What does Stacked Marketing do?

We manage Meta (Facebook and Instagram) ad campaigns and build full-stack marketing systems including websites, landing pages, and automation for businesses in South Africa.

How much does Meta Ads management cost?

A premium custom website starts from R2,499 once-off. Meta Ads management starts from R4,999 per month. Our Stacked Core package (ads + website + automation) is R9,999 per month. No contracts, cancel any time.

Do you require long-term contracts?

No. We operate month to month with no lock-in contracts. You stay because the results speak for themselves, not because you are locked in.

Do I need to pay for ad spend separately?

Yes. Our management fee covers strategy, optimisation, creative production, and reporting. Your ad spend goes directly to Meta. You control the budget and can see every rand spent in real time.

Can I cancel anytime?

Yes. No contracts, no lock-in. We keep you because results keep you, not paperwork.

What does "you own everything" actually mean?

Your website code, your ad accounts, your automations, your data. All of it belongs to you. If you leave, you take everything with you. No hostage situations.

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Website DesignDIYSouth AfricaComparison

DIY Website vs Professional: An Honest Cost Comparison for SA Businesses

Stacked Marketing●11 March 2026

We're not going to tell you that DIY website builders are terrible. Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress.com have made it possible for anyone to put a site on the internet. That's genuinely valuable.

But "can I build a website myself?" is a different question from "should I build my business website myself?" The answer depends entirely on what that website needs to do for you.

Here's an honest comparison with real numbers.

The DIY Route: True Costs

Visible Costs

Item	Cost
Wix/Squarespace plan	R150–R500/month
Custom domain	R100–R300/year
Premium template (optional)	R500–R2,000 once-off
Stock photos (optional)	R200–R1,000
Year 1 total	R2,500–R8,000

Hidden Costs

Your time: The biggest hidden cost. Most business owners spend 20–40 hours building their first website on a DIY platform. If your time is worth R200–R500/hour (what you could bill or earn in that time), that's R4,000–R20,000 in opportunity cost.

Learning curve: Drag-and-drop builders have improved, but making a site look professional still requires understanding of layout, typography, colour theory, and user experience. "Good enough" often isn't good enough when your website represents your business.

Ongoing maintenance: Templates need updates. Plugins break. SSL certificates expire. Contact forms stop working. You become your own IT department.

Speed penalty: DIY builders add layers of code that you can't control. Most Wix sites score 20–40 on Google PageSpeed Insights mobile tests. That's not a minor issue — it directly affects your Google rankings and your visitor bounce rate.

What DIY Gets Right

Low upfront cost
Full control over editing
No dependency on a developer for text changes
Good for simple informational sites

What DIY Gets Wrong

Speed (almost always slower than custom-built sites)
Conversion optimisation (templates aren't designed for lead generation)
SEO (limited control over technical SEO factors)
Scalability (hard to add complex features later)
Professional perception (template sites often look like template sites)

The Professional Route: True Costs

Visible Costs

Item	Cost Range
Professional starter site (4–5 pages)	R2,499–R5,000 once-off
Domain	R100–R300/year
Hosting	R100–R400/month
Year 1 total	R3,800–R10,000

What Professional Gets Right

Built for speed (our sites load in under 2 seconds)
Conversion-focused design (every element serves a purpose)
Proper SEO setup from day one
Mobile-first (designed for how SA users actually browse)
No maintenance burden on you
Professional quality that builds trust

What Professional Gets Wrong

Slightly higher upfront cost
Dependency on the builder for major changes (though minor text/image edits can be self-serve with a CMS)

The Real Comparison: Revenue Impact

Let's compare two scenarios for a business spending R8,000/month on Meta ads:

Scenario A: DIY Website

Website loads in 5 seconds on mobile
Generic template layout
7-field contact form
No conversion tracking
Conversion rate: 2%
Monthly leads: 32
Cost per lead: R250

Scenario B: Professional Landing Page

Website loads in 1.5 seconds on mobile
Conversion-focused layout with clear CTA
3-field form with WhatsApp integration
Full tracking (Pixel + Conversions API)
Conversion rate: 6%
Monthly leads: 96
Cost per lead: R83

Same ad spend. Same ads. Same audiences. 3x more leads. The R2,500 website paid for itself in 10 days of improved conversion.

These aren't hypothetical numbers. We've seen exactly this pattern repeatedly — the same Meta campaigns generating 2–3x more leads after switching from a template builder site to a custom-built landing page.

The Decision Framework

Choose DIY If:

Your website is purely informational (no lead generation)
You have more time than money
You enjoy building things and have basic design sense
Your business doesn't depend on website conversions
You're testing a business idea before investing

Choose Professional If:

Your website needs to generate leads or sales
You're running paid advertising (Meta, Google)
Your time is more valuable than the cost difference
You need the site to perform well on mobile in SA
First impressions matter in your industry
You want to focus on running your business, not your website

The Middle Ground

Start with a professional starter site (R2,499–R5,000) and add complexity as your business grows. You don't need a R30,000 custom build from day one. You need a fast, clear, conversion-focused foundation that you can build on.

We designed our Basic Starter Website package specifically for this: R2,499 once-off, 4 pages, delivered in 5 days, full ownership. It's the professional foundation that makes everything else — ads, automation, SEO — work harder.

Professional websites from R2,499. 5-day delivery. You own everything. Get started.