How to Choose the Best Web Platform for Your Business: A Comprehensive Guide

Written By Trecia Warnholz

In today's digital landscape, selecting the appropriate web platform for your business is a critical decision that can significantly impact your online presence and growth. While WordPress has long been the go-to solution, the evolving needs of businesses and advancements in technology have opened up new possibilities. Let's explore how companies can make an informed decision when choosing a web platform that aligns with their current needs and future growth.

The Changing Landscape of Web Platforms

WordPress continues to dominate the web development scene, powering 43.5% of all websites worldwide. However, platforms like Wix, Squarespace, and Shopify have made significant strides in recent years, offering compelling alternatives for businesses of all sizes.

Key Factors to Consider

1. Ease of Use

For small teams or non-technical users, the learning curve associated with a platform is a critical factor. While WordPress offers extensive customization, it often requires technical knowledge or reliance on developers.

Alternatives: Wix and Squarespace have intuitive drag-and-drop interfaces that allow users to create professional-looking websites without coding knowledge. Wix, for example, is used by over 8 million websites globally.

2. Scalability

As businesses grow, their web presence needs to evolve. WordPress's open-source nature and vast plugin ecosystem make it highly scalable, which is why it powers 25.33% of the top 10,000 websites by traffic.

Alternatives: Platforms like Squarespace and Wix have improved their scalability, offering features like e-commerce integration and marketing tools that grow with your business. Squarespace, for instance, is used by 1.49% of the top 10,000 websites.

3. Customization and Flexibility

WordPress's extensive theme and plugin options provide unparalleled customization capabilities, which is one reason why it has grown its market share from 58.8% in 2016 to 63.7% in 2023.

Alternatives: While not as extensive as WordPress, platforms like Wix offer increasing levels of customization through app marketplaces and design flexibility. Wix's market share has grown by 800% between 2016 and 2023.

4. E-commerce Capabilities

For businesses looking to sell online, e-commerce functionality is crucial. In the e-commerce space, the market is more evenly distributed:

  • Shopify: 26% market share

  • WooCommerce (WordPress): 19% market share

  • Wix Stores: 16% market share

  • Squarespace: 11% market share

5. Cost Considerations

When evaluating platforms, consider both initial and ongoing costs. WordPress is free, but hosting, premium themes, and plugins can add up.

Alternatives: Wix and Squarespace offer all-in-one solutions with predictable monthly costs, which can be more manageable for small businesses. Squarespace's pricing plans start at $16 per month.

Platform Comparison

Making the Right Choice

To determine the best platform for your business:

  1. Assess Your Technical Expertise: If you lack technical skills, user-friendly platforms like Wix or Squarespace may be more suitable. Wix is used by 4.2% of websites with a known CMS, while Squarespace is used by 3.1%.

  2. Consider Your Growth Plans: For businesses anticipating rapid growth or complex future needs, WordPress's scalability might be advantageous. It powers 21.75% of the top 1 million sites based on traffic.

  3. Evaluate Your Budget: Factor in both immediate costs and long-term expenses associated with each platform. Squarespace's pricing starts higher than some alternatives but includes more features out of the box.

  4. Analyze Your Specific Needs: Consider features critical to your business, such as e-commerce capabilities, blogging tools, or specific integrations.

The key is to align your choice with your current capabilities, future goals, and specific business requirements.

While WordPress remains a powerful and flexible option, it's no longer the default choice for every business. Platforms like Wix, Squarespace, and Shopify have evolved to offer robust solutions that cater to a wide range of business needs, often with a gentler learning curve.

The key is to align your choice with your current capabilities, future goals, and specific business requirements. By carefully considering these factors, you can select a web platform that not only meets your immediate needs but also supports your long-term digital strategy.

Remember, the best platform is the one that empowers you to create and manage an effective online presence without becoming a bottleneck to your business growth. Whether you choose WordPress for its extensive customization, Wix for its user-friendliness, or Squarespace for its design-centric approach, ensure your decision is based on a thorough evaluation of your unique business needs and goals.

Talking SEO: How do the SEO capabilities of Wix and Squarespace compare to WordPress

WordPress is typically considered the best option for advanced SEO needs and customization, while Wix and Squarespace can be suitable for basic SEO requirements and users who prioritize ease of use. The best choice depends on your specific needs, technical expertise, and growth plans for your website. Let’s explore some key points below:

WordPress

WordPress is generally considered to have the strongest and most flexible SEO capabilities:

  • Offers more control and customization options for SEO

  • Has a large ecosystem of SEO plugins and tools available

  • Allows full control over technical SEO elements like robots.txt, XML sitemaps, and canonicalization

  • 45.5% of WordPress sites get some monthly organic traffic, compared to only 15.1% of Squarespace sites

  • More powerful and flexible for advanced SEO and marketing needs

Wix

Wix has improved its SEO capabilities significantly in recent years:

  • Provides built-in SEO tools and an SEO Wiz app for optimization

  • Allows customization of meta tags, alt text, and other basic on-page SEO elements

  • Automatically generates XML sitemaps

  • Offers mobile-friendly templates

  • Good for basic SEO needs, but less flexible for advanced optimization

Squarespace

Squarespace falls somewhere between WordPress and Wix in terms of SEO capabilities:

  • Has some built-in SEO tools, but not as extensive as Wix or WordPress

  • Offers features like auto-generated meta tags, sitemaps, and clean URLs

  • Provides mobile optimization and SSL certification

  • Has limitations in technical SEO customization compared to WordPress

Key differences:

  1. Customization: WordPress offers the most flexibility and control over SEO elements, while Wix and Squarespace have more limitations.

  2. Ease of use: Wix and Squarespace are generally easier to use for basic SEO tasks, while WordPress has a steeper learning curve but offers more advanced capabilities.

  3. Performance: WordPress performance can vary depending on hosting and configuration, while Wix and Squarespace handle some optimization aspects automatically.

  4. Traffic potential: Studies have shown that WordPress sites tend to receive more organic traffic on average compared to Wix and Squarespace sites.

    • Limited advanced SEO control:

      • Wix lacks some advanced SEO features and customization options that more technical platforms offer.

      • It's difficult to edit the auto-generated sitemap.

      • There are limitations in customizing URL structures fully.

    • Speed and performance issues:

      • Wix sites tend to load slower compared to custom-coded sites or other platforms.

      • The platform generates code bloat from unused features, which can impact site speed.

    • Restricted customization:

      • Wix has a more rigid framework that limits advanced SEO techniques.

      • It's difficult to add custom code or modify existing code for SEO purposes.

    • Link structure problems:

      • Wix uses a strange link structure with hashtags (#) served via JavaScript, making it harder for search engines to crawl and index pages.

    • Image optimization limitations:

      • Wix generates cryptic file names for images (e.g., 09a0ab7~mv2.jpg), which is not ideal for ranking in Google Images.

    • Multilingual support issues:

      • There's less-than-ideal support for multilingual websites, including limited control over URLs for different language versions.

    • Reliance on built-in tools:

      • While Wix offers built-in SEO tools, they may not be as comprehensive as dedicated SEO plugins available for platforms like WordPress.

    • Technical SEO constraints:

      • Some technical SEO optimizations that advanced users might want to implement are not possible or are very limited on Wix.

    While Wix has improved its SEO capabilities significantly in recent years and is suitable for basic SEO needs, it still has limitations for users requiring more advanced or technical SEO optimizations. For most small business owners or those with basic SEO requirements, Wix can be sufficient. However, for websites needing extensive SEO customization or technical optimizations, platforms like WordPress may offer more flexibility and control.

    • Limited customization and access to code:

      • Squarespace restricts access to the underlying code, making it difficult for advanced users to implement custom SEO tweaks or add custom scripts.

      • There's limited ability to modify technical SEO elements like robots.txt files.

    • Lack of advanced SEO plugins:

      • Unlike WordPress, Squarespace doesn't support advanced SEO plugins like Yoast SEO or All in One SEO Pack.

      • This limits access to comprehensive SEO analysis, keyword optimization suggestions, and advanced XML sitemap management.

    • Inflexible template designs:

      • Squarespace templates can be difficult to modify for specific SEO needs without extensive workarounds.

      • This can limit optimization of on-page elements like header tags and custom URL structures.

    • Limited blog post SEO options:

      • Squarespace doesn't allow custom meta titles and descriptions for blog posts.

      • It uses excerpts as meta descriptions for posts, with no option to set custom meta titles.

    • Multilingual SEO challenges:

      • Squarespace lacks native support for multilingual websites, complicating international SEO efforts.

    • Page speed optimization issues:

      • Squarespace sites can have performance issues that impact SEO, especially for larger sites.

    • Limited integration with third-party SEO tools:

      • It can be challenging to integrate advanced SEO tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs for in-depth analysis.

    • Heading structure limitations:

      • The visual style of headings is tied to HTML tags, making it difficult to optimize heading structure without altering design.

    • E-commerce SEO limitations:

      • Squarespace has limited e-commerce SEO features compared to more specialized platforms.

    • URL structure issues:

      • Squarespace's automatic URL generation can sometimes result in less optimized URLs.

    While Squarespace offers good basic SEO features, these limitations can be challenging for users needing more advanced or customized SEO strategies. However, for many small to medium-sized websites, Squarespace's built-in SEO capabilities are often sufficient.

  • WordPress SEO plugins generally offer more comprehensive and customizable SEO capabilities compared to the built-in features of Wix and Squarespace. However, for users with basic SEO needs or those prioritizing ease of use, the built-in features of Wix and Squarespace may be sufficient. Let’s explore below:

    WordPress SEO Plugins:

    1. Offer more advanced and customizable SEO capabilities

    2. Popular options include Yoast SEO, Rank Math, and SEOPress

    3. Provide extensive control over technical SEO elements

    4. Allow bulk editing of SEO metadata

    5. Offer content analysis and optimization suggestions

    6. Enable customization of XML sitemaps, robots.txt, and canonical URLs

    7. Provide schema markup options

    8. Allow integration with Google Search Console and other SEO tools

    Wix Built-in SEO Features:

    1. Includes an SEO Wiz tool for guided optimization

    2. Allows customization of meta tags, alt text, and URL slugs

    3. Automatically generates XML sitemaps

    4. Offers mobile-friendly templates

    5. Provides some basic on-page SEO tools

    6. Limited in advanced technical SEO customizations

    Squarespace Built-in SEO Features:

    1. Offers built-in SEO tools for basic optimization

    2. Allows customization of meta descriptions and titles

    3. Provides clean URL structures

    4. Automatically generates sitemaps

    5. Includes SSL certification and mobile optimization

    6. Has some limitations in technical SEO customization

    Key differences:

    1. Customization: WordPress plugins offer significantly more flexibility and control over SEO elements compared to the built-in features of Wix and Squarespace.

    2. Advanced features: WordPress plugins typically provide more advanced SEO capabilities, such as content analysis, keyword optimization, and schema markup.

    3. Technical SEO: WordPress allows for more in-depth technical SEO optimizations that may not be possible with Wix or Squarespace.

    4. Learning curve: While WordPress plugins offer more features, they may require more technical knowledge to use effectively. Wix and Squarespace's built-in tools are generally more user-friendly for beginners.

    5. Updates and improvements: WordPress plugins are frequently updated and improved by their developers, while Wix and Squarespace's SEO features are updated less frequently.

Good Reads:

Trecia Warnholz https://treciawarnholz.org
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