Why You Should Use WordPress to Build Your Website

As a web designer, the type of website builder you should use comes up for me a lot. If you’re wondering what the best platform for your website is, it’s absolutely WordPress.org, and let’s talk about why. I’m going to break down the biggest options available out there and spell out why I think WordPress is the best one.

WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org

Before we really get into it, I want to clarify the difference between WordPress.org and WordPress.com. WordPress.com is a version of WordPress where you pay a monthly subscription. The price is based on how much customization you want, and the benefit is that WordPress handles the hosting for you. However, WordPress.com is extremely limited unless you want to pay a significant monthly fee.

WordPress.org is a free, open-source software that allows you to pretty much customize your site however you want. You do have to sign up and pay for your own hosting, but this actually gives you more options. You can pick the best hosting company for you and decide what type of hosting you want. So, when I say I recommend you use WordPress, I mean WordPress.org.

Why WordPress

There are several reasons why I love WordPress so much. The first is options. You have a wide variety of themes you can use, and you can add functionality to those themes and your site in general through plugins. Plugins are little extensions you can add to your site that can do powerful things. They can automatically interlink your blog posts. They can allow you to hide your pins, so you don’t need to include them in your actual post. Not to mention, you can add more customization options to your pages. Plugins also allow you to do things like add a shop or easily integrate your email list.

On top of the ability to make your site exactly what you want, WordPress is the best website option for SEO. There are plugins that help you make sure your blog posts are SEO-friendly, and Google has the easiest time searching WordPress blog posts. Because it’s so easy to customize your blogs to exactly what search engines want, you’re more likely to get the results you want with WordPress.

Not to mention, once you get the hang of it, WordPress is easy to use. It’s especially easy to add and publish blog posts and pages, which is an important part of creating and maintaining a website.

WordPress vs. Showit

Many business owners, especially wedding professionals, are moving to Showit, and I think this is a mistake. Just like WordPress.com, they handle your hosting for you, but they dramatically limit what you can do. They even limit the number of visitors you can have. Showit actually does have WordPress integration, but you have to upgrade your account for it. If you get their basic package, which is $19/month or $228/year, you only get their site builder. You don’t have access to blogging at all (an essential part of improving your SEO and attracting your ideal clients).

If you upgrade your account to their standard package, which is $24/month or $288/year, you get a basic blog and preinstalled plugins. This plan gets you WordPress, but it limits your file size uploads, you can’t add in any plugins beyond the ones they install, and you can’t customize anything. You also can’t add different users to your site, which might be important if you want someone else to handle updates or write blogs.

In order to get anything close to the functionality you get with WordPress.org, you have to pay for their advanced plan, which is $34 per month or $408 per year. You’re still limited in how many visitors you can have, and you still can’t customize nearly as much. It basically allows you to install any plugins you want and add users.

In comparison, WordPress has complete customization, and you can pick your hosting based on how many visitors you expect and what perks you’re looking for. In terms of pricing, purchasing hosting yourself can be much cheaper. I use Dreamhost, and I got three years of really good hosting for less than one year of Showit’s advanced plan. Even after their introductory price ends, Dreamhost can still be as cheap as $10 per month, and you still get all the benefits of WordPress at that price.

WordPress vs. Squarespace

Squarespace tends to be many people’s go-to when they first create their website, especially if they’re doing it on their own. But it’s worth learning WordPress or hiring someone to set it up for you. First of all, Squarespace has less functionality and fewer options when it comes to customization. You’re limited in what you can do. Squarespace can be easy to use since it’s a site builder, but you’re unable to make the site exactly how you want it because it’s a site builder. You’re limited to drag and drop. Plus, it can actually be harder to edit your site and create the pages you need.

Squarespace is also not as great for SEO. It has limited navigation options, and your blog posts will be less SEO-friendly. Squarespace just isn’t optimized for search engines. You also don’t have the option of plugins to guide you through the SEO process.

Like everything we’ve listed, Squarespace does take care of your hosting, but we’ve established why this is less than ideal, and Squarespace really makes you pay for it. Their most basic plan, which doesn’t let you do much, is $23/month or $192/year. Their most expensive plan, which also doesn’t let you do too much, is $65/month or $588/year.

I will say that Squarespace is an easier option for e-commerce sites, but WordPress does have e-commerce capability, and you can get more functionality for your shop through WordPress. But if you’re just e-commerce, Squarespace isn’t a bad option.

WordPress vs. Wix and Weebly

I’m lumping Wix and Weebly together because they’re pretty similar, and they’re both terrible. I firmly believe that Wix and Weebly are your absolute worst options when it comes to building your website. They have all the problems that Squarespace has, but they actually give you less functionality than Squarespace.

They’re free, but if you want your own custom domain, you have to pay. They’re expensive too. Their cheapest packages are $16/month for Wix and $10/month for Weebly. For Weebly, you have to upgrade beyond that too before they’ll even remove their ads from your site. Most importantly, you’re incredibly limited in what you can do with your site, and they’re not good for SEO.

Personally, I also find them difficult to use. It’s hard to customize your pages, and it can be way more frustrating to add blog posts and get them how you want. Above all, I recommend avoiding Wix and Weebly.

This is all to say, I truly believe that WordPress is the best option when it comes to building your website. If you don’t want to go through it all yourself, no worries! I can handle creating your website for you and teach you how to make updates. Reach out to me today!