“Which platform should we use?” is one of the first questions a business asks about a new website. It’s also one where the internet will give you a thousand confident, contradictory answers, usually from people who sell one of the options. Choosing a website platform is simpler once you know what to ask.
The honest answer is that it depends on what you need the site to do, who will look after it, and how much you expect it to change. Here’s a practical way to think it through.
The main options in brief
This is a simplification, and every website platform changes over time, so check current features and pricing before you commit.
WordPress
The open source version of WordPress, installed on your own hosting, powers a huge share of the web. It’s flexible, has a vast range of themes and plugins, and you own your site outright. The trade-off is responsibility: someone needs to keep it updated, secure and backed up. Built well, it suits most service businesses, content-heavy sites and many shops (using WooCommerce). Built badly, it can become slow and fragile.
Shopify
Shopify is a hosted e-commerce platform. It handles hosting, security and payments for you, and it’s designed around selling products. It’s a strong choice for businesses where online sales are the main point of the site. You pay a monthly subscription, and some features come from paid apps, so costs can build up.
Hosted website builders
Tools such as Squarespace and Wix let you build and host a site in one place with drag and drop editing. They can be a sensible choice for small, simple sites where the owner wants to make changes themselves. They’re usually less flexible when you want something unusual, and moving away from them later often means rebuilding.
Custom builds
For complex requirements, such as a web application, unusual integrations or very high traffic, a custom built site may be the right answer. It costs more and needs a developer for changes, but it does exactly what you need.
The questions that decide your website platform
- What is the site’s main job? Generating enquiries, publishing content and selling products each point in different directions.
- Who will update it, and how often? If you’ll change it daily yourself, ease of editing matters a lot. If a designer will make occasional changes, flexibility matters more.
- What does it need to connect to? Booking systems, CRMs, stock management and accounting software. Check the integrations exist and work properly.
- How much will it grow? A five-page site may become fifty pages, or a small shop may need thousands of products. Pick something that won’t box you in.
- Who owns what? Make sure you own your domain, your content and your admin logins, whichever platform you choose.
- What’s the total cost over three years? Include subscriptions, apps, hosting, maintenance and the cost of your own time.
The best website platform is the one that fits how your business actually works, not the one with the longest feature list.
Common mistakes
- Choosing on the cheapest monthly price. A low subscription can hide costs in apps, transaction fees or your time.
- Choosing what a friend uses. Their business isn’t yours.
- Underestimating maintenance. Self-hosted platforms need regular updates. Hosted platforms need less, but you’re tied to their rules.
- Forgetting about moving later. Ask how easy it would be to export your content if you ever change platform.
- Letting a designer choose purely on what they know. It’s fair for them to have a preference, but they should explain why it suits you.
A rough rule of thumb
If you mainly sell products online, a platform built for e-commerce is usually the place to start. If you’re a service business that wants flexibility and room to grow, a well built WordPress site is often a good fit. If you want a small, simple site you’ll edit yourself and you’re happy with the limits, a hosted builder can work. If none of those fit, talk to someone about a custom build.
Treat that as a starting point for choosing a website platform, not a rule. There are good exceptions in every direction.
Your next step
Write down your answers to the six questions above before you speak to anyone. It’ll make any recommendation easier to judge. Our website design and development team works across several platforms and will explain the reasoning behind any suggestion, and if selling online is the priority, see our e-commerce websites page.
