If reports and experts are to be believed, the surge in online shopping since the COVID era is here to stay. With the convenience of shopping from home, more and more customers want online shopping to be a major way of procuring necessities and desirables. Due to which, a significant number of sellers are turning towards the online sector (online store/ e-commerce/ websites). As a result, searches like “ways to create a store using Shopify” or “How to use Wix to create a website” are remarkably high.
Secondly, with the rise of the Social era, millennials and Gen Z are also diverting towards online opportunities. And they too are curious about things like how to develop a website from scratch.
With a large number of website-building platforms available, it is confusing to understand who does what. Secondly, there is always confusion on whether to build a website using web builders or CMS like WordPress.
Hence, this blog.
A website however small or simple needs certain basic things to create, run, and sustain it online.
They are:
- A Website Building Platform
- Hosting
- Domain Name
- Secure Payment Gateway
- SSL Certificate
- Website Security
- Content
- SEO
- Web Designer
- Online Marketing
In this blog, we talk about website building platforms.
Ways to Build a Website – Platforms to Create a Website
There are two ways to create a website. One is, using a closed-source CMS (Content Management System) and the other is open-source CMS.
Either you can try it on your own. Or hire a website designer to do it for you. Because, believe it or not, you need web design skills as well as coding skills.
Let’s know the difference one by one.
1.Closed-source CMS aka “Website Builders”
Website builders are beginner-friendly all-in-one platforms with proprietary tools (that only work on their platforms) to create a fully functional website.
Examples of Website Builders include Wix, Shopify, Weebly, Squarespace, etc.
All you need to do is choose a plan. With that, you have a dashboard and thousands of themes and templates to work your way towards creating a website.
Website Builders are Closed-Source CMS
Closed-source means that you don’t have access to any source code. So you have no idea what codes are running behind to run the website. All you can do is just use their dedicated platform to drag and drop and create a website.
They basically are a business model and don’t come for free. Website builder is the generic term that a user or a website and E-commerce website design company uses for ease of understanding.
What’s The Difference Between Wix and WordPress?
Firstly, Wix and WordPress.com work on the same principles.
However, please note that WordPress has two divisions. We talk about this in the later part of the blog.
Another thing. A website can definitely be created for free. But cannot run without some input costs – we will come to that later in a separate blog.
Advantages
- Readymade and easiest to create and publish a website.
- No need to worry about all the framework and coding or server-side programming that goes behind making a website functional.
- Another plus point is the plans offered are all-inclusive. From readymade templates to hosting, domain, addons, security, maintenance, etc. In short, you don’t need to worry much about the website.
Disadvantages
- Not open source. Which is why customizing is extremely complex. This makes future changes near to impossible. Not suitable for the long term.
- Hosting choices are restricted to what’s available with the website builder.
- Difficult and costly to migrate a functional website from one web builder to another.
- Don’t scale well on search engine rankings due to a large dump of backend codes.
- Also, it lacks uniqueness. They are more generic as many others use them too.
A Small Business Website Creation Process Using a Website Builder
- Create an account and choose a plan.
- Choose a theme from hundreds of available options.
- Create web pages, edit their design ( through available drag and drop), and fill in the content.
- Choose their sub-domain (for a free website)/ buy a domain name.
- Choose their hosting.
- Use the readymade theme to create content.
- Publish your website
2. Open-Source CMS
An open-source CMS lets everyone have access to the source code. All you have to do is copy it on a web server (hosting) and then modify it as per your needs. Which means that you must have some coding skills.
Some popular CMS are WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Magento, etc.
Advantages
- Highly customizable.
- Great Scalability.
- Easy to make changes as the business grows with time.
- Suitable for every kind of website.
Disadvantages
- Needs a web designer or developer to help create, publish, update and maintain the site.
- One has to take care of various other elements like security, hosting, maintenance, etc.
- Initially, it appears costlier and more complex.
The Thin Line of Difference Between a CMS and Website Builder
Let’s see the difference between, say a Wix or WordPress website and a coding website. To do this, we take the example of WordPress. WordPress has two diversions. One is WordPress.com and the other is WordPress.org.
WordPress.org and WordPress.com are Similar Yet DIFFERENT
Both the terms WordPress.org and WordPress.com are similar yet absolutely different (Just Like Tortoise and Turtle).
From switching to cloud hosting, enhancing website security features to integrating the newest payment methods and upgrading to content management systems, all enhance user experience.
Just like Drupal or Joomla, WordPress.org is an open-source and self-hosted platform. Which means that apart from coding, everything else like hosting, security, maintenance and updates, is your onus. So, you will need a web developer or a website design company to do it for you. Our website design agency in Mississauga offers all types of website services.
Whereas, WordPress.com offers the same kind of services, like that of Wix or Shopify, with the help of plugins and add-ons.
WordPress.org is a CMS.
WordPress.com is an all-in-one website builder.
The term “WordPress” is usually used for the website builder (WordPress.com).
Final Note
Phew… how relieved it feels to come to know the actual difference between a website builder and CMS.
Website creation is neither simple nor complex, it completely depends on one’s level of understanding. Though web builders appear to be easy, however, many technical and non-technical glitches like SEO, usability, etc. come along with it. Correspondingly, using CMS requires coding skills that many of us don’t have.
It’s never a hitch to consult an expert web designer to consult about your website needs. Cube InfoTech, an affordable web design company in Markham that offers cost-effective web design services.
Here you’ll find various articles that guide about types of e-commerce websites, strategies of e-commerce, etc.
Here you’ll find various articles that guide about types of websites, complications in website development, etc.
Various articles to know about types of digital marketing strategies, pros & cons of digital marketing platforms, etc