Wix vs Hiring a Pro: The Real Maths for NZ Tradies

“I’ll just do it myself on Wix.”

Every tradie has thought it. It’s cheap. There are templates. It can’t be that hard.

Six months later: The site is half-finished. It looks like a template. It’s not on Google. You’ve wasted 3 weekends.

I’m not here to trash Wix. But for a busy tradie? Let’s do the real maths.

The True Cost of DIY

1. The Platform Cost Wix or Squarespace business plans cost roughly $450-$500/year. It’s not free.

2. Your Time (The Big One) Average time for a beginner to build a decent site: 40 hours. What is your time worth? If you charge $90/hr, that’s $3,600 in lost billable time.

3. The Learning Curve Figuring out mobile layout, SEO settings, domain connection… add another 10 hours. $900.

Total Year 1 Cost of DIY: ~$5,000+

Suddenly, paying a pro $995 to set it up doesn’t look expensive. It looks like a bargain.

The Results Gap

Cost aside, there’s the quality issue.

The Template Problem: Templates look good with professional stock photos. They look terrible with your phone photos and the text you wrote at 11pm. 94% of first impressions are design-related.

The SEO Problem: Do you know how to write meta descriptions? Structure headers? Set up XML sitemaps? Professional builders do this automatically. DIYers usually skip it. Result: You don’t rank on Google.

The Speed Problem: Drag-and-drop builders generate bloated code. Slow sites kill conversions. 53% of mobile users leave sites that take >3 seconds to load.

The Professional Alternative (Productised)

YourHQ Launch Package:

Cost: $995 setup.
Time from you: 15 minutes (phone call).
Result: Custom design, SEO built-in, under 1 second load time.

3-Year Cost Comparison:

DIY (Wix): ~$8,100 (Platform fees + Your wasted hours)
Pro (YourHQ): ~$6,300 (Setup + Monthly hosting/support)

Professional is actually CHEAPER when you value your time. And you get a result that actually makes money.

The Bottom Line

You’re a plumber/builder/sparkie. You’re not a web designer.

The tradies making real money aren’t spending their weekends wrestling with Wix. They’re spending weekends with their families while their pro website generates leads.

Stop stepping over dollars to pick up pennies.

See what a pro tradie website costs →

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Wix really that bad for tradies? It’s not “bad”—it’s just inefficient for someone whose time is worth $90+/hour. Building a decent site on Wix takes 40-60 hours, and the result is usually slower loading and ranks worse on Google than a professionally built site. For a busy tradie, the opportunity cost alone makes DIY the more expensive option.

Why do DIY websites not rank on Google? SEO requires specific technical setup that most DIY builders skip—things like schema markup, optimised site speed, proper heading structure, and XML sitemaps. Without these, Google can’t properly index your site. The result is a website that looks okay but is essentially invisible to the 97% of people searching online for local services.

How long does it really take to build a website myself? For a complete beginner aiming for something professional, expect 40-80 hours across design, content writing, mobile optimisation, and SEO setup. That doesn’t include ongoing maintenance—updating content, fixing bugs, and keeping plugins current adds 2-5 hours per month indefinitely.

How much does a professional tradie website cost in NZ? A productised tradie website from a specialist builder typically costs $995-$2,000 for setup, plus $99-$149/month for hosting and support. When you factor in the 40+ hours of your own time you’d spend on DIY (at $90/hour, that’s $3,600+), the professional option is actually cheaper in Year 1.

References

Google PageSpeed Insights — 53% of mobile users abandon sites loading over 3 seconds
Stanford Web Credibility Research — 94% of first impressions are design-related
Wix/Squarespace Pricing Pages — Business plan costs NZD 2025-2026