When we start to work with a new client, often the first thing we consider is their website – Does it accurately explain what they do? Does it have the best customer journey? A website these days is a key marketing hub, especially for a small business – think of it as your shop window. If it is not working in the best way that it can, then any marketing efforts maybe wasted. I have a lot of debates with clients around which website platform to use. There are a wide choice of options out there to help you build your website, but for the purposes of this blog we wanted to focus on the advantages of the WordPress and Wix platforms specifically. Anecdotally WordPress feels like a more substantial platform; but Wix does have an easy to use and design capability, idea to support small businesses when they are just starting out.
There are estimated to be over 172m active websites (at time of writing); with about 75m currently using WordPress; Wix also says they have 150 million users in 190 countries, those figures don’t quite add up, so not all of those users will have an individual active website. Other website building platforms include: Site123, Squarespace, Weebly and 123reg to name a few. Depending upon where your business is in its life stage, your requirements and what technical capability you have, will mean that different platforms work better for you.
Before we start to explore the different platforms, lets define what we mean by a website platform, Website Builder Expert defines it as ” A website builder is an online platform that helps you create your own website without coding.”
Advantages of the Wix platform:
Wix was established in 2006 and has quickly built up to provide a great website provision for small businesses, with over 500 templates to choose from you are sure to find something you like.
- Wix offers a wide selection of templates, which can be confusing.
- Easy to use a drag and drop design solution.
- Great value for money and help features.
- Highest ranking of any website builder (at time of writing).
- Templates may not necessarily work across all devices and be mobile responsive.
- You may need to spend more on third party apps to up scale your website.
- Wix has recently worked hard to build its SEO capabilities, although there are other platforms out there with stronger capabilities.
Advantages of the WordPress platform:
WordPress hosts nearly a third of all active websites and is cited as one of the top website building tools.
- WordPress is a content management system as opposed to Wix which is a website builder.
- WordPress requires a certain amount of technical know-how to write the code for the website.
- WordPress give you the flexibility to adapt the look and feel completely, enabling you to build a customised bespoke website.
- WordPress websites are site engine optimisation ready and tend to rank higher.
- WordPress website designs are mobile responsive and adapt well to any mobile device.
- Plug ins extend theme capabilities.
Once you have designed your website you will need to buy hosting, domain names and set up your email separately.
So which platform is best for your small business will depend upon where you are in your business life stage and your requirements as to which works best. We have some amazing website associates which we work with to help our small business clients find the right solution for them. So wherever you are in your business lifecycle, please get in touch to arrange your initial no obligation consultation.
