So, you have made the decision to build a website for your business. Great! Next step, you need to decide how to build it. So, WordPress vs Website Builders? Content management systems (CMS’s) such as WordPress offer more flexibility in terms of design and layout. They usually come with a higher price-tag due to the hours of development work needed to get your site live. On the other hand, Website Builders. Put the control back in your hands, allowing you to create a site with little-to-no coding knowledge, but without the ability to customize your site to your heart’s content.
With almost 30% of all websites built using WordPress, there is no question it is the most popular CMS. Originally developed as a free, open-source platform for bloggers, WordPress’ customizability and user-friendliness helped the platform gain ground as the CMS of choice for building websites of all sizes, across all verticals including giant web properties. Modern website builders have surfaced in recent years offering drag and drop, what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) tools to build an online presence. Without the need for implementing or editing code- creating opportunities for even the smallest of businesses to gain visibility online. Read more to know more about WordPress vs Website Builders comparison to learn about all the factors you should consider when building a website.
Factor 1: Type of Website
As stated in our Ultimate Guide to Building Your Website, one of the most important tasks before you begin creating a website, is defining its purpose. This will not only set the tone for the content, design and functionality of your site, but will help you determine whether you can benefit from the ease of a website builder or require the power of WordPress to build your site.
Brochure-style or one-page websites tend to be the perfect contenders for Website Builders as they generally serve to promote a business, provide information and advertise products or services. Requiring fewer customizations, the core focus is building a beautiful, engaging website that will best represent your business and get your brand message across to site visitors. Such websites include:
- Portfolios
- Business services
- Photographers, artists, musicians
- Restaurants
- Community and local businesses
Businesses that require more technologically advanced features than a brochure website will probably find the customizability and flexibility that WordPress offers more suitable. This includes:
- Websites that require a membership or login area
- Websites that include a database
- Large-scale eCommerce websites
- Corporate website
- When the website is your product
Factor 2: Coding Knowledge
Presumably, the reason you are here is because you would like to take a hands-on approach to the creation of your business’s website. If you have some knowledge in HTML code, you may find that creating your website with WordPress is not that hard. Yes, the learning curve will likely be longer than that of a typical website builder. With access to themes and plugins that remove the majority of coding required to build a site, it is possible to build a beautiful website on your own.
Website Builders on the other hand are the perfect solution for users with no coding knowledge. With their WYSIWYG editors, as well as the drag-and-drop functionality, you see exactly how your website will look as soon as you edit it. This highly visual approach to creating a website makes website builders the obvious option for users looking to build a website quickly, effortlessly and with no coding experience.
Factor 3: Budget
As with most business decisions, budget will play a key role in the website builder vs WordPress decision making process. But budget alone should not be the main factor. Downloading and running WordPress is free and standard hosting packages will usually cost between $3-$10 a month. Whereas business accounts with Website Builders generally start at around $12 a month. If we only considered the ongoing costs of the platforms themselves, WordPress comes out the cheaper option. But unless you have the coding skills and knowledge of a professional developer, you will likely need to hire a web developer or web designer to either build or build and maintain your website.
But you should still be prepared to invest at least $5,000 for a good developer to create a fully customized WordPress. Website’s built by developers using a website builder usually cost less than those built using WordPress. The prices starting in the 100’s of dollar for Website Builder development.