Choosing The Right Website: Web Hosting, Ecommerce Platform Reviews & More

GoDaddy Website Builder vs. Weebly vs. Wix – they are the three most well-known website builders. I’ve written about them individually here, here and here. But how do they compare directly to each other?

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First, a bit of background. The process of building a website has changed radically since the early days of the Internet. Even though the core job of a website – HTML rendered in a browser – has not changed, the technology used to produce the HTML has. While you can still produce a website with nothing but a text-editor – most people choose a technology that makes the process of building and managing the website much easier and more accessible.

All-inclusive website builders have been particularly interesting. Companies like GoDaddy’s Website Builder, Weebly, and Wix have brought websites to everyone regardless of coding skills with their drag & drop and/or customizable templates.

There is a wide variety of website building solutions, and they all live on a spectrum with a tradeoff between control & convenience.

On the 100% control, but 0% convenience end – you have solutions like a text editor and server space that you purchase separately. It’s a bit akin to buying raw land to build your house for shelter.

On the 0% control, but 100% convenience end – you have solutions like Facebook and Twitter that provide no control (not even domain name control), but are highly convenient.

In the 50/50 middle – you have solutions like WordPress that live on your own server, but help you manage & build your website. It’s akin to buying a house that you own – you are responsible if anything breaks, but you can do really whatever you want.

Towards the convenience end, but with more control all live “hosted” website builders like Weebly, Wix, and GoDaddy’s Website Builder. They offer more convenience by bundling hosting, design, etc, but trade some control.

Using a website builder is sort of like leasing and customizing an apartment in a really classy development instead of buying and owning your own house. You’re still in control of decor, cleaning, and everything living-wise – but you leave the construction, plumbing, security, and infrastructure to the property owner. That point is key because there’s usually a direct tradeoff between convenience and control.

In the long-term, it affects your versatility, functionality, and, of course, your brand. In the short term, it can certainly add/take away a lot of headaches. That said, just like choosing a physical house or office, there is no such thing as an absolute “best” or “top” choice. There’s only such a thing as the right choice relative to your goals, experience, and circumstances.

GoDaddy Website Builder, Weebly, and Wix as a group compete with options like WordPress (which provides the free software to build a website that you own & control on your own hosting – see my WordPress setup guide here) all the way to options like typing actual HTML code into a text file.

*confusingly, GoDaddy also offers hosting, where you can install website software like WordPress. This comparison will focus on GoDaddy’s Website Builder that bundles hosting. You can find GoDaddy hosting alternatives here.

Make sense? Awesome, let’s dive into the comparison.

Skip to the Conclusion & Next Steps

Side note – if you want this comparison in a BuzzFeed-style quiz, you can take my website builder quiz here…

Otherwise, we’ll look specifically at pricing, onboarding/user experience, design features, technical features, marketing features, customer support & company structure. [Read more…] about GoDaddy Website Builder vs. Wix vs. Weebly: Website Builders Compared

Squarespace is one of the best known brands in the website building space. They do a ton of advertising with everything from podcasts to the Super Bowl and have a beautiful product with a long trusted history. I recently had a project that was a fit for a bundled website builder software. I gave Squarespace a try, along with several other brands. Here are my 5 pros, 5 cons, and full Squarespace review.

Skip to the Conclusion & Next Steps

Skip to: What Is Squarespace, Template Design, Backend Design, All-in-One Platform, Security & Data Export, Customer Support, Pricing, Advanced Marketing Tools, Extensions or Backend User Functionality.

But first, a bit of an overview. There are a lot of considerations that go into an choosing a website builder.

There are also a ton of options, tons of pricing – and really a thousand ways to get what you want in the end (aka for someone to type in a website address and see your information in their browser). Whether you are building a simple personal website or running a business, the way you build your site has a lot of consequences.

In the long-term, it affects your versatility, functionality, and, of course, your brand. In the short-term, it can certainly add/take away a lot of headaches. That said, just like choosing a physical house or office, there is no such thing as an absolute “best” or “top” choice. There’s only the right choice relative to your goals, experience, and circumstances.

What Is Squarespace?

On the wide spectrum of website building solutions, Squarespace lives on the end that is all-inclusive and provides everything you need to get started and grow your website. It contrasts with solutions where you buy, install, and manage all the “pieces” of your website separately.

Using Squarespace is sort of like leasing and customizing an apartment in a really classy development instead of buying and owning your own house. You’re still in control of decor, cleaning, and everything living-wise – but you leave the construction, plumbing, security, and infrastructure to the property owner. That point is key because there’s usually a direct tradeoff between convenience and control.

Everything may fit together just right with a website builder like Squarespace, but that may or may not be what you’re looking for.

As far as competition, Squarespace competes directly with all-inclusive website builders like Weebly, Wix, and WordPress.com.

Compared to their direct competition, they try to allow for more customization and code access. Squarespace tries to appeal to the non-developer customer AND the developer community. It’s a tough pitch to sell – but they try it.

Those options as a group compete with options like self-hosted WordPress (which provides the free software to build a website that you own & control – see my WordPress setup guide here) all the way to options like typing actual HTML code into a text file. Make sense? Awesome, let’s dive into the Squarespace review. [Read more…] about Squarespace Review: 5 Pros & 4 Cons of Using Squarespace

Google Sites is Google’s free website builder software that it offers as part of the G Suite of Drive, Email, Hangouts, etc.

Sites has never been highly publicized like its other products. I’ve always thought of Sites as part of the bucket of products like Drawing, Blogger, and Correlate that sort of come as part of other, well-known product lines but are otherwise forgotten about…yet still awesome in their own way.

If you have a Google Account, go check out Google Sites here.

I’ve written about Google’s Domains product and Blogger – but have never looked at Google Sites specifically.

My experience with Google Sites began back when I first started my web design business years and years ago. I never used Google Sites for my own projects until I came across it when a client of mine was using it and needed a few tasks done.

But since then, better competition has popped up from Wix, Squarespace, Weebly, WordPress.com  and other website builders. And Google has upgraded the product I originally used. They’ve streamlined it to make it supposedly the “effortless way to create beautiful sites.”

See Google Sites here…

Skip to the Conclusion & Next Steps

So for a personal project of mine, I decided to try it out again and see who the product would really be a good fit for – and not just compare it to other hosted website builders.

I also wanted to compare Google Sites to other website solutions like hosting your own website or using a hosted eCommerce platform. [Read more…] about Google Sites Review: Pros & Negatives of Using Google’s Website Builder

Weebly and WordPress are two of the most well-known brands in the website building industry. They are both excellent choices in general. But if you are comparing Weebly vs. WordPress – which is the best fit for your project?

See Weebly’s Current Plans & Pricing here

See WordPress.com’s Current Plans & Pricing here

See How To Setup & Self-Host WordPress here

Before we look at different tradeoffs between Weebly and WordPress, we have to define exactly what Weebly and WordPress are.

Weebly is an all-in-one “hosted website platform.” A hosted website platform is where all the components needed for a website come in a single bundle with a single monthly price.

Weebly provides the software to manage your website content; they provide the designs and functionality. They provide add-ons & extensions for unique functionality. And most importantly, they also provide the hosting (aka the server where your website files live) & security all in one price.

WordPress is technically free website software that you use to manage your website content, designs, and functionality. But it’s used in two different ways.

First, there’s self-hosted WordPress (aka “WordPress.org). It’s free, open-source, community-supported software that anyone can install on any server that meets minimum requirements. You pay for hosting, install WordPress and run your website how you like. I wrote a setup guide here.

Second, there’s WordPress.com. It’s a hosted platform service sold by the main corporate supporter of WordPress. With WordPress.com, you can get any website running a limited, hosted version of WordPress for free. You then pay for upgrades.

Yes – it’s confusing. I wrote a bit more about the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org here if you want to dig deeper.

But here’s an analogy that works –

Imagine you are looking for a place to live.

Weebly and WordPress.com are both like buying a condominium. You own everything inside your condo. You can do whatever you want inside. The condo association takes care of the water, electricity, security and structural issues. They even have furnished unit options. However, you also have to abide by condo association rules. You are limited by their structure and you have to pay extra HOA fees.

Self-hosted WordPress is like buying a house. You can do anything you want. There’s no rules or limitations. But you have to take care of everything (or hire someone to take care of it). It’s also as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be.

And FYI – this basic explanation is very similar to Squarespace vs. WordPress, Wix vs. WordPress – or even hosted eCommerce platforms like Shopify.

[Read more…] about Weebly vs. WordPress (Self-hosted .org & WordPress.com)

Squarespace and WordPress are two of the most recognizable brands in the website building industry. They are both excellent choices in general. But if you are comparing Squarespace vs. WordPress – which is the best fit for your project?

See Squarespace’s Current Plans & Pricing here

See WordPress.com’s Current Plans & Pricing here

See How To Setup & Self-Host WordPress here

Before we look at different considerations between Squarespace and WordPress, we have to define exactly what Squarespace and WordPress are.

Squarespace is an all-in-one “hosted website platform.” A hosted website platform is where all the components needed for a website come in a single bundle with a single monthly price.

Squarespace provides the software to manage your website content; they provide the designs and functionality. And most importantly, they also provide the hosting (aka the server where your website files live) all in one price.

WordPress is technically free website software that you manage your website content, designs and functionality. But it’s used in two different ways.

First, there’s self-hosted WordPress (aka “WordPress.org). It’s free, open-source, community-supported software that anyone can install on any server that meets minimum requirements. You pay for hosting, install WordPress, and run your website how you like. I wrote a setup guide here.

Second, there’s WordPress.com. It’s a hosted platform service sold by the main corporate supporter of WordPress. With WordPress.com, you can get any website running a limited, hosted version of WordPress for free. You then pay for upgrades.

Yes – it’s confusing. I wrote a bit more about the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org here if you want to dig deeper.

But here’s an analogy that works –

Imagine you are looking for a place to live.

Squarespace and WordPress.com are both like buying a condominium. You own everything inside your condo. You can do whatever you want inside. The condo association takes care of the water, electricity, security, and structural issues. They even have furnished unit options. However, you also have to abide by condo association rules. You are limited by their structure and you have to pay extra HOA fees.

Self-hosted WordPress is like buying a house. You can do anything you want. There’s no rules or limitations. But you have to take care of everything (or hire someone to take care of it). It’s also as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be. [Read more…] about Squarespace vs. WordPress (Self-hosted .org & WordPress.com)

Blogger is the grand old man of Internet publishing. In fact, they arguably started the whole “everyone should have a voice online” ideal. Evan Williams started the company way back in the 1990s.

After Evan Williams sold Blogger to Google, he went on to found both Twitter and Medium – both pillars of Internet publishing in their own right. Additionally, it was Matt Mullenweg’s dissatisfaction with Blogger that led him to create the first version of WordPress back in the early 2000s.

All that to say – Blogger is an Internet standby. In fact, it’s such a standby that it gets unfairly disregarded for many web projects simply due to its age.

I recently gave Blogger a try for a small project, along with several other website builders. I tried to approach Blogger not as the platform that had my first blog back in 2004, but as a serious platform that might be a good fit for someone’s web project today, post-2017.

Check out Blogger here.

Skip to the Conclusion & Next Steps

But first, a bit of an overview on website builders in general. Whether you go drag and drop builder, an installed Content Management System (CMS), or hand-coded HTML files, there are a lot of considerations that go into building a website and/or blog.

In the end, you really want someone to type in a website address and see your information, presented well with the right functionality in their browser. Whether you are building a simple personal blog or running a business, the way you build your site determines a lot both long-term and short-term.

In the long-term, the tools you use to set up your website affects your versatility, functionality, and, of course, your brand. In the short-term, it can add/take away a lot of headaches. In fact, one of the most common headaches is moving a successful blog off Blogger. That said,  like choosing a physical house or office, there is no such thing as an absolute “best” or “top” choice. There’s only the right choice relative to your goals, experience, and circumstances.

What Is Blogger?

Blogger is Google’s blog-focused platform that focuses on accessibility, ease of use, and free for the price. Blogger made blogging a thing you do on the Internet back in the day, and still appeals to people looking to publish their words on the open Web rather than “closed garden” social media sites.

On the wide spectrum of website building solutions, Blogger lives on the end that is all-inclusive and provides everything you need to get started and grow your website. It’s in contrast to solutions where you buy, install, and manage all the “pieces” of your website separately.

It’s like trading off some control for more convenience.

Using Blogger is like leasing and customizing an apartment in a nice development instead of buying and owning your own house. You’re still in control of decor, cleaning, and everything living-wise – but you leave the construction, plumbing, security, and infrastructure to the property owner. That point is key because there’s usually a direct tradeoff between convenience and control.

All the functionality and design that are included with Blogger work seamlessly together as a platform. That’s what allows them to have drag and drop design, layout, and content.

One note about Blogger is that it focuses 100% on blogging – ie, reverse-chronological publishing of posts. It has very little in terms of content management (as I’ll mention in the cons section). Google has a product called Google Sites that focuses on static websites.

As far as competition, Blogger competes directly with all-inclusive website builders like Weebly and WordPress.com in addition to pure-play blog/social networks platforms like Medium and Tumblr.

Website builders as a group compete with options like WordPress.org (which provides the free software to build a website that you own & control – see my WordPress setup guide here) all the way to options like typing actual HTML code into a text file. Make sense? Awesome, let’s dive into the Blogger review. [Read more…] about Blogger Review: Pros & Cons of Using Blogger (aka Blogspot)

Wix and WordPress are two of the most well-known brands (and oldest) in the website building industry. They are both useful in their own ways. But if you are comparing Wix vs. WordPress – which is the best fit for your project?

See Wix’s Current Plans & Pricing here

See WordPress.com’s Current Plans & Pricing here

See How To Setup & Self-Host WordPress here

Before we look at different tradeoffs between Wix and WordPress, we have to define exactly what Wix and WordPress are.

Already got the background? Skip to the Conclusion & Next Steps.

Wix is an all-in-one “hosted website platform.” A hosted website platform is where all the components needed for a website come in a single bundle with a single monthly price.

Wix provides the software to manage your website content; they provide the designs and functionality. They are most well-known for their drag and drop builder. They provide add-ons & extensions for unique functionality. And most importantly, they also provide the hosting (aka the server where your website files live) & security all in one price. See Wix plans here.

WordPress is technically free website software that you manage your website content, designs and functionality. But it’s used in two different ways.

First, there’s self-hosted WordPress (aka “WordPress.org). It’s free, open-source, community-supported software that anyone can install on any server that meets minimum requirements. You pay for hosting, install WordPress and run your website how you like. I wrote a setup guide here.

Second, there’s WordPress.com. It’s a hosted platform service sold by the main corporate supporter of WordPress. With WordPress.com, you can get any website running a hosted version of WordPress for free. You then pay for upgrades. See WordPress.com’s plans here.

Yes – it’s confusing. I wrote a bit more about the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org here if you want to dig deeper.

But here’s an analogy that works –

Imagine you are looking for a place to live.

Wix and WordPress.com are both like buying a condominium. You own everything inside your condo. You can do whatever you want inside. The condo association takes care of the water, electricity, security and structural issues. They even have furnished unit options. However, you also have to abide by condo association rules. You are limited by their structure and you have to pay extra HOA fees.

Self-hosted WordPress is like buying a house. You can do anything you want. There’s no rules or limitations. But you have to take care of everything (or hire someone to take care of it). It’s also as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be.

And FYI – this basic explanation is very similar to Squarespace vs. WordPress, Weebly vs. WordPress – or even hosted eCommerce platforms like Shopify.
[Read more…] about Wix vs. WordPress (Self-hosted .org & WordPress.com)