WordPress, Shopify or a custom build? How to choose the right platform for your website
“What should we build it on?” is one of the first questions in any website project. And the honest answer is: it depends on what you need the site to do, who’ll update it and where you want it to be in three years.
We build on all of these, so we don’t have a horse in the race. Here’s how we’d think it through.
WordPress
WordPress runs a huge share of the web, from tiny blogs to big publishers. It’s what most of our clinic, small business and coaching clients use.
Good for: service businesses, content-heavy sites, blogs, sites that need lots of pages and regular updates.
Why people like it: you own everything, it’s flexible, there’s a plugin for nearly anything, and your team can edit pages without calling a developer. It’s also strong for SEO when it’s set up properly.
Watch out for: it needs regular updates and security care. A WordPress site with 40 plugins and no maintenance is a hacked site waiting to happen. Page builders can also make sites slow if used carelessly.
Shopify
Shopify is a hosted ecommerce platform. You pay a monthly fee, and Shopify handles hosting, security and checkout.
Good for: online stores, especially ones selling physical products.
Why people like it: a very reliable checkout, easy product management, lots of payment options and apps, and less to worry about on the technical side.
Watch out for: monthly app fees add up. You’re working within Shopify’s rules, so very unusual features can be awkward. And content-heavy marketing pages aren’t its strongest point, though it’s improved a lot.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is ecommerce built on top of WordPress.
Good for: businesses that want a store and a content-rich site in one place, or that need custom product setups.
Watch out for: you’re responsible for hosting, speed and security. Done well, it’s excellent. Done cheaply, it can be slow and fragile.
Custom builds (like Next.js)
A custom site is coded specifically for you, often using modern frameworks like Next.js and hosted on platforms like Cloudflare or Vercel. We use this approach for some clients who need speed and flexibility above everything else.
Good for: sites with unusual functionality, very high performance needs, web apps, or businesses with a developer on hand.
Why people like it: extremely fast, very secure (there’s no admin panel or plugins to attack), and it can do exactly what you want.
Watch out for: updates usually need a developer unless a content system is added. Up-front cost is often higher.
Website builders (Wix, Squarespace)
Good for getting a simple site live quickly on a small budget. Fine for a one-person business starting out. They get limiting as you grow, especially for SEO, speed and moving to another platform later.
Questions to ask before you choose
- Who will update the site, and how often?
- Are you selling products online? How many?
- Do you need bookings, memberships, logins or integrations with other software?
- How important is search traffic to your business?
- Who will look after security and updates?
- Will you own the site, the content and the domain outright?
Our usual advice
For most service businesses, a well-built WordPress site with a maintenance plan is the sensible choice. For product stores, Shopify is usually the safest bet. For anything unusual, or where speed is everything, a custom build is worth the conversation.
The platform matters less than how well the site is built and looked after. A great WordPress site beats a poor custom one every time, and the reverse is true too.
Not sure which way to go? Have a look at our web development work, or book a free call and we’ll talk it through honestly.
