Why You Shouldn’t Use Vistaprint for your Online Business
Vistaprint is fast, it’s convenient, and truthfully, there’s nothing to stop you from using it. However, if you really want to make a great first impression, you would be better served by spending the extra time and getting exactly what you need as opposed to the cookie-cutter result you’ll get when you use their online services.
What Vistaprint offers could be referred to as lowest-common- denominator design. It has some attractive benefits, which is likely why you’ve used them in the past or are considering using them now. On the plus side:
It’s easy
You can do it yourself and do it all online
You don’t have to talk to designers if you don’t want to
All good, especially if you’re short on time and cash. But with every set of pros, there are always cons. Let’s take a deeper dive to see what’s really in the box:
Vistaprint DIY Logo Maker
The DIY logo maker tool might seem sweet, but it’s limited in scope. Think Photoshop extra- extra lite. You will choose from a bunch of pedestrian-looking clip art and fonts, most of which have been used to death out there in the world. Plus, if you use the DIY logo maker, you can’t just automatically take your design with you. You can only use them on Vistaprint products unless you pay an extra download fee on top of what you’ve already paid. For a templated, generic, overused design … simply not worth it.
Vistaprint Design Services
Working with a Vistaprint designer might seem like a better option, but it’s not a whole lot better. Basically, you’ll be working with much the same parameters except somebody else will be doing it for you. It only costs $5 more, and truthfully, in this world, you get what you pay for. If it’s a logo you’re after, you’ll pay a much higher premium – $120 to create your logo from scratch and with only three revisions included, there are no guarantees you’ll get what you want. Working with an independent graphic designer will often be less expensive, and give you more design options. Plus, you’ll be working with a real person who you can brainstorm with. Somebody who cares about the end result as much as you do: win-win.
Vistaprint Website Builder: Pros and Cons
Vistaprint’s website builder is yet another part of their business model. Like other website builders, you customize it with your own content and images, but you’re limited to its clumsy design capabilities and there are no templates to choose from.
On the plus side, it’s easy to use, but here’s the rub: It’s expensive, and you risk losing it if you jump ship.
Pricey
They charge you an arm and a leg to host your site on their servers, and if at some point you decide to take your business elsewhere, you’ll have to start from scratch. If you purchased your domain through Vistaprint, you stand to lose that as well.
Not good for bloggers
It’s not a great choice for bloggers, either. For instance: it doesn’t give you an RSS feed, there is no post editor, and it doesn’t assign unique pages to your posts, the latter of which is not going to help your SEO. There is also no option for scheduling, so you’re working in real-time, which is not always convenient.
No eCommerce
If you are selling a product or service, you’ll find that their eCommerce module is actually just a PayPal button. What if your customer doesn’t have a PayPal account? What if they prefer to pay some other way? This may lose you customers and hinder your success.
Other things the Vistaprint website builder lacks include:
Audio player for music streaming
Membership system
Mobile app access
All this aside, the value just isn’t there. Promotional pricing ends after the first billing cycle, and your monthly fee can be $25 a month or more, depending on what plan you choose. In comparison, you can purchase a domain from GoDaddy for $9.99 a year, and establish your website using a FREE WordPress theme that you can go on to customize and optimize to your heart’s content.
Social Hero Media: the answer to all your online needs
If you need to promote your business, or if you’re not tech or web-savvy and don’t know where to start, forget about Vistaprint: drop us a line at Social Hero Media and let’s talk about how we can make it happen for you.