Many start-ups find themselves asking the following question; what’s best for my business? There are many ways in which this question can be applied, depending on the type of business you’re setting up. But in 2019, one thing is for certain – all businesses need a webpage. You no longer have to pay large sums of money to design your page. With the help of such sites as WordPress, Squarespace and Shopify, you can set up your own site for a relatively small fee. As long as you have some basic design sensibilities, you should be able to create a streamlined, professional looking site. But which one of these top three page designers is the best option for you?
WordPress
First of all, don’t confuse wordpress.org with wordpress.com. The latter is only really used for blogs, while the former is utilised by over 26% of the top ten million websites from around the world. WordPress is totally suitable for design beginners, but is also sophisticated enough to appeal to pro developers. However, it requires a steeper learning curve than the other two, and might not be the best choice for total novices.
Despite this, it is very powerful and also extremely flexible. It’s also, in theory, free; although you’ll have to pay for numerous features including hosting, themes and plug-ins. And while both Squarespace and Shopify work off designated templates that are fairly limiting in terms of what you can create, WordPress allows you to build any type of website that you can imagine. So if you want something that totally stands out from the crowd, this might be the option for you. (Just be prepared to put the hours in…)
WordPress has been the go-to website provider for years – but could Shopify or Squarespace be a better fit for your business?
Squarespace
This is the simplest of the three for a variety of reasons. Squarespace has become blazingly popular in recent years, and it’s not hard to see why. You can create beautiful websites in a very short amount of time, with little to no previous web design experience. The only drawback is the limitations in design. While the templates are undeniably gorgeous, there’s very little room to manoeuvre the layout.
For this reason, a Squarespace website is almost always instantly recognisable, which some might consider a downside. Squarespace sites work best when you have strong visuals to go with them, which is why it’s often the go-to provider for artists, photographers, filmmakers, content creators, fashion brands and creatives. If you have some kind of visual element to your business then Squarespace is definitely worth considering.
Shopify
Although the two options above allow you to create online stores, Shopify is based around the idea that anyone can easily create a dependable online shop. For this reason, it’s often the go-to choice for serious sellers. If you’re looking to sell your project directly to your customers via the middleman of your site then Shopify is most likely the best option for you. It’s also easy to grasp and, like Squarespace, requires little to no knowledge of design in order to master.
On the downside, it’s more expensive than Squarespace and, taking into account that Squarespace can also provide a selling platform, you’ll have to decide which is better suited to your budget and products. Like Squarespace, Shopify contains everything you need to set up your site and start selling, which means that you don’t have to engage any third party services (although there are optional paid plug-ins that you’ll almost certainly want to add as you develop your site).
All three sites have their pros and cons; the one you go for very much depends on your product and what you hope to achieve with it; however, one thing that you’ll definitely need is a quality blog in order to boost your SEO and give your audience something new to read each week, so check out our tips on How To Make Sure You Outsource Blog Writing Correctly.
