There are so many website build options on the market it is no surprise that the people I often talk to are confused about where to start, let alone what to choose.
There are many different types of build and for a simple and brief explanation I am only going to explain an overview and name a few. These will include:
- Website building platforms
- Self-hosted builds
- E-commerce platforms
- CRM based
Let’s start with the place where quite a few businesses start with Website platforms:
Website building platforms
You will recognise these quickly enough when I use the popular names: Wix, SquareSpace, Webflow or Weebly to name a few. Some hosting companies provide web build options too, they are not the same as self-hosted outlined below.
These platforms let you sign-up for a monthly fee and often drag and drop the elements you like, use a pre-made template and edit your content yourself.
The main advantage of these is that they are a low cost entry point for trying out your new business and testing the waters. The platforms update their own software.
There are a few disadvantages however that should be pointed out:
- To get the best display you may need to understand a bit of code and research well good practice for website building, image labelling etc.
- One thing to watch out for is if you are planning on doing any transactions on your site the platform may talk a fee per transaction.
- You do not own these sites, the platform does. The site is not exportable.
- You do not always know where it is hosted and whether or not it is in a jurisdiction that adheres to GDPR – especially important if you are using email provided by the account or sharing financial information via integrations.
- Monthly fees can add up overtime.
Conclusion: As mentioned you can get started quite quickly if you are tech friendly. Always keep a copy of your sites contents in a document for back-up. If the platform you are on says it is undergoing a take-over you will need to take on board their guide how this will effect your site in the long run – a few sites have been lost entirely in these changes.
Self-hosted builds:
You will pay one of the hosting companies to host your website files on their server. The builds can vary from a basic site built using HTML & CSS or larger sites using WordPress or similar. Quite a few hosting companies offer a choice of data centres, so you can choose a UK location, some offer hosting 100% powered by renewable energy.
The advantages of these sites are that you own them – 100%! The IP of the site is yours entirely which is a great asset for a business especially if you are scaling and may have your eye on selling in the future. Make sure your ownership on launch is outlined in any build contract you have.
These sites can be very adaptable and you can get a site that looks exactly like your vision.
These sites can grow with your business and over time you can add e-commerce, membership areas and numerous plugins that add incredible functionality. If you add e-commerce the transaction costs will be lower than platforms.
These sites are portable, you can migrate them to other hosting companies.
There are disadvantages which I will outline here:
- You may need the services of a web designer to build for you.
- You will need periodical security updates.
- If you hire a web designer the start cost may be higher than a pay monthly option.
Conclusion: This are my preferred option as a web designer, I feel it is right, if I am charging a client for a web build, that they have ownership of their site on launch. I like the opportunity to completely deliver my clients vision.
It is always my preference to steer clients to UK hosting and data centres using renewable options.
E-commerce platforms
The market leader for selling online is Shopify, this platform provides hosting for many large online shops, you have probably purchased from one of them.
E-commerce can be available on self-hosted options too using plugins such as WooCommerce.
These are great for people using an inventory for stock levels and reporting on sales.
Conclusion: These are, however, platforms and so ownership is in their hands, not yours. Most of the disadvantages are outlined in Website building platforms above.
CRM based
The market leaders for these are Kajabi, HubSpot and Zoho. They have within some of their membership options included websites. The web build will be a drop and drag type in most cases.
Conclusion: Like platforms above, the property remains theirs and not yours but they have great sales funnels that can be very useful for handling response emailing and signing up clients to newsletters.
Having heard client’s stories of losing sites and buying into services that are rigid I will always advise clients to own as much of their website as possible but totally understand that for some clients other options are their best way forward.
I am always happy to talk through the options with you in full and advise what will get your business off the ground!