Choosing the Right Platform when Building a Website
When you’re building a website, one of the first steps is figuring out what platform you should build it on. It’s one of the first questions we ask ourselves whether you’re starting a new site or upgrading an existing one. Here, we’ll review the top platforms available including what benefits each might offer over the other, pricing and some of the down sides.
There are dozens of platforms available in order to build a website. However there’s a select few that dominate the environment.
Wordpress
Squarespace (What we’re built on)
Shopify
Wix
GoSite
A custom Solution
Shopify
The best for E-Commerce
The quintessential e-commerce platform. If you are selling a product and you don’t already have deep roots in another platform. You should probably be on Shopify.
What is Shopify, and is it legit?
The short answer is yes. Shopify is very much legit and if used properly can save you a ton of time in the long run.
While it’s been around for years now, Shopify is one of those tools that we still see many clients question as a viable option for the E-commerce store. As a company, we’ve put the platform to the test and we can safely say that Shopify is a good step in the right direction for anyone wondering where to start.
Three things make Shopify what it is.
Plug and Play Payment Gateway.
This is one one thing that gets overlooked when ever you’re setting up a store. Companies have all made it pretty easy now but if you make the wrong choice or you somehow get caught up in it, what should be the most rewarding part of the setup, can quickly become a nightmare. Our vote is to pick something that you know will work. Shopify allows you to do this in just a couple clicks and it lets you get on to the more important things
Easy Theme Customizations
When you’re building a website, flexibility is key, especially when working with a developer to build a website. I would argue this is Shopify’s biggest advantage. On it’s face this give you a few well designed themes that work well with any product, however they also give you almost full access under the hood to edit any code you want. This is great if you plan on working with a developer and the editing dashboard will save everyone time and money.
Compatibility & Marketing Integrations
When you’re comparing CMS platforms, it’s fair to say that WordPress probably wins in this category. However where Shopify hits home is the ease of setup. As soon as you publish your store, you’re going to want to connect it to a Facebook Catalog, Google merchant center, Google / Facebook / Snapchat ads, etc. And there’s just no platform that makes it easier.
Pricing
Shopify is among the more expensive options here, however unless you’re on the Shopify Plus or Advanced plans (which also reduce the transaction cost percentage), You’re looking at less than $100 / month. It’s well worth it considering the native functionality you get that works so well with e-commerce, however can hurt a bit if you don’t have any sales.
Check out the latest pricing at the link below
Wordpress
Great for Content Producers, Agencies, or Services
Wordpress can do just about anything, end of story. It offers infinite flexibility and customizations that will support you in the long term. The backend of wordpress is less forgiving and can be clunky overtime. It uses plugins to accomplish specific technologies like event management, lead gen and membership (if you ever get into that). Because of the flexibility in technology, you can expect to do anything over the long term, however the complexity of the backend will also get in the way.
Why you need a developer
Given it’s flexibility, Wordpress offers unlimited possibilities. However it’s just CMS (Content Management System). That means you may install a pre-built theme and Wordpress will allow you to add content to that theme. Any customizations will either come as a plugin or as theme edits. Plugins can accomplish most things. They are easy to install and will update automatically. However sometimes they can look disjoined and may pile up over time. Theme edits are either direct edits to your website. For design adjustments and small functional updates, these may work better and faster than a plugin and they will not come with the baggage a plugin might such as extra cost or unnecessary javascript.
A Wordpress developer (like us) would save you all the trouble and you can have your website as you want it.
Pricing
This is arguably Wordpress’ biggest advantage. Wordpress is free. However there are costs associated with the theme you choose, the plugins and you also must decide on hosting and a domain separately. Other solutions will usually include those things. All in all, while Wordpress itself is free to use, with the additional and necessary items, you’re looking at between $20 and $100 / month depending on the theme and plugins you choose
Squarespace (What we’re built on)
Great for Small Business, Services, Agencies, E-Commerce or Restaurants
Squarespace offers similar flexibility in design but may be limited in technologies over the long term. Example: It doesn't do memberships well. The tech it does offer however is very well built and works natively with the backend. The backend itself is also miles ahead of other platforms. This is a big advantage when you or someone on your team wants to do something on the website. It also allows us to build a website much faster than other platforms.
Pricing
Similar to Six, Squarespace takes the all inclusive approach which is why we like it. Their plans are all less than $50
Check out the latest pricing at the link below
Wix
Great for Services, Small Directories, or Small Business
Wix is an extremely flexible builder. You get quite a bit for your money including native support for ecommerce, blogging and lead gen. However its biggest advantage is the builder. Wix has been able to pull off almost full website customization in a user friendly drag and drop builder. That comes with a cost however. With all of the functionality that Wix provides there backend will get slow and clunky in the long term. This has no effect on the front end performance of the website, but can be frustrating for design oriented users who want the site to be perfect.
Why you may need a developer
Wix provides a drag and drop editor for all pages however even this has its limits. Desktop and Mobile responsiveness can feel disjointed and when it comes to editing things like the nav or drop downs, they require you to edit code. Fortunately, Wix also gives you almost full access to your sites database and code, so a developer (like us) can fix all of this.
Bottom line: if you need it to be perfect, you’ll want a developer.
Pricing
Similar to Squarespace, Wix will be less than $100 / month however they will
Check out the latest pricing at the link below
GoSite
Great for Local Small Business
GoSite is all about local small business. If you are a service (such as a mover) or a small restaurant. You should probably set up a GoSite if anything for the experience and extra reach. We love & support all startups. So when we heard about GoSite we really loved the idea. In short, you can set up a fast, beautiful website and take payments or schedule reservations / appointments immediately.
Note: We talk a big game for GoSite because we are early adopters. I want to be clear that GoSite a new(er) service and it will not solve all of your problems. Customizations limited, functionality is very specific to what a local small business would need and as with all websites good photos and copy are HIGHLY recommended!
Pricing
GoSite is free to setup. They work on a transaction model, so they will charge you when you get sales. This is no different from other services except that there is no subscription fee that comes along with it.
A Custom Solution
Great for big custom websites with large directories or massive traffic.
In the event that you have a larger site than some of these platforms can handle, or you require more custom functionality, you may need a custom solution. Note that these scenarios are few and far between. Mainly reserved for either larger sites with massive inventory or traffic or a completely new idea that may not be supported by standard tools.
Signs you should be using a custom solution
You’re frequently having to do workarounds to accomplish your goals on an existing platform.
You have a large directory of custom items (not e-commerce products)
The backend is extremely slow or clunky to accomplish anything.
You have more than 5000 people visiting your site a day.
You’ve tried all available platforms and nothing seems to work for what you want.
Either way, if you are considering this option, please talk with someone. Doing this on your own can result in months of work and huge costs that you may never recover from. Working with a developer (like us) you be sure these questions will be answered up front.
Still Interested?
If you’re still thinking a custom solution is right for you. Feel free to contact us and let us know!
