Question of the Week: If you Whitelabel Duda, do you share what platform you use with clients?

community_manager
community_manager Administrator, Moderator Posts: 297 Duda Staff
edited March 2022 in Ask a Question

This week, @meleasley asked:

To those who whitelabel Duda - When a client ask "what platform are you using wordpress, squarespace, Wix...?" Do you share the platform name?

Here's what the community had to say:

@gabegibitz

“Yep. I don't want them to think it's some platform that I built myself. They deserve more than that. And they can figure it out if they really wanted to.”

@Brent_Moore

“Yes I have a number of times. I normally just quickly and nonchalantly say it is called Duda, it’s an agency software a lot of agencies use for websites. I’ve never once been questioned more about it or the pricing or anything like that.”

@Bill_Sholar

“If they press, we will mention it. Otherwise, we say something like this, from our proposal boilerplate:

We build our websites on our ___________, our trade name for a commercial content management system that we have licensed for use for our clients.

We selected this system based on the ease of use for us as well as our clients, security, built-in “back end” tools, stability, and vendor accountability demanded by both small and large corporate users, without the vulnerabilities, design limitations, maintenance overhead, and dependence on external volunteer-developed plug-ins and their authors that come with “free” website software originally designed by and for hobbyist bloggers.

The “built-in back end tools” of our system mean that numerous common functions are optimized and preprogrammed, not reinvented and implemented for each project. AWS and a few of the bells and whistles get mentioned later, if their eyes haven't glazed over and they haven't yet been satisfied.”

@Michael_Martinez

“Of course, I give them the whole playbook. I build up so much trust and value they see duda as just a tool for our agency. No secret sauce just having the experience and skillset to implement there vision.”

@Justin_Collins

“Yes. The main objections are usually "what happens if I want to transfer my site (to another platform)" and/or "what is the long term reliability" meaning...since they have only heard of WP or SS or Wix, they want to know if my platform is something that will still be around in a few years.

I let them know that Duda is a happy medium between Squarespace & Wordpess, the ease of SS with the flexibility of WP. The reason you haven't heard of it is because it's marketed towards professionals, not individuals. Duda has been around for over a decade and is rapidly growing. I also say it is hosted on the same servers as Amazon, Netflix, and Disney, which makes them feel like they're in "rare air".

I tell them this even though I have it white labeled to match my brand. I have little to gain by keeping it a secret. If they want to go build their own site, they are not the client for me anyway.”

@Raj_Zavery

“We use to use a basic builder platform for our bottom end products so when we started using duda for our mid-range product we created a “enhanced” tier and gave a max / plus / pro type name and promoted the PWA features and references to CNN and Twitter that use the same. That seems to impress enough to stop the questions 😁”

@Elizabeth_Fedak

“Not directly answering your question because I work more directly with agencies vs site customers, but my site customers do all know that it's Duda. As a developer.... if I were scoping out a product that has quite a lot of functionality, I'd much rather buy something with an entire company, active community, support team, and large funding dollars behind it rather than something a small agency built out from scratch, unless it were for something more trivial, like a basic admin portal.”

Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments below.

Comments

  • gabegibitz
    gabegibitz Member Posts: 2

    Great perspective, @Michael_Martinez!

  • Aj_Cre8
    Aj_Cre8 Member Posts: 628 MVP
    edited February 2022

    If someone ask if you use WordPress, or Wix do you hide that? Nope, you don't.

    Duda, just like other platforms is just a tool of the agency (as mentioned above). The difference is we are literally EXPERTS at using it. Just as you would find experts and vetted partners with other platforms.

    If someone ask, sure we tell them. It goes generally like this.

    Mr/Mrs Customer - "What platform do you use to build your website?"

    Me - "We use Duda"

    Mr/Mrs Customer - "Never heard of it"

    Me - "Because it is a platform for web professionals and agencies and not the DIY lover".

    Mr/Mrs Customer - "Why can't I sign up for Duda and just Do It Myself"

    Me - "Because you are not a Web Professional. You are a __________ Professional. You wouldn't go to the Doctor to give them your diagnosis, you would go to be diagnosed. You wouldn't have come to me if you felt you could just DIY. Just because the tools allow you to do it yourself, does not mean you should."

    Mr/Mrs Customer - "When do we get started?"

    🤘🤘🤘🤘

  • Shane_Hodge
    Shane_Hodge Member Posts: 122 MVP

    Great topic and a constant debate of which there is pros and cons. For me, if asked? Its yep we Partner with duda for our CMS as its safe, secure and we didn't have the millions to build our own did you have anymore questions about that? Then let's move on. Hugs to all.

  • community_manager
    community_manager Administrator, Moderator Posts: 297 Duda Staff
  • MattW
    MattW Member Posts: 7

    I used to be vague about the platform when we first started using Duda in 2016, but Duda has grown so much and helped our agency so much, I'm now proud to discuss it with our clients. I often tell our non-techy clients that it's a cross between Squarespace and WordPress (two names they've heard of). It combines ease of use with powerful complexity so that designers like my team can build strong websites quickly.

  • community_manager
    community_manager Administrator, Moderator Posts: 297 Duda Staff

    A great way to help them visualize the platform - and I'm happy to hear about your journey with Duda, it sounds like we're doing something right ☺️

  • Lesli
    Lesli Member Posts: 13

    I am in the same boat as  @Bill_Shola. If they ask, I usually say I use a white-label platform for agencies that is hosted on AWS. I typically explain that it's like Squarespace on steroids since the developer (me) has full access to everything, and we aren't confined to a template. I also bring up the ability to create custom widgets for them. But if they press - I've only had a few clients do, I tell them it's Duda.