What's the Best Platform to Build Your Website?

Quiz Questions

• 1.
  What is the PRIMARY goal of your website?

  Image Source

  • A.
    I want to promote my business or organization.
  • B.
    I'm focused on selling products (goods that need to be shipped).
  • C.
    I want to start a blog.
  • D.
    I'm excited about showcasing a portfolio of my work.
• 2.
  What are your technical skills?

  Image Source

  • A.
    Honestly, I hate technology. 
  • B.
    I'm fairly confident. I can Facebook and do simple things online but I'm not excited about it.
  • C.
    I'm a tech junkie! I'm always trying new apps and like learning how things work online.
  • D.
    I'm fluent in technology and might even have dug into a bit of coding myself.
• 3.
  How comfortable are you investing in your website's design?

  Image Source

  • A.
    I'm ready to get strategic with my site and possibly even commit to ongoing maintenance or advice.
  • B.
    I'm serious about this process and am ready to commit to professional design but I'm hoping to do all or most of the maintenance and updates myself.
  • C.
    I'm ready to work with a pro to get set up but my budget is limited.
  • D.
    I'm on a tight budget–DIYing my website appeals to me, even if it means I may have to use a template or not get everything on my wishlist.
• 4.
  Websites often also have ongoing costs, like hosting and premium addons. What's your comfort level with this?

  Image Source

  • A.
    Obviously budgets are important but I'm confident that investing in add-ons and quality hosting will pay for itself in the long run.
  • B.
    I'm okay spending $25-$35/month if it's a good value.
  • C.
    I have budgeted for my hosting and domain name, but I'd like to keep my costs under $25/month.
  • D.
    I want to keep my costs as low as possible, no more than $15/month or may be even free(ish).
• 5.
  How important is a visual content editor to you? This means "what you see is what you get" tool when you add content to your site.

  Image Source

  • A.
    It would be nice to have, but specialized features are more important.
  • B.
    I'm okay either way. Editing the blog is important but I don't anticipate lots of changes beyond that.
  • C.
    I'm going to be focused on adding products, but not much else.
  • D.
    This is a deal-breaker. I plan on adding new content myself and need a visual editor to do so.
• 6.
  How important is complex organization of your website? For example, do you need "breadcrumbs" for your navigation or sub-categories for your blog posts?

  Image Source

  • A.
    I honestly have never thought about it.
  • B.
    It's not really important, my site won't have a deep structure.
  • C.
    It would be nice in the future, but it's not an immediate need.
  • D.
    This is absolutely essential–my site is large and the organization will be complicated.
• 7.
  Now, let's talk about the future. What's on your wishlist 2 years from now?

  Image Source

  • A.
    Adding memberships to my site where people can log in and access members-only information or content.
  • B.
    Customer accounts for my online store.
  • C.
    A deeply organized blog optimized for search engines.
  • D.
    Real talk? None of these things. I anticipate that my site will only change a small amount as I add a few new pages and post news or updates.

Quiz Outcomes

• 1.
  Squarespace!

  Image Source

  Squarespace is a great choice for brochure or information style websites.It is a sleek all-in-one option for building and hosting your website. Its user-friendly platform allows you to create nice landing pages, a clear customer “journey map” and a professional, yet easy to maintain site.You can take a look at their Business plan for all pro users of Squarespace, which gives you unlimited (ish) pages and all of the features of Squarespace.Alternatively, you'll want to consider Shopify if you're starting a store with a large inventory that needs to work with a point-of-sale system.But if you see yourself wanting to grow aggressively in the short-term, you may be better served by exploring Wordpress + managed hosting as an option. Many of its new page builders work much like Squarespace. Moreover with WordPress you'll have more flexibility to add features like memberships and SEO.I hope these recommendations helped you make the right choice for your needs.WANT TO LEARN MORE?Read the pros and cons of the Top 3 Website Builders and feel confident to choose the best one for you!
• 2.
  Wordpress + Managed Hosting

  Image Source

  WordPress is the industry standard for website platforms.Nowadays 36% of all the websites in the world are made on this platform.WordPress offers the most flexibility for both design and functionality. That’s why it is my #1 recommendation to my clients.Its user-friendly interface means you can grow and customize your website however you’d like!Keep in mind that it requires slightly more technical skills than other platforms. WordPress itself is free, but you will have to pay a third party for hosting.I hope this recommendation helps you make the right choice for your needs.NEED HELP CREATING YOUR WORDPRESS WEBSITE?I can help you build an effective website that turns browsers into buyers!
• 3.
  Shopify

  Image Source

  If your main goal is to sell goods online, you can’t go wrong with Shopify. It is an easy-to-use eCommerce platform designed foremost to help you sell products and manage your inventory. It offers thousands of themes, most of them including the ability to add a blog. There are a number of apps you can add to the system to improve the shopping experience for your customers. Many of Shopify’s features (such as auto-categorization of new items) can make large inventories easier to manage. If you're just testing the waters of selling goods online, some folks prefer to start with Squarespace and offer a handful of items to see what sells and to fine-tune their fulfillment processes. This is fine, just be aware that as your shop grows, you will eventually need to make a change. I hope these recommendations help you choose the right option for your needs! WANT TO LEARN MORE? Read the pros and cons of the Top 3 Website Builders and feel confident to make the best decision.
• 4.
  A Free Option Like Medium or Wordpress.com

  Image Source

  We all start somewhere, so it sounds like you really want to test the waters and see if there's a place for your voice online. A free or low-cost option like Medium or Wordpress.com can be great for this! Another choice may be Squarespace's Personal website plan, which has a limited number of features but has a relatively low cost of entry and is pretty easy to use. You should know that with options like free or "freemium" services, you will probably eventually need to make a change, but both platforms allow you to export your data into Wordpress.org or Squarespace, so you won't be locked in. Just a note: I don't recommend Blogger as a beginner platform. It consistently has trouble when you try to move your data. I hope these recommendations were helpful. NEED HELP SETTING UP YOUR WORDPRESS WEBSITE? Send me an email or click the button below to see my affordable solutions to get you online.