If you’ve ever been asked to recommend a website building service, or needed a small website for a project yourself, you’ll know that it’s not easy finding the right option. Sure there are lots of website services out there, from free to pricey, but they either require that you know about design (or coding), or pay an arm or a leg for a custom design/development option. Even WordPress is a tricky choice, since there are so many things you need to know to get it running properly.
Now an enterprising company has come up with what we think is a brilliant solution, which is perfect for small businesses, mom and pop projects and the like. Pick n Mix is a web building service which starts with a very simple idea – why pay for stuff you probably don’t need?
Templates
The primary product is a templated WordPress website, and customers can select from one of a select number of templates for their particular needs. As well as traditional generic sites, you can also set up an ecommerce store, or a trendy new single scroll site as you wish. All of the sites are bang up to date in terms of features, including responsive formats which work perfectly on tablet computers and mobile phones.
Addons
The basic service offers you a four page website, with generic content and colors which is going to be perfectly fine for 80% of first time users. But the real beauty of the service is the fact that you can choose to add different options if you want a bit more customization for your site. So, for instance, you can select custom colors, stock images, get a logo designed, add your own domain name and premium hosting etc etc. There’s even a full blown SEO addon you can buy (normal and premium) which will give you all the big boy type search engine tools to help your business rank better in Google searches.
Because the basic monthly charge remains at £3.49 a month, this means you get an incredibly cost effective way of building a cool website at a fraction of the cost of doing it a la carte. What we particularly like is the fact that the templates on offer are very clean, neat and modern, which means that even the smallest operation can look good on a tight budget, and without having to lift a finger. All the text and image input is done by the Pic n Mix team, although the client can do it themselves using the standard WordPress backend if they wish.
To show how much thought the company has put into their product, they’ve also created an iOS and Android app to give the customer access to server status, and even log a help ticket on the go. Remember that most of the massive web hosting companies don’t offer this level of customer support, let alone budget ones. It’s very impressive, and rather scarily ambitious.
https://youtu.be/OP8f1EXt650
Conclusion
As we said above, there are a ton of web building sites out there, from total DIY to bespoke, but this is the first time we’ve seen such a powerful set of options at this kind of aggressive price point. The fact that you can get a full blown WordPress site up and running in minutes, populated with content within days, and at a basic priced of £3.49 a month is outstanding. What’s even cooler is the fact that it’s a standard WordPress installation, and not some locked down proprietary technology which you’ll never be able to move off.
Should you wish to end your 30 day rolling contract with the company, just give 30 days notice, and if you want to take your site with you, pay an extra £99 and you’ll get all the files and data you need to host it yourself elsewhere… although we’re doubtful you’ll find anything at the same kind of price with free lifetime support like this. It’s probably also important to say that the company behind the new service, MLS Designs, is an established web development company which has a track record and customer portfolio to demonstrate credibility.
All in all we’re incredibly impressed with both the idea and the execution of this novel new web design service. It’s perfect for anyone who has an idea for a project or business and ‘just needs a quick website’, and it’s also great for those who may already have an old site and want to update to take advantage of all the opportunities that come with new web technologies and WordPress. If there is one caveat it’s whether the company will suffer any growing pains if the service starts to take off as it should, but that’s a problem which every new startup has to endure. We wish them well, and will keep a watch on the service to see how it goes. Recommended.
