When you are a new business, one of the first things that comes to mind is getting a website. And let’s be honest, it can be a bit of a minefield of where to start!
You have probably noticed that there are lots of website ‘types’ – WordPress. Wix, Squarespace, and if you are looking at an online shop, you will come across Shopify too.
Where do you start?
You will see both Wix and Squarespace firmly set themselves at small businesses who need to get website up quickly and easily. You’ve also probably heard that WordPress is best or even that it may seem a bit techy.
Now, have you ever bought or leased a car? I guess you understand that if you own a car, then it’s yours and if you lease a car, then it’s never really your car and it’s owned by the leasing company.
Well, believe it or not, websites are similar.
If you have a Wix or Squarespace website (or Shopify for that matter), then they are basically leased websites. If you do something, or sell something, that goes against their terms they can close your website. Or if they put the prices up, you can just simply switch suppliers. If they are too slow for your website, then again you really do anything about it.
Why move from Wix or Squarespace?
A fairly big proportion of my website builds are re-builds of Wix and Squarepsaoce websites. Clients have often build their own on this platfomrs, and some have done a pretty good job using paid for templates.
I say re-builds because if you move from Wix or Squarespace you have to pretty much start from scratch. If they put the prices up or decide your website is against their terms, then you can’t simply move to another Wix or Squarespace company. It’s a closed shop.
There’s suually a point where a small business will outgrow them because the price goes up if you need to add bookings or a shop. And also, you can usually spot a Wix or Squarespace website – they all look a bit cookie-cutter. There’s a lot more design scope with WordPress.
What about Shopify?
Well here it can be a bit ‘horses for courses’ because if you simply want a shop and no big surrounding website, then Shopify can sometimes be a good call. It does shops and the online checkout process really well. It’s a fairly familiar checkout process for customers straight out of the box.
There are a pretty good choice of templates, although the good ones are paid, and there are various Shopfiy apps that can help with your digital marketing. All told, it’s a very good online shop.
I do think though if you are just selling a couple of products then Shopify can be pricier than simply having a WordPress website and WooCommerce set up. Sometimes Woo can also be a better solution for complcated shops, because Woo has so many plugins that can make it adapt to any sort of business process. You can also integrate it with other facilaities too like bookings or memberships, to provide a seemless experience for cusotmers.
Why is WordPress different?
It’s the equivalent of a car you’ve purchased. An owned car. it belongs to you. If you want to spray it bright pink with purple spots then you can. No-one, except may the style police, will tell you off.
So, your WordPress website is owned by you. The terms, are your terms. If your WordPress hosting company puts up the prices then you can find a chapers hosting compnay. If the website speed is just too slow, then you can simply move your website to a host which is quicker. You can even move to a hosting company with locoal servers, which canbe better for both speed and SEO . An guess what, mosts hosting compnaies will even move it over for you or have tools that can make it simple to DIY.
Oh and don’t be put off with people saying it’s more techie, because it has some fab free page builders that are all drag and drop and just as easy to use as the leased websites! Drag and drop style builders help you build pages like lego blocks. I use Divi, which is fab, but there are others out there depending on you budget and requirments. When I buidl a website, I provide a free Divi theme and builde.r
Here’s a few more reasons why WordPress is a better option for your website:
- WordPress is an open-source platform. Which means that anyone can contribute to its development. As a result, there is a massive community of developers and users working together to create new plugins, themes, and features. This makes it easier to customize your website to your exact specifications, and to scale your website as your business grows. Wix and Squarespace, on the other hand, are proprietary platforms, which means that you’re limited to the features and functions that they provide.
- WordPress offers more flexibility when it comes to design. There are thousands of free and paid themes available, each with its own unique style and customization options. This makes it easy to create a website that truly reflects your brand. Wix and Squarespace, while they do offer a range of templates, have limited customization options, and it can be challenging to make your website stand out.
- WordPress is more SEO-friendly than Wix and Squarespace. WordPress has a wide range of plugins, such as Yoast SEO, that can help you optimize your website for search engines. These plugins can help you improve your website’s ranking, increase traffic, and generate more leads. The others have some SEO features, doesn’t offer the same level of optimization as WordPress. However, Shopify does now have Yoast SEO options.
- WordPress offers better security features than Wix and Squarespace. WordPress has a large community of developers who are constantly working to identify and patch vulnerabilities. Additionally, there are numerous security plugins available that can help protect your website from attacks. Wix, on the other hand, has had some security concerns in the past, which has led some users to question its reliability.
So, which website is best for your business?
While Wix or Squarespace may seem to be a good option for beginners who want a quick and easy website, WordPress is the better choice for those who want more flexibility, scalability, customization, SEO optimization, and security. So if you’re serious about creating a website that truly reflects your brand, go with WordPress.
Where can I find out more?
You can find out more about my Website Packages or see my gallery of recent websites I’ve built – don’t worry the gallery doesn’t go back the full 30 years that I’ve been building websites!
Or you can Contact Me and we can book in a Dscovery Call and have a chat about what your business, and website goals, are.