I spell it wordpress now. Automattic selling $4,900 websites.

Just a quick note about today’s episode:

While my son’s really enjoyed hearing themselves with the echo effect on when I let them play with my podcasting set up the other day, I did forget to shut it off.

Today’s episode is audio extracted from a recent YouTube video.

It’s a response and a feeling piece over the recent discovery that Automattic is getting into the custom websites game.

Matt was responsive and left some feedback on the YouTube video. So go check out those comments, too. If you want to see more about his thoughts on the unfolding of all this. And we will finally get together and record an episode [Matt Mullenweg and I.]

So, if you have any questions for him, please leave them in the comments below. With everything going on in the world and specifically today in the US, I’ve realized that, and not just through this episode, wordpress is not everything.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy and fruitful 2021.


Comments

3 responses to “I spell it wordpress now. Automattic selling $4,900 websites.”

  1. Definitely dog into his pricing model and who is building the sites. I’d love to know as much about the logistics of it that he’ll share. I’m in the camp that thinks this is cheap. Our template-based builds start at $5-10k; anything custom that involves a designer is significantly more expensive, so I’d love to know how they’re achieving “custom” sites starting at $4900. Designers/devs in developing countries? Or maybe their definition of custom is different from mine?

    1. A lot of people say they are building “custom sites” and they are using a template like divi and “custom building” elements in the divi builder. so not custom by a web developers definition, but the client thinks they are getting a custom website. I have taken on several projects like this where they paid a dev (usually foreign) to “custom build” their site, but the job is only 3/4 finished because the “developer” hit a roadblock and bailed. It’s only when I log in to their backend and explain to them their site is not a “custom” site at all, they are first learning about it.

      The most annoying part for people like us is, when clients are comparing quotes for a custom build and you quote them 10k and someone else has quoted them 2k, you look like you are ripping them off, when in fact there is a huge difference between quality, speed, load time, and so not to mention having to do all page mock-ups first on figma.
      Sometimes I think I should just jump on the BS bandwagon and sell “custom” sites for a few grand and install a template but I feel like it’s being dishonest with people..

      The thing I’m trying to do to stand out is with every project build I offer clients a full marketing strategy and plan- content research, competitor keyword research, social media strategy, Google ads keyword research and strategy and I upsell a html email template that matches their website for an extra $600. I find without adding a lot of extra value in terms of marketing help, people are more likely to go with the cheapest quote, even if that means a slow site built in divi. I’ve even had a few knock me back to go DIY in wix, despite explaining extensively why this is a bad idea and horrible for SEO, I think the WordPress space has unfortunately become a race to the bottom.

      Most agencies where I am charge about 20-30k for a custom build WordPress site. That is built with roots/sage all custom template files, and laravel backend but still just a brochure site. E commerce 70k plus.

      I imagine the way automatic will build these custom sites – and this is just speculative, is it will be built in Gutenberg using the core Gutenberg blocks (no custom blocks) and mostly the Gutenberg editor with some minor css changes. As the developers of Gutenberg, I cannot imagine they wouldn’t be supporting their own block based content editor. It is perfectly reasonable to build a site like this for 5k. not hugely profitable, but if they are targeting volume with a low profit margin its a feasible business model.

      This is how I’m delivering my web projects, it’s the only way to build a “custom site” for 5k.

  2. Just a great show where Matt gives some real critical insights. I agree with almost everything that is said in this episode.

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