics and more, each its own bill and login.
- It goes stale. Without fresh content, you slowly slip down Google while competitors who publish keep climbing.
The hidden costs of freelancers
- They finish and disappear. Maintenance, updates and security aren’t their job.
- You become the project manager, briefing, chasing and stitching together different people’s work.
- Inconsistent quality between the designer, the copywriter and the SEO person, if you even hire all three.
Where A1 Digital fits
One monthly fee, one team, your whole presence built, run and kept current, with no contract so you’re never locked in and $0 setup so there’s no upfront risk. You get the outcome of a small in-house team at a fraction of the cost.
FAQ
Isn’t Wix cheaper? The subscription looks cheaper, but it doesn’t include your time, content, Google setup, GEO, email, security or ongoing management, the things that actually drive results. Add those up and DIY is rarely cheaper.
Can’t I just hire a freelancer once? You can get a site built. But a site alone doesn’t get you found or keep itself current, that’s the ongoing work freelancers typically don’t do.
What if I’ve already started on DIY? No problem, we can take it over, rebuild it properly and run it from here, see How it works.
Is there really no contract? Correct, month-to-month, cancel anytime, and you keep your domain and content, see Cancelling & your data.
See the full plan breakdown on Plans & billing, or exactly how the work gets done in How it works.
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