Choosing which Website Builder is right for you
You’ve decided to start with a DIY website to which I say… BOLD move my friend. Building your own website can absolutely save you money, if it's done right with a little preplanning and strategy.
But I think it is worth mentioning that taking the DIY route is going to cost you in other ways. For one, it is a huge time investment. I know there are a lot of people and website builders that promise, “You can build your own website in just a few hours!” but in my experience this rarely actually happens.
The truth is that it takes time to clearly define what you need your website to do aside from the obvious… bring in new clients.
Your website is your virtual brochure capturing how awesome you really are, and your virtual employee available 24/7 making it easy for people to connect in the way that is best for you. It takes time to gather and organize the content that will live on your site, from the written words to the images that help tell your story.
And while you have probably seen ads showing a happy woman casually picking photos and writing clever copy while sipping a cappuccino, that’s usually not how it goes.
The reality paints a very different picture…
A stressed out woman, rubbing her eyes, smearing her mascara while stressing over which photos will work best, and literally pulling on her hair while trying to write about how amazing you are so someone will want to hire you.
Building your own website is also going to also challenge your skills in ways you may not imagine. Writing for the website, especially about yourself is a lot harder than most people think, and that doesn’t even bring in the technical aspect.
Plus, this is one of those projects in life that can really shake your confidence. And yet, these “costs” are still often worth it. Building your own website can be a really smart strategic move for you. Especially if you have more time than money and aren’t afraid of embracing technology.
Today I am going to share with you my experience with four of the best known web design platforms… Squarespace, WordPress, Shopify, and Wix… and help you decide which one is best for you.
A few things to consider before deciding to build your own website…
All website design builders can work really well for you when set up properly, and all can be complete and utter disasters. There is no “one design platform” to rule them all. They all have their benefits and their quirks. You just have to decide which benefits support your goals best and which quirks you are willing to deal with.
You also have to be comfortable with learning new technology. The fact that you can shop like a goddess online, or scroll every social media platform in existence doesn’t mean you are good with technology, and neither of these are going to prepare you for building your own website.
Website design is a lot more complicated than clicks and adding a bit of content.
Finally, if you decide to hire someone to build your website, pick your web designer first before deciding on the platform. Again, all platforms can work really well when designed well, but not all web designers are going to be a great fit for you. So find one who understands your needs, and trust what they create for you.
Now with that all said, let’s get into deciding which platform is right for you…
My Favorite Web Design Platform… WordPress
The most flexible platform with the biggest learning curve
I love WordPress, and I am specifically talking about hosted WordPress websites. I love the robust flexibility that WordPress offers and its ability to grow alongside your business when set up really well.
That being said, WordPress is not what I would call user friendly.
It can be, but you really have to know what you are doing, and know which themes and plugins to use to ensure it keeps working seamlessly as new updates are added.
Right now on the day I am writing this blog there are currently 12,000 free themes available in WordPress and if you add in premium themes (the ones that cost a little or a lot of money) there are more than 20,000 themes. There are also more than 59,000 plugins to choose from.
Here’s why that information is important… not all of the themes and plugins work well together. Some won’t work together at all. And just because they work together today doesn’t mean they will work together when new updates are pushed out.
What WordPress does really well?
The best thing about WordPress is the flexibility it offers. If you have a very specific idea of what you want your website to look like and how you want it to grow over time, WordPress gives you the freedom to build anything you can imagine, and very little is locked down the way it is in other website design builders. This is actually why WordPress is still so popular.
It is also an excellent platform if blogging is a primary focus for you. It was actually originally built for bloggers, so posting a new blog is simple and easy and often fewer steps than other design platforms.
There is also a lot more flexibility when integrating other tools like email marketing, scheduling software and other third party applications. .
And finally, WordPress grows with you. You can start with a pretty simple website and keep adding to it over time. More pages, more blog posts, new features, even things like courses or memberships if that becomes part of your business later on. When it’s set up well, WordPress doesn’t really put you in a box.
The one thing I don’t think WordPress does well…
E-commerce is something that I feel is way too complicated in WordPress. Yes you can absolutely do it there, and do it well if you know what plugins to use. But I think Shopify is the king of e-commerce. More on that in a bit!
Is WordPress the one for you?
Do you love playing around with technology, figuring things out, and troubleshooting errors? If so, I get it. I actually love doing those things too, which is why I settled on WordPress as my design platform years ago. Plus, with the right tools the customization is unlimited and I love being able to tweak things until they are just right.
But if what you really want is a simple drag-and-drop experience where everything just works right away, WordPress may not be the best choice.
Theme Recommendations
As there are more than 20,000 themes available, it is way too easy to fall down a rabbit hole trying to find the “perfect” one for you. So let me make a recommendation… go with Thrive Themes or Elementor.
Thrive Themes is what I build my websites on, and what I have used since 2013. It has a whole suite of tools built specifically for WordPress. Things like page building, lead generation, quizzes, and other marketing tools are all designed to work together. And because they are all designed and maintained by Thrive Themes, you don’t have to worry about compatibility issues down the road.
They also have a really strong online learning platform, Thrive University that walks you through how to set everything up, saving you a ton of time and frustration.
Elementor is another option to consider, as it is one of the most widely used page builders in the WordPress world. The biggest advantage here is the size of the community around it. Because so many websites use Elementor, it’s usually much easier to find tutorials, resources, and professional help if you ever need it.
Elementor also has its own training resources in Elementor Academy that help you learn how to build and customize your pages.
Whatever you choose, do your best to stick with it. Mixing too many systems together is how WordPress websites break and even crash.
Disclaimer: I am a Thrive Themes affiliate and if you use the link above, I will make a little money. But trust me… I would recommend Thrive Themes even if I weren’t an affiliate.
My Recommended DIY Web Design Platform… Squarespace
The easiest, most design-friendly option for beginners
Squarespace is probably the easiest platform on this list to learn. The editor is intuitive, the design blocks are modern and beautiful, and you can build a really nice looking website without needing to learn code or complicated systems.
For someone who wants to build their own website and get it up and running fairly quickly, Squarespace is a really solid website builder.
What Squarespace does really well
Squarespace shines when it comes to simplicity and design. Even if you don’t have much design experience, it’s pretty easy to create a website that looks good.
As everything is contained, budgeting for your website is simple and easy too. You can pay monthly so that you don’t have to invest that much up front, or annually and save a little. Plus your domain is often included for the first year.
Squarespace also includes a lot of built-in tools that small businesses tend to need like email marketing integrations, scheduling tools like Acuity, analytics, and simple ecommerce features.
Finally, why I love this for the DIYers out there, is because Squarespace is a very low-maintenance platform. They take care of the technical side of things like updates, security, and performance, which makes it a great option for people who want to focus on their business instead of managing website software.
The three things I don’t think Squarespace does well…
Customization is where Squarespace is pretty limited, so as a web designer this drives me a little crazy, but I don't think most DIYers will mind the limitations. And they have made a lot of improvements in recent years that give you more flexibility, but there are still things you just can’t adjust, unless you are a whizz at CSS (Cascading Style Sheets which is the language used to style and decorate a web page). Even then there are still limits.
Squarespace can also be pretty quirky, and your mobile site can get messed up really easily. It’s easy to fix so there is the silver lining, but any time you make changes you need to make sure that your mobile view is not jacked up. (And it can get really messed up if you make bigger changes to layout).
Finally, and this is a small thing really, but email marketing integrations is limited. Squarespace has its own email marketing built in which makes things simple, but if you have a small list and want to use a free email marketing platform like Kit, integration is a bit more complicated.
Is Squarespace the one for you?
If you want a simple website builder with all the basic tools built in, without having to worry too much about the technical side of things, Squarespace is a great place to build. The more you use the more you invest so keep that in mind when setting things up and only set up the features you actually need.
Is Selling Products Online Your Primary Goal? Then You Need Shopify…
The go-to platform for e-commerce businesses of all sizes
No one does e-commerce quite like Shopify. So many of the basic functionalities to help make your online store a success are built right into the platform.
Compared to WordPress where you are piecing together plugins to create a store, Shopify already has most of the tools you need ready to go. The backend is organized, easy to navigate, and designed with store owners in mind. While it may not be pretty you can quickly set up a store that will manage products, track inventory, keep track of orders and simply shipping.
That’s exactly why it has become the go-to platform for businesses selling physical or digital products online.
What Shopify does really well
Everything from inventory management to secure checkout is already built into the platform. You can create product listings, manage shipping options, apply discounts, collect sales tax, and even recover abandoned carts without needing to install a bunch of extra tools.
It also has one of the largest app ecosystems available for online stores. If you need email marketing tools, subscription programs, loyalty systems, shipping integrations, or print-on-demand services, there is almost always a Shopify app that connects directly with your store.
Another advantage is that Shopify handles most of the technical work behind the scenes. Hosting, security updates, checkout compliance, and platform updates are all managed for you. That means you can focus more on managing your products and less on maintaining the technology behind your store.
The two things I don’t think Shopify does well…
Like WordPress there are a lot of themes and apps to sort through, although not nearly as many as WordPress. As I am writing this blog there are about 12-15 free themes created by Shopify and approximately 200+ premium themes. And there are around 8,000+ apps in the Shopify store. Thankfully when you get the right theme, you don’t often need to add that many if any apps to do what you need your website to do.
I would also say that content and blogging aren’t really Shopify’s strengths. Yes, you can absolutely add blog posts to your website, but the blogging tools are pretty basic compared to something like WordPress. And adding new pages with design formatting is a bit more complicated than simply adding a new page. This also depends on the theme you use, and some make it a lot easier to build what you need.
Is Shopify the one for you?
If your business is centered around selling products, Shopify is hard to beat. Whether you are selling a handful of handmade products or managing a large inventory with shipping automation and advanced sales tools, Shopify is designed to support that type of business.
But if selling products is only a small part of your website and your focus is more on services, blogging, or content, you may find platforms like WordPress or Squarespace to be a better fit.
Theme Recommendations
Just like any website builder, not all themes are created equal. And I admit that Shopify is not where I spend a lot of my time so I don’t have as much knowledge about the different themes out there. That being said, I LOVE the Flow Theme by Eight Themes. This theme makes it easy to build the website you are dreaming of, and their support is incredible. Anytime I have been struck and reached out I have gotten fast well documented responses. So if Shopify is the way you want to go I cannot recommend this theme enough!
My personal least favorite web design builder… Wix
A beginner-friendly platform with limitations to be aware of
Wix is often one of the first platforms DIY business owners look at because it appears simple, affordable, and easy to get started. Plus their marketing is on point, which means this is the first builder that often comes to mind without any research.
It’s also an all-in-one platform. Hosting, templates, and basic tools are bundled together, which makes it possible to get a website online fairly quickly.
That said, based on my professional experience working on many client websites over the years, Wix is not a platform I typically recommend.
Why I Don’t Recommend Wix
Like Squarespace it can be really glitchy, and small changes can mess everything up. But to make matters worse, I have had websites get jumbled up especially on mobile without making changes. Most people aren’t looking at their website every day and may not catch these issues that make their website difficult if not impossible to read and simply navigate.
The biggest reason I don’t care for WIX is that moving away from this platform is difficult. I have had client websites have to be down for a full week before Wix releases their domain and allows the website to be moved to a different platform, and in my opinion that is unacceptable.
That being said, I do feel that Wix has made great strides in improving the user experience over the years, and I know some web designers that work exclusively with Wix and create really fabulous websites. (Message me if you need a recommendation for Wix support!)
