Becky Boyland
It’s so common—and necessary—for practically every business to have a website these days that it can be tough to make that first decision: “What platform should my site be built on?”
If you’ve seen ads claiming that a service will build your site for free, it can be tempting to just dive right in—and can also make you wonder why people every pay for a website! But free sites never end up totally free (there are tradeoffs, reduced features, and often advertising involved), and comparing paid plans can be complicated. Then, no matter how you build your site, simply having one doesn’t guarantee people will find it and give you their business. So here’s what you need to know to make an informed decision.
Website Platform
Which platform to choose may seem like the first decision, but it’s important to back up and outline your business goals, both overall and for what you want your site to accomplish for you. While there are some platforms you probably can’t go wrong with, you don’t want to choose one based solely on a coupon code or because someone down the street uses it. Will your business goals and needs be met?
After that, you may think of any number of platforms advertised on TV or online, such as Wix, Squarespace, Weebly, Shopify, etc. These are often pitted against large open-source platforms like WordPress (which currently powers a staggering 43% of the internet), Joomla!, Webflow, and Drupal, citing the cost of development versus a subscription service. But note these costs:
- Subscriptions services like Wix, Weebly, Squarespace can cost you basic hosting prices (in the teens) all the way up to more than $50/month (or $150+/month for the top tiers)—just for the subscription. Shopify ranges from $29 to $2,300(!) per month. Many of these services also cost per user for email services, often partnering with Google for third party service. You’ll also pay annually to renew your domain name (often at a premium cost, unless you already purchased it elsewhere).
- For an average business plan, that could easily work out to $400/year, or more.
- The ability to extend your site is limited to your subscription plan and the capabilities of the platform.
- You can not move your site to another server—it would have to be recreated.
- WordPress and other open source platforms are innately free, and can be installed on a variety of hosting plans. Then they can be extended with free and paid plugins and themes. Hosting can often include basic email and other services (though Google, Microsoft and other platforms are more robust and at additional cost), and an average business shared plan could run $200-300/year (with frequent discounts for the first term).
- You are free to move your site to any server at any time.
Developer Support
None of these include development costs, so no matter what platform you’re on, you take on the responsibility of building the site or you pay a developer to do the work. So as you can see, the “inexpensive” subscriptions really aren’t cheaper, unless you do the work. But you’re also building your site on someone else’s property. WordPress is the most popular open-source (free) platform for a reason—while a WordPress site most likely requires paid features and professional development fees, it is highly flexible and well-supported (especially if you ever need to find a new developer or someone to do work on your site after it’s completed).
Marketing and SEO
Subscription services regularly partner with other companies to offer you a buffet of add-on services, and sometimes promises like “we’ll make you #1 on Google!” But the reality is that there is no substitute for user-friendly site architecture, proper application of technical SEO, high quality content, and a customized marketing plan that is crafted with your business goals in mind. No matter your platform, there is no one-size-fits-all marketing package.
Where are you in the journey of building a website? Whether you’re planning a new or updated build, or are recognizing your current site doesn’t meet your needs, book a call to talk through your needs and options!
