Comparison of 3 no to low cost website builders, Wordpress.com, Wix, and Squarespace.

1. Create Your Own Website
With Website Builders

2. What Is A Website Builder?
It’s an advanced website publishing tool that gives you the ability to
create powerful scalable websites and blogs in the fraction of the
time it normally takes.

3. Why Choose a Website Builder
•Costs are typically lower than a fully custom site
•Allow you to manage your site (a little DIY)
•Add new content to your site when you want
•The site is adaptable as your needs change

4. Top 3 Choices

5. What Is It?

7. WordPress.com is a commercial
website where you can host a free site
with some limitations or pay a yearly
fee to remove the restrictions.

8. WordPress.org is open source blogging/CMS
software that powers 22 per cent of the web. The
software is a community-driven project and
WordPress.org is where you can download the
WordPress installation files, and search for and
download free themes and plugins

9. • Hosted WordPress service
• Free hosting
• Partially customizable
• Paid upgrades
• Great if you’re new to site
building/blogging or want to
make something fast
• Open source project
• Need to pay for hosting
• Completely customizable
• Total control
• Great if you know some
code or feel comfortable
experimenting

10. Benefits of WordPress.com
• It’s free: (up to 3GB of space) and super easy to use
• Designs: 300+ THEMES includes responsive Themes
• Content Organization: Best available. Keeps everything organized. Great for all kinds of
websites, blogs, business, etc.
• Community: huge supportive community available to answer questions
• Backups: They make regular backups of your site.
• Easy migration: If you find you need more features and customization you can export
to wordpress.org

11. Drawbacks of WordPress.com
• Ads: come on all free websites (unless you pay $29.97 per year)
• No plugins: WordPress is well known for it’s flexibility due to the
plugins. WordPress.com does not allow you to use plugins.
• No custom themes: You are stuck with their choice of themes which
is being used on hundreds of millions of sites.

12. Demo Video
For a complete tutorial go to Lynda.com and view the course: Wordpress.com Essential Training
https://www.lynda.com/WordPress-tutorials/WordPress-com-Essential-Training/461840-
2.html?org=swarthmore.edu

13. What Is It?

14. Wix.com is a cloud-based web development
platform that allows users to create websites and
mobile sites, through their online drag and drop
tools.

15. Benefits of Wix.com
• Designs: 250+ templates. The designs are exceptional and offer pre-
built layouts for many different industries.
• Extremely flexible: Best drag and drop capability. No limit to which
elements can be moved around.
• App Market: Hundreds of third party apps that you can add to your
website (newsletter tool, live chat software, online booking widgets,
etc.)

16. Drawbacks of Wix.com
• Templates can’t be changed: Once you’ve chosen your initial
template, you are locked in with it. You can certainly change the
design within the template, but you cannot pick an entirely new one.
• Zero responsive themes: you have to use a mobile editor instead.
This in turn creates two separate websites - the experience and
branding can feel inconsistent
• Locked In: If you decide you don’t want use Wix.com anymore you
cannot export your content into any other platform

17. Demo Video
For a complete tutorial go to Youtube to view: Wix Tutorial For Beginners 2017 - Create A Wix Website In
Minutes
https://youtu.be/JTdK9q_iuE0

18. What Is It?

19. Squarespace is a content management
system-integrated website builder,
blogging platform, hosting service and
domain name registrar. The system
allows individuals and businesses to
create and maintain websites and blogs.

20. Benefits of Squarespace
• Templates and Designs: 32 sophisticated design templates that are
optimized for mobile devices (responsive web design).
• Blogging: Their blogging capabilities are second only to WordPress.
You can even host your own podcast on Squarespace’s platform.
• One-Page Website: if all you need is a landing page, you get away
with only $5 per month.
• Hosting and Domain name: Can all be purchased through their site.

21. Drawbacks of Squarespace
• The website editor: Not as intuitive at Wix.com and Wordpress.com
• Pricing: Not free. Pricing starts at $8 per month for a website with
only 20 pages.
• Page Speed: their templates score low ratings by Google’s Page Speed
Tool, which could lead to a poor user experience on smartphones and
possibly harm your search engine rankings.
• No Preview Mode: all site edits you make are visible to the public
immediately. This can be a bit inconvenient when doing larger
updates.

22. Demo Video
For a complete tutorial go to Lynda.com and view the course: Squarespace 7 Essential Training
https://www.lynda.com/Squarespace-tutorials/Squarespace-7-Essential-Training/383034-
2.html?org=swarthmore.edu

23. Which One is For Me?

24. BEFORE YOU CHOOSE A CMS
• Who are we expecting to visit our site?
• What do I want my site to do now?
• What might I want my site to do in the future?
• How design-minded am I?
• How technically-minded am I?

25. HOW TO CHOOSE A CMS?
• Choose one that you like to use
• Choose one that matches your time and budget
• Choose one that has the looks & usability your audience and
organization relates with
• Choose one that has the features you need or will need in
the future

26. Recommendations
• Minimal budget, but time - Squarespace
• Feature beautiful images (designers, photographers) -
Squarespace
• Lots of time and some technical interest - WordPress
• Need several feature requirements - WordPress or Squarespace
(ecommerce, blog, etc.)
• Not sure what features you’ll need in the future and you have
budget - WordPress
• If you have zero budget - Wix
• If you are bsolute beginner - Wix