You are planning to create a website, but you’re unsure where to start? Or perhaps you’re having trouble deciding on the most suitable web solution for your website? First and foremost, we congratulate and support your decision to create a website. Having a website is almost essential today for businesses looking to reach a global audience, sell their services, attract new customers, and more.
It’s important to know that there are various types of web solutions available, so you need to choose one that fits your needs. Each web solution for creating your website has its own advantages and disadvantages. This is the most critical step in the process of building your website. There are two main categories of web solutions for your site: non-hosted centralized solutions and hosted solutions.
When building a website for your small business, it’s essential to choose the best web hosting service, domain name, and website builder to ensure the best website that represents your brand, with a top-notch web design and the expertise of a skilled web designer, offering a seamless web development experience. Website design is one of the most important things, because it’s the first impression your customers get about your business.
1-Non-hosted web solutions
With these solutions, you will likely have to pay monthly fees as long as you want your website to be online. Here are some examples of these solutions:
WordPress
WordPress is a free, open-source content management system (CMS) that can be used to create and manage various types of websites, including business websites, online stores, blogs, portfolios, and more.
Wix
Wix is an online platform that allows you to create HTML5 websites with ease.
Squarespace
Squarespace is a web content management software that operates as a SaaS platform. It offers integrated website building, blogging, hosting, e-commerce capabilities, and domain registration.
Weebly
Weebly enables you to create and manage websites, blogs, online stores, and more with a user-friendly drag-and-drop system.
Jimdo
Jimdo is a web content management system that allows you to create websites, blogs, and e-commerce sites without prior development knowledge.
These web solutions work on a similar principle. They allow you to create a website easily without needing to be a developer.
It can be done in minutes with just a few clicks and inputs, as they provide templates and a visual editor for customization, often referred to as a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) builder.
The main drawback of these non-hosted web solutions is their limited extensibility. If you want to add specific functionalities, they must be supported by the chosen solution.
Each of the examples mentioned above has its own advantages and disadvantages based on their respective features.
Think of these non-hosted solutions as intermediaries because you are essentially paying for a tool that helps you create a website, not for a website itself.
2-Hosted web solutions
A hosted solution is a website that you need to host on the web yourself. Web hosting involves keeping a computer (called a server) running 24/7 with your website on it. Within hosted solutions, you can opt for a custom-built website or one based on a template.
Custom-built website
With this approach, you develop your website based on a design specifically created for you. You can fine-tune every detail, down to the pixel. The main advantage is its flexibility and modularity.
As you own the web code, you can add and remove features as you see fit. The main drawback is the cost, as you will need the assistance of a web developer or a web agency.
Template-based website
This solution is similar to the custom-built approach, but you start from an existing website template. The main advantage is that you have access to the website’s code, which can make it easier and more extensible, especially if you’re a developer.
The main drawback is that you may encounter surprises during template installation, which can sometimes be more time-consuming than expected.
Here’s an example illustrating the difference between a custom-built solution and a template-based solution:
Imagine you want to buy a house, and you have two options:
- Buy a pre-built house.
- Buy an empty plot, hire an architect for a plan, contractors, materials, and so on.
Example 1 corresponds to creating a website using a template, while example 2 corresponds to creating a custom-built website.
In summary:
- A non-hosted solution requires you to choose from existing solutions on the market. You’ll also need to be comfortable with ongoing fees for the life of your website. Depending on your needs, you may have limitations, so make sure to choose a solution that suits you.
- A hosted solution makes you the owner of your website’s code, and you only pay annual hosting fees to your provider.
What to do when your website is online?
Now that your website is online, it’s essential to promote it effectively, as simply having a website won’t guarantee visibility or profitability. You’ll need a solid online marketing strategy to make your site known to people. This can involve paid advertising (PPC – Pay-Per-Click), which is common for online stores.
Paid advertising means spending money to appear in the top search results on search engines. You can also advertise your website on social media platforms, gaining visibility and attracting new customers. Advertising costs can vary, including CPC (Cost-Per-Click), CPA (Cost-Per-Acquisition), and CPM (Cost-Per-Thousand-Impressions).
In addition to advertising, you must focus on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for your website. SEO comprises various elements that improve your online store’s visibility by enhancing its ranking on search engines. SEO can help you achieve better long-term positioning on search engines compared to short-term advertising campaigns.
Conclusion
Given that creating a website requires knowledge and investment, we invite you to request a free consultation from our Montreal-based SEO web agency. We provide comprehensive web and digital marketing solutions in one place.
Our team of developers can assist you in creating custom online stores or template-based websites. Additionally, we can help you set up non-hosted solutions.
Our online marketing experts are ready to offer you a complete, free analysis of your website, valued at $499.
If you have any questions or additional comments regarding this article, please feel free to leave them below.
