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You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time. For more information, check out our privacy policy. Written by Anna Fitzgerald. Should you build your website from scratch or use a website building platform? The answer isn't always cut and dry. Cost, time, and the finished product can all vary greatly depending on which option you choose.
To create a website from scratch and do it well, you'll need to hire a developer. Although it will require more time and money to build a website from scratch, this option will yield a custom look and personalized experience for your visitors. Of these solutions, a CMS is the most popular. It allows you to easily customize the design of your site, add multimedia in your posts, organize content by tags and categories, manage multiple users, edit the underlying code, and much more.
CMS websites are pretty straightforward. They're easy to use, require little to no knowledge of code, and have several options for functionality. They're a tempting choice for first-time website builders, but what exactly is a static HTML website and how does it compare? When a visitor lands on a static website, their browser makes a request to the server, and the server returns a single HTML file and likely some accompanying style sheets and scripts to display the page in the browser.
Therefore, maintaining a large static website would take a lot of time and effort. The solution to this is a dynamic website. Instead of having a library of ready-to-ship HTML files, dynamic websites build web pages on the server side upon request.
This allows for much greater flexibility and a more personalized experience for individual visitors. WordPress is a flexible CMS that allows multiple users to create and run a website. Customizing a WordPress site is simple compared to HTML sites which typically require a developer to make even the smallest change.
Its core software — as well as WordPress plugins and themes — are primarily written with PHP , a programming language that controls how a WordPress site interacts and connects with its database.
PHP is a server-side language, which means it runs entirely on the server that hosts the website. It then converts that content into an HTML file and the accompanying CSS files and sends them back to the visitor who made the request.
These plugins and themes are often free or relatively inexpensive to use to customize the look and feel of your website without having to code it yourself. So, while a WordPress site will look and function the same as a static HTML site to end-users, the process of how the content is sorted and delivered to those users is very different.
No assembly is required. Rather than run on the hosting server, HTML runs on the device of the visitor accessing a website. In fact, page speed is so important to the user experience that Google began including it as one of its ranking factors for desktop and mobile.
The main reason for including speed in its algorithm was because data showed visitors spent less time on slower sites. According to a study by Website Builder Expert, 1 in 4 visitors abandon a site that takes more than 4 seconds to load. To ensure you provide a good user experience and reduce bounce rate on your site, you have to consider speed when deciding how to build your site.
Every time a visitor lands on your site, your server has to execute the PHP code and retrieve information from your database to display the correct information to the visitor. Because this requires more server resources than an HTML site, it can increase load time and delays. However, by selecting a fast hosting provider, purchasing a Content Delivery Network CDN , optimizing and compressing your images, and taking other steps to speed up your WordPress site , you can work toward beating that 4 second load time that customers expect.
There are several steps you can take to optimize an HTML site to ensure it's fast-loading. These steps include eliminating unnecessary white space, omitting comment sections, regularly caching your site's content, reducing the number of inline scripts, minifying and compressing images, using lazy loading for images, and more.
It's important to note that many of these steps are website maintenance best practices which means they will also help reduce the load time of a WordPress site. You want the process of building a website to be as easy and quick as possible. But often, ease of use comes at the expense of flexibility. The more control you have over the administration and design of your site, the more difficult it will be to create and manage.
The easier the process, the less control you'll have. So picking a platform is, in part, about deciding whether ease of use or flexibility is more important to you. With WordPress, you can have ownership over your site without needing to code it from scratch or know how to code at all.
You can easily create and manage content, change your site's appearance, and configure its setting in the built-in dashboard, and easily extend its functionality via plugins. With an accurate page count, designers can create an intuitive and smart layout for your site. With interactive media, your company provides visitors with an engaging experience.
This type of media can range from interactive video games to compelling visuals to choose-your-story scenarios. For businesses looking to build brand awareness, explain complex products, or engage users, interactive media is a go-to tool. It works because it relies on user interaction, providing website visitors with an engaging experience that responds to their actions and decisions.
In most cases, the more development work interactive media requires, the more it will cost. With a CMS, you can make minor updates to your website, without the expertise of a developer. Some examples of CMS platforms include:. One way to look at ecommerce functionality? It not only ensures shoppers can purchase your products like via credit card but also that your team can process those orders.
Without a payment gateway, shopping cart, or shipping system, your company cannot accept or process online orders. For your website, an ecommerce system is essential. What your business pays depends on a few factors, including:. For perspective, a small company will pay less than a large retailer for ecommerce functionality. In most cases, a large retailer offers a wide range of products, plus processes far more orders than a small business, which demands a robust ecommerce system.
Depending on your business, you may have an internal or third-party database, which stores valuable company and customer information.
A database may feature client account information, for example, which users can access by logging into your website.
If you want to make that information accessible to your team or clients, then you need to integrate a database into your website. With an integrated database, your team and shoppers can access helpful information via your website.
This feature eliminates easy-to-solve questions, like account balances, product orders, or appointment dates, which can save your support team valuable time. Even better, a database can help your business offer unique perks to shoppers. For example, a database can allow your company to provide a loyalty program to customers or send exclusive offers to repeat shoppers.
It helps your team, as well as your shoppers. Plus, it serves as a unique selling point USP for users that prefer online convenience. With a custom database, your business can resolve bottlenecks, as well as user inconveniences, in your operations.
That kind of database can help your company improve productivity, customer satisfaction, and more. Our web designers and web developers, as well as digital strategists have launched more than sites and collaborated with clients in a range of industries, from manufacturing to retail to healthcare. Request a free quote and see how WebFX can help you. We measure our success by how much we WOW our clients.
This annual investment ensures your site remains functional, secure, and live. It also provides your company the chance to improve the usability and content of your website, which can impact shopper decisions.
In addition to purchasing your customized domain name, your company must renew your purchase each year. If you skip on this website maintenance cost, your business can lose access to your domain, with ownership reverting to the domain name registrar. Your SSL certificate is another website design and maintenance costs — your company needs to purchase an SSL certificate to launch your site, and then needs to renew your certification every year.
Without an SSL certificate, your site appears unsafe to users and Internet browsers. With a paid SSL certificate, your company gains access to helpful features, like customer support, greater encryption, and more. For your website to remain live and accessible to users, your company needs to pay for website hosting. Your website traffic will influence your server choice, which will have a direct impact on your website hosting costs. If your company operates an ecommerce business, ecommerce functionality is a non-negotiable website maintenance cost.
Your business needs to provide a secure and functional payment gateway if it wants to continue to grow its sales and revenue. As your business grows, your ecommerce functionality costs will likely increase. If your business invested in a CMS , you may have costs associated with it. While many platforms like WordPress and Joomla are free, others like HubSpot require a monthly or annual subscription. In most cases, larger businesses, like enterprises, require a paid CMS to manage their website and content, as well as additional marketing efforts.
When it comes to website maintenance , it encompasses a variety of tasks. A few examples include completing updates on your CMS, managing customer support tickets, and resolving any website-related issues. With website maintenance, you keep your website functional and your visitors happy. For companies today, website maintenance is essential. It keeps your website functional and usable, which ensures visitors can find what they need on your site, from your phone number to your product to your location.
This service also alleviates the needs for businesses to have a full-time developer on-staff. For a mid-size company, it can also seem like an ineffective use of resources. When it comes to how much a website costs, website maintenance is one of the lower expenses. This website cost, however, can have a massive impact on the functionality and performance of your site, especially when it comes to sales and leads.
In some cases, your costs may exceed this amount. For example, if your website requires emergency support during after-work hours, you may see higher fees. Want to create a better website for your business?
Use our web design or redesign services for your company's site. Looking to make the best first impression on your site's visitors? Let our award-winning design team help with our landing page design service! Need a new or updated website in 30 days or less? Choose rapid web design for a custom, performance- driven site in 30 days! Companies can decrease their marketing costs, however, by limiting their number of digital marketing strategies. For businesses that want to improve their sales and revenue numbers, digital marketing is a proven strategy.
It depends, however, on your website. As you can see in the case below, the results focus on product listings for stainless steel cooking pots.
They work towards this goal with a few strategies,. As 80 percent of shoppers start their product research online, SEO matters. That massively decreases your chances of turning that shopper into a customer. Another reason why SEO matters? Around 75 percent of users remain on the first page of search results. It helps users find your company. PPC refers to an advertising strategy that operates on a pay-per-click pricing model. Unlike traditional ads, which see your company pay upfront, your business pays only for the clicks your ad earns.
This pricing model makes PPC one of the most cost-effective ad strategies for businesses today. Find out more in our Privacy Policy. The following two tabs change content below. Bio Latest Posts. Keen English learner, music lover and passionate content writer, she enjoys constant improvement and is open to challenges.
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