Sometimes I think people forget that what is easy (or fun) for them is a nightmare for others. Not everyone has the right make-up, if you will, to develop and maintain their own website. Yes, we can all learn stuff if we put enough time into it. But for some people, that learning will be fast, or fun, or both... whereas others will be miserable for every millisecond of time they are forced to spend on it.
None of it was easy for me, and it wasn't a whole lot of fun at that time either. Especially since I was a broke 20-something year old mother with 2 small kids going to the food bank & beginning to make soap & dealing with debilitating depression which nearly killed me. Nonetheless, it was important to me, so I stuck with it. The end result - the website I had never imagined I was capable of coding myself - and the resulting very large wholesale order I gained within 6 months of my website going live, simply due to me sticking with it, ended up being worth every minute of it. I also found out that I was incredibly good at something technical, when that was the first year I had ever sat down at a computer & started exploring the new internet. That lesson I learned turned a lightbulb on, and eventually turned into a professional career I never would have imagined myself in at that time. That 'hardship' was one of the greatest gifts I ever received, amongst many.
I can empathize - been there done that - but I will not pity someone. Pity is disabling & demoralizing, even if it feels satisfying in the moment to be receiving it. If someone is determined because they truly wish to continue doing what they are doing because they love it, they are not going to let anything stop them. That I have had to learn myself over many years & many mistakes of my own.
I am pretty techy and can figure stuff out... but I HATE website development. If I had nothing else to do, I could dig into it and become proficient. But I would still hate it. Also, I have a huge list of other things I need to do, and under that, another huge list of things I like to do and want to do. Website development doesn't make either of those lists. I don't mind small maintenance stuff (new pics, new content), but the development makes me cray-cray.
I think the majority of us are busy, as I am myself. Stupidly busy. Continuing with my regular job and also restarting my soap making / body care / herbal products business, on top of all the responsibilities I have otherwise due to where I choose to live, is not easy. Nonetheless, all of these things are important to me, especially after leaving an abusive husband of 16 years 3 years ago & having to start my life over from scratch. And no, I am not 'selling' my so-called 'hardship', which yet again has been a gift I didn't even realize at the time. My point is, people are capable of FAR more than they imagine themselves to be, even in dire circumstances. That in itself is a learning experience, which I know personally.
FWIW, I have been very fortunate to have nice sites built for me through Fiverr, and hosted on GoDaddy. They have performed well. Two colleagues have Wix sites that also do very well. We all agree that letting someone else do that work for us was THE best decision that instantly made our lives so much happier.
Sorry,
@MelissaG if that's not of any practical help. Just know that I can definitely sympathize with the need to outsource this stuff, and I wish you the best in finding a good solution for your situation.
There is nothing wrong with delegating, but with delegating also comes disappointments, frustrations & yes, rip-offs, AND being willing to let go of control of your project, which should be expected. When things go sideways like they did in her case, people need to be prepared to deal with that as well, which requires a whole new set of skills. If someone has educated themselves at least somewhat, they will be far better prepared, and will be able to avoid many pitfalls. The information is out there & readily available, even information regarding search engine optimizing for Etsy, for anyone who is willing to make the effort. It's not difficult. Read the many free articles people have kindly made available, put those things into play, then repeat for each product listing. The person then knows what to look for if they hire someone next time around, what questions to ask, rather than just looking at star ratings before hiring someone. Far easier than search engine optimizing the code, text, images, blog posts etc of a website.
Regarding Wix & GoDaddy, along with many other companies, would still never recommend them to any client, family member or friend for countless reasons. First & foremost is having a website visible in first page search engine results within your industry & among your competitors on a consistent, ongoing, long-term basis. if a website is done properly, if the details are properly taken care of within the website's code - there is *so much* to this related to search engine optimization - and if a person learns how to leverage social media platforms to their advantage, that is guaranteed to happen.