As a small business or start-up it’s a given that your presence on the internet should be the best it can be from the start.
Throughout many years of business website design and development, I can tell you that a large majority of clients have needed rescue from free website builder platforms such as Wix, Weebly, Shopify, Squarespace, or GoDaddy.
Often appearing visually unprofessional with broken links scattered everywhere. Worse yet, many desirable topic pages are left unfinished due to platform constraints or lack of assistance. The odds of your website being found in the search engines are low as there is no easy access to the SEO tools you need.
Challenges with do-it-yourself website platforms:
- You do not own your website. A great number of businesses find they do not own their domain name, as it was registered during the “build your own website” wizard process.
- Your website will look pretty much like other businesses’ websites, so your business doesn’t stand out from the pack.
- Many free website builders include ads.
- Frustration. Functionality is very limited and there is nothing you can do — but you keep trying. Think advanced forms, social sharing streams, registration forms, bookings, appointments, and more.
- Surprises such as rising costs and hidden fees.
- Website updates and maintenance are very time consuming — not at all enjoyable.
- No easy access to the SEO tools you need.
- Outdated code and templates.
- You are restricted to editing inside specific little “boxes” and become more frustrated because you don’t have the freedom to really do what you want.
- DIY website builders are less powerful and expandable than a platform like WordPress.
Using WordPress offers a more solid foundation
Your website is the first impression potential new customers have about your business and needs to be the best it can be.
If you’re looking for a great way to launch your new website, and be in control of the design and functionality, including SEO, while avoiding possible surprise fees, I strongly recommend using the self-hosted, WordPress platform, the world’s most popular website building platform.
W3Techs newest study shows that WordPress powers 33.5% of all the websites – a content management system market share of 60.4%. That’s up from 25% from just a few years ago and the number is still growing. One in three of all websites are powered by WordPress. WordPress is the fastest growing CMS, with roughly 500+ new sites being built daily in the top 10 million websites on the web (compared to Shopify’s and Squarespace’s 60-80).
There are thousands of WordPress themes and free plug-ins that you can use for your website’s design. You can also add a page builder such as Beaver Builder that allow you to easily create your own page layouts using drag-and-drop technology.
You can enjoy maximum control over your website and easily expand in the future as your business grows. And you can always move your website to another hosting provider that offers better pricing and customer service.
With a solid foundation, including seo-friendly website architecture and strong security, you’re ready to manage and update it yourself — becoming your own webmaster.
Unless you already have the skills and time (and patience!) to build your own website, consider hiring a trusted professional website developer and search engine optimization expert to get you started. When involving a professional, you are bringing their years of experience and knowledge of creating successful websites.
You’ll be delighted with your return on investment while learning new things and steadily gaining new customers and prospects.