/ Doing it yourself with WordPress, Wix or AI builders

RIOT vs DIY (build it yourself)

Building your own website looks free. It isn't. The hidden cost is your time, the lost sales while it sits half-finished, and the rebuild when you realise it's not converting.

DIY (build it yourself) is best for

Pre-revenue side projects where time is genuinely free.

Where it falls down

Anything that needs to actually convert, rank, or scale with the business.

Side by side

Feature	DIY (build it yourself)	RIOT
Upfront cost	£0–£200	From £249.99
Hidden cost	60–200 hours of your time	10 hours of your time, max
Design quality	Whatever you can manage	Studio-grade, custom
SEO	Usually missed entirely	Built in from day one
Conversion rate	Often <1% (industry average)	Designed to hit 3–5%
Time to launch	Weeks or months of weekends	2–6 weeks done-for-you
When it breaks	You fix it at 11pm	We fix it

The verdict

DIY is great for learning. Bad for selling. If your business depends on the website bringing in customers, the maths almost always works out cheaper to hire someone — even at agency prices, never mind ours.