First Impressions Matter

A website is often the first opportunity for engagement by a business to its desired audience. A website delivers the first impression to customers and first impressions matter. In today’s business world, a company’s website provides several services for the customer that are self-serve and do not require employee interactions. Having a compelling web presence that is also useful to prospective customers is the goal.

What is WordPress?

WordPress powers roughly 40% of all websites on the internet. Think about that statistic for a moment and be amazed. That is an enormous number of websites utilizing the same platform. There is power in numbers. WordPress is known as a content management system (CMS). A CMS gives the operator of a website a high level of control over the content being written and curated. WordPress is highly customizable and places an enormous amount of power in the hands of the operator. The downside is that WordPress does have a learning curve. Because WordPress is so extensible, there are various options available that require expertise for best use. That being said, WordPress does have an excellent reputation for stability and security. In addition, the WordPress software is free to use because it is open source. There is a cost for hosting and other addons; however these fees are typically small.

What are Wix and Squarespace?

Wix and Squarespace are very similar to each other. Both provide a complete solution for a basic web presence that is usually affordable to the casual user. The trade-off with the lower cost is a limited set of features and functionality with limited options for customization and modification. Typically, a user has a series of templates that can be chosen and then once installed, the template is modified using an editor that is provided by the Wix and Squarespace software.

Which solution is the best?

Deciding on which platform to use depends on the end-user goals and requirements. For example, for small business owners with a limited budget and no background knowledge in technology and computers, then Wix and Squarespace solutions would most likely be best. However, if the small business owner required a website that needed e-commerce or transactional capabilities, the Squarespace and Wix solutions would be very limited. In contrast, the WordPress platform can easily power and provide a comprehensive solution for small, medium, and large businesses but the overall cost of ownership is larger and requires expertise.