WordPress
There are two different versions of WordPress, Hosted WordPress and Self-Hosted WordPress. For this guide, I will use the Self-Hosted WordPress version for comparison.
What is WordPress?
WordPress is an open-source software, meaning that the source code is free and available to be viewed, modified, enhanced and distributed. Websites built with WordPress can be customized to a huge degree. With the right plugins and technical know how, it can be adapted to meet the requirements of most web design projects.
What is Needed to Build a WordPress Website?
Although WordPress is free to download and install, a hosting provider and domain registration is required for your website to be accessible over the internet. The cost for hosting and domains are minimal, you just have to do some research to find out which hosting provider is best for your website needs. If you hire a website designer/developer, they will typically have a hosting provider they prefer to use. If you are creating your website yourself, here are a few providers that I prefer based on the price, customer service, uptime/performance, ease of use and features such as free SSL certificate, multiple emails allowance and hosting package options.
- Bluehost
- HostGator
- A2Hosting
Why Choose WordPress?
Even with limited technical knowledge, WordPress is a good choice for blog websites, portfolio websites and informational/educational websites. There are a slew of themes, both free and premium, as well as plugins and website builders that can be used to create a simple website to fit your needs. Once you get into ecommerce, membership or for medium to large business websites, you will definitely want to hire a website designer/developer. Also, if you would like a bespoke website that is created to fit your brand, message and business needs, you will want to hire a website designer/developer. The WordPress platform gives you complete control over which hosting provider you choose. If for some reason you decide you don’t like your current hosting provider, you can always move your website to another one. There are many tutorials on the internet that can provide you step by step instructions on how to go about moving your website from one hosting company to another.
Why Not Choose WordPress?
WordPress has a steep learning curve for those who want to customize the website beyond what the themes provide. However, if you choose not to customize your chosen theme beyond what is provided, you risk the chance of creating a website that is not unique to your brand and may look like many websites that choose the same theme. When adding more functionality such as ecommerce, membership access, booking feature, etc… it requires you to add additional plugins which also requires some technical knowledge and may be available for a price. There are many free plugins you can choose from but it will take time, trial and error to find the right one that will fit your needs. Updates, backups, security and technical issues are your responsibility. However, the hosting providers I listed above provide excellent customer support which you can contact when you do run into issues that are beyond your scope of knowledge.
Shopify
If you want to build an online store and are not technically savvy and do not have the budget to hire a website designer to build your store, then Shopify would be a good choice. The Shopify platform allows you to create an online store without coding and it doesn’t require a huge upfront investment.
What is Shopify?
Shopify is an all-inclusive online selling platform with a monthly subscription fee. It is considered a hosted solution, which means that the hosting of your website is provided by Shopify. There are different levels of Shopify that you can choose from based on your business requirements. In contrast to WordPress, Shopify is specifically for creating an online store.
What is Needed to Build a Shopify Website?
Because Shopify is a hosted platform, you don’t have to worry about finding a hosting provider for your web store. The monthly subscription fee includes the cost of hosting. However you will have to register your domain which is a yearly cost. Just like WordPress, there are a slew of themes and apps to choose from both free and paid that you can use to customize your store.
Why Choose Shopify?
Shopify is easy to use with a very slight learning curve. The interface is a drag and drop builder which requires little to no extensive experience or technical know-how to build and update your website. Everything you need to get started is already included in the framework. Ecommerce, a place to add your refund policy, shipping policy, taxes, marketing capability, social media interfaces, etc.., are all included without having to add any additional apps. SSL/TLS certificates for your website are also provided in the Shopify platform.
Why Not Choose Shopify?
Because Shopify is specific to online merchants, creating website pages beyond the homepage, product pages, contact us and about us pages will require coding. The Shopify website builder out of the box, is only for the homepage. If you want to create additional web pages or even to make the above mentioned pages look nice, you will have to do some coding. In addition, the free theme options are very limited and the premium themes can be costly. If you choose a free theme you will have to either hire a website designer to customize it for your brand or you will have to know some code such as CSS or HTML to customize it yourself. One thing that my Shopify clients always state when hiring me is that they want me to make their Shopify store look ‘Pretty’ and that they don’t want it to look like other stores. Another disadvantage to using Shopify or any hosted platform, is if Shopify ever goes away (which is very unlikely anytime soon), your website will go down as well and you will have to start over and find another solution.
So to summarize and to answer the question, when to choose WordPress or Shopify.
Choose WordPress if:
- You consider yourself tech savvy
- You require a complex website with alot of features and functionality
- Your website is for informational, educational purposes, a blog, a portfolio, membership site
- You want complete control over hosting, security, backups and updates
- You know how to code in CSS, HTML and even PHP
- You require multi level page navigation
Choose Shopify if:
- You don’t need advanced features and functionality
- You are not tech savvy
- You want a platform that is easy to use
- You are ok with paying the monthly subscription fee
- You are ok with having only a web store with no multi level navigation
- You don’t want to worry about security, backups, hosting or updates
These are just a few of the features and benefits of each platform compared. As a website designer/developer I have created websites for clients on both of the platforms. If you are having trouble choosing which platform to use to build your website, Get In Contact and we can chat. If you have chosen a platform and would like to hire us to create a customized website for your brand, Get In Contact as well.
Please let us know your thoughts/comments below.