Turnkey Websites - the good and the bad

The number of turnkey websites on the web have increased over the past few years due to the growing number of businesses looking for an affordable online solution. But before you consider using a turnkey solution you should look at the advantages and disadvantages that come with it.

The Good

Cost - Turnkey websites cost a fraction of what you would normally spend building it from ground up. Developers take into account the number of times they will resell their solution and pass these savings on to you.

Reliability - Because of their widespread usage, bugs and possible vulnerabilities would be minimal. A turnkey website that has been on the market for more than a year would usually have several patches and upgrades done to it ensuring it is almost bug-free.

Quality - Most turnkey website developers would have obtained a lot of feedback from buyers on how to improve their product, something you can't get when you ask for a custom website.

Support - The developer would have a certain level of tech support setup that comes with their package. You can depend on this when it comes time for upgrades and technology changes.

The Bad

While the advantages are abundant, there are a few drawbacks to turnkey websites.

Originality - When you buy a turnkey website, you can be assured there will be other websites out there exactly like yours. When you lose your uniqueness it is difficult to stand out from the crowd of websites.

Intellectual Property - Whilst your license allows you to use and modify the product as you see fit, the source code is not yours to sell. Quite often, turnkey solutions come with license keys that are linked to your domain name or buyer name. This can sometimes cause problems when you wish to move the website to another domain or sell it to an interested party.

Search engines - Major search engines could see your website as a clone of an already prominent website that had been online long before yours. This can lower your position in search engine results, or worse yet sandbox your website.

Bottom Line

When purchasing a turnkey website it is best to bring up the above points with the developer and discuss possible workarounds. Sometimes a small modification can solve this 'uniqueness' issue and you can be satisfied that you have purchased a high end web solution at a fraction of the price.