Choosing a web platform for small, none eCommerce business: Phil Gregory – Peak District SEO
It’s true that I’m into SEO, and that’s the cornerstone of this business. However, without websites, there is no SEO, so what I want to talk about today is your choice of platform. When choosing a web platform for a small business, the choice of the platform really matters.
There are a number of different web platforms out there to choose from. Making the wrong choice could be costly for your business.
Firstly I’d really urge you to stay away from those free platforms such as WIX, Squarespace and Weebly. Such platforms are fine for the creation of personal or hobbyist websites, but I wouldn’t risk building my business on them. They do create some good-looking websites, with their built-in template builders, but the fact of the matter is, they create a lot of code-heavy pages. The code isn’t what we in the SEO business would term as SEO friendly. The markup (Code structure) isn’t the best quality either.
If you hand-code your website, that’s fine if you have the skills; that can work.
I appreciate that most people don’t have the skills to build a fully functioning web platform themselves. So that leads us to CMS (Content Management Systems) driven sites.
There are a number of open-source CMS platforms such as WordPress, Concrete 5, Drupal, Joomla and Ghost to name a few. WordPress, Joomla and Drupal are the big players in this field.
If you are going to build a business website that has built-in future-proofing, then you need to be looking at something with a CMS.
Having tried all the above platforms, I chose WordPress. Wordpress beats the other systems hands down, because of it’s many themes, and it’s capacity to be extended.
WordPress has a massive community of active developers developing themes, and plugins which can add an almost infinite range of features to your website.
Code it yourself or choose WordPress.
WordPress is so versatile and flexible that, for me, nothing else comes close to it. It’s not just me who favours it.
A massive 19% of the world’s websites use WordPress as their preferred CMS.
The real benefit of WordPress is the easy setup. If you have some understanding of HTML and PHP, you should be able to get WordPress set up in a matter of minutes. Some other platforms can be trickier to set up and then don’t have such a massive community that you can engage with.
Many web hosting companies now include an auto setup for WordPress, which sets up your database and joins it to the site in a no-fuss, hassle-free solution. Whether you set WordPress up or whether you know someone who can do that for you, consider the limitations of the DIY approach.
Hire professionals to bring your ideas to life
I’d recommend calling in the experts. Speak to a web professional. Someone who has experience in installing and customising WordPress, someone who understands CSS and JavaScript.
Dan Kirkland from Tor Studio is used to seeing customers who’ve started on their own, and want to take that next step:
“We get a lot of customers coming to us asking us to fix their websites. they’ve had a friend or relative get them started and now they need something that looks more professional.”
Consider speaking to a separate graphic designer too. Get them to build the look and feel of the site to match your existing brand.
Here at Peak District SEO, we always use trusted designers, developers and web hosts to help keep projects on track. We’ll be happy to recommend other web professionals who will work with you to create a theme that suits your company. Our recommended professionals can create a website that works and looks good on multiple devices, such as smartphones and tablets.
Get in touch with us to find out more about how to get started with your first website.
Related Links
- Web Hosting Red Flags To Watch Out For
- Why WooCommerce Might Make More Sense Than Magento
- Why A Website Maintenance Package is Essential
I’m Phil Gregory, the MD and founder of Peak District SEO.
I’m an SEO & Google Ads Consultant with 27+ years of experience in I.T and helping UK Businesses improve website performance.
I built my first website in 1998, then I discovered the joys of website optimisation and never looked back.
If you want a no-nonsense, no-hard-sell approach and to actually get your website fixed with a solid, affordable, long-term approach, hit the contact button today.
Peak District SEO is a UK-based Digital Marketing Company.
We help businesses make more money, using traditional Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) , Ai Search / GEO and paid advertising (PPC).
Why Peak District SEO?
27+ years of experience.
80+ 5* reviews on Google
Our customers have hundreds of page one and position 1 rankings, and we can prove it.
We’ve helped hundreds of SMEs in the UK
We have numerous articles published across the web discussing SEO.
We regularly publish case studies about the work we’ve done
Customers trust our service – See our reviews on Google, Trustpilot and Facebook
Our customers have hundreds of page one and position 1 rankings and we can prove it.
