Is your business website running on Wix, Squarespace or Weebly?

It’s time to get serious, and consider using a different platform instead. A content management system that 29% of Internet websites are built with….WordPress. I don’t mean wordpress.com (which is still a closed system), but wordpress.org. Some people say that using other platforms instead of WordPress is because of the page builders that they come with, making it easy to edit. However, what many people who choose those platforms don’t realise is that page builders are already available in WordPress, like PageBuilder or Visual Composer.

Portability

Have you tried to move your Squarespace, Wix or Weebly website to another web host? Well, let me tell you it is a web designer’s nightmare to transfer content away from these platforms. Your content is effectively locked into that platform and more importantly you actually don’t own the content. Content ownership is a real issue with these platforms.

Content ownership

Another aspect is content ownership. With a WordPress site you are completely in control and have ownership of the site. That means any photos you add are yours to keep there. The text content is yours, and so on. You also have the right and capability to move the site to any hosting company of your choosing. It’s 100% up to you.

Many other platforms say that you (the site owner) own the content, but they have the right to take a site down, remove content, etc. And there is a lock-in effect, as it’s extremely difficult to leave closed platforms. You also get bombarded with company advertising or platform self-promotion. Looks cheap and unprofessional, just like a hotmail or gmail email address for your business (don’t do it).

Functionality

WordPress offers thousands of plug-ins for your website to drive limitless features. Most are free and you have a choice to upgrade them to a “pro” version if you wish to get even more features. Changing themes in WordPress is also easy.

The only aspect of WordPress that I would advise with caution is that you must keep your version of WordPress and your plug-ins UP TO DATE. Failure to do so will leave your website and server open to security threats and vulnerability. This was a big factor why I haven’t jumped on the WordPress band wagon earlier. Now with these security features in place and sorted, the only platform I use these days for web design and development is WordPress.

So, whether you have the time or knowledge to build a website yourself, or you would rather have a professional build it for you, WordPress is the only answer.