Choosing the Right Website Platform
One of the biggest decisions you’ll make when building your website is choosing the right website platform. This is what you’ll be using to actually create your website and it should be a platform that not only supports your growth but is within your comfort zone of being able to learn.
Rather than walk you through all of the options available (there are a lot of options on the market), I’m going to introduce and give you an overview of my three favorite platforms. These are the platforms that I use within my website design business and have found between these three website building platforms, at least one of them allows me to build a website with the functionality that my clients need.
Let’s get started!
Squarespace
An intuitive and easy to use platform that is great for those who don’t need a ton of customization and don’t want to worry about managing updates and finding a hosting provider. The large selection of beautiful out of the box templates and easy drag and drop design builder means that even those that don’t consider themselves tech-inclined can usually figure out the platform.
It’s a fully supported platform, which means the monthly fee that you pay to use the platform comes with a support team that is available 24/7 to answer your questions. This fee also includes hosting and automatic updates to keep the platform secure.
If you’re interested in testing out the platform, get in touch and I’d be happy to set you up with a no-strings-attached 6-month trial. If you decide to move forward with the platform, you’ll also get 20% off your first year with my partner discount.
Who it’s good for:
Most small businesses that need a standard level of functionality (read more about why Squarespace is great for small businesses)
Anyone looking for an easy-to-use platform
Anyone who doesn’t consider themselves very “techy”
Anyone who wants a support team backing the platform that you can contact with questions
E-commerce stores that are looking to sell digital products (for physical products, see Shopify)
Who it’s not good for:
You’re building a dedicated e-commerce website (see Shopify)
You need a high level of customization - think membership site, directories, forums, and integration with a lot of other external platforms (see WordPress)
You’re wanting to build a website where you are predominantly using it to blog (see WordPress)
WordPress
As of 2018, 27% of the internet is powered by WordPress, and considering the number of total active websites is over 170 million, this is huge. WordPress is a robust content management system (CMS), backed by a large community of plugin providers and theme designers. While the learning curve is steeper than Squarespace or Shopify, the customization options available are impressive.
Because of its flexibility, it is a great choice for websites that need a high level of customization and added functionality. There are literally thousands upon thousands of plugins (both free and paid) that can be integrated into your website to make it do pretty much anything you want it to. This advantage is also a disadvantage of the platform, especially for those who are not comfortable around technology. In order to maintain a secure WordPress website, these plugins need to be updated and while this might sound easy enough, updates can sometimes cause problems and lead to site crashes (which also means frequent backups are important).
While the platform itself is free to use, you will also need to source a hosting solution, which is a service that you pay for. Hosting companies are plentiful (my personal favorite, is WP Engine) so this adds another decision to make when building a site on WordPress.
Who it’s good for:
Anyone who needs a high level of customization and functionality
Anyone who is looking for a large library of themes to choose from
Bloggers: if your blog is the main component of your website, WordPress might be the best option (especially for food blogs)
Who it’s not good for:
If you consider yourself a non-techy person, the steep learning curve of WordPress might push you too far out of your comfort zone (see Squarespace)
Anyone who isn’t willing to perform the necessary plugin and WordPress core updates to keep the site secure (see Squarespace)
Shopify
Shopify is the world’s leading eCommerce platform, powering more than 1,000,000 businesses that have collectively sold more than $155 billion worth of products. Just like Squarespace, it’s a fully supported platform, which means the monthly fee that you pay to use the platform comes with a support team that is available 24/7 to answer your questions. This fee also includes hosting and automatic updates to keep the platform secure.
What I like about Shopify is that it provides a high level of customization, allowing you to build an eCommerce website to suit your needs. Out of the box, it offers inventory management, carrier-calculated shipping, many payment processing options, and built-in reporting that shows you how your website is performing. You can also add more custom features by way of third-party apps. While some of these apps are free, a lot of them have some sort of a monthly fee associated with them (that gets added to your monthly Shopify fee).
Click here to start a 90-day free trial
Who it’s good for:
Anyone who wants to sell their products online, especially physical products
Who it’s not good for:
Content-based websites (see Squarespace or Wordpress)
You’re wanting to build a website where you are predominantly using it to blog (see WordPress)
Wrap Up
Between the three platforms above, you should be able to find a solution that supports your goals, suits your comfort level with technology, and fits your budget. Remember, this is an important decision to make and if you feel like you need more information than what I provided above to be able to figure it out for your unique scenario, I recommend talking to other biz owners in your industry to see what they use. If you are still struggling to figure out the best path going forward, feel free to reach out and I’d be happy to discuss options.
