Stop Overthinking the Best Website Platform and Get Your Website Live NOW!
By: Craig Maclean
Tags: Web Development, Web Design, Web Platform, Small Business Marketing, Digital Marketing

Stop Overthinking the Best Website Platform and Get Your Website Live NOW! Craig Maclean Jun 8·3 min read

With the amount of online solutions and services available for all the different facets of digital marketing and web technologies, there is no surprise that business owners and entrepreneurs find themselves overwhelmed and unsure if they’re making the correct choice when choosing a particular service.

Some examples of the common choices that are faced when building your online presence:

Email hosting: Google Workspace, Zoho, Office 365, cPanel Hosted

Email marketing providers: ActiveCampaign, Aweber, ConvertKit, MailChimp, Send In Blue, GetResponse

Website hosting: GoDaddy, NameCheap, LiquidWeb, Hostgator, Bluehost, Hostinger

Website platforms: WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, Shopify, Weebly, Webflow, Custom Development

… and I could go on and on.

Now, while I agree that it’s important to choose a service that fits your needs best, more often than not, it’s those who are just getting started in their online venture that are struggling to finalize a decision on their website platform, email marketing provider, email host, and hell, even their domain registrar!

As someone who has been in the online marketing and development space for more than a decade and worked with hundreds of business owners and entrepreneurs, I’ve witnessed that there is a clear difference between the quick decision makers who take action, and those who never get their idea off the ground because they are either too overwhelmed with the choices or are yet to find the “perfect” solution.

So, what’s the solution?

Well, getting back to focusing on a website platform, the first thing I suggest is to hire a web designer/developer. As a business owner or entrepreneur, you’re far more valuable to your business by focusing on generating leads, managing sales, and creating content.

On a tight budget? There are many web designers who work with building websites on builders like I mentioned above — Squarespace, Wix, Shopify, etc. — and at a lower rate than a custom-built platform or a personalized WordPress website. And this is coming from a Web Developer…

Have almost no budget for a designer? Then focus on those same services and use a pre-made template that they offer. Don’t get roped into trying to use a WordPress theme (I guarantee you’ll spend double the hours and experience major headache) or spend time trying to integrate custom features and services that aren’t readily available. Remember, the goal is to get back to your role as a business owner, not a web designer.

Give yourself a set time-frame — let’s say 1 week at the most — to thoroughly compare the platforms that you’re considering for your website.

Next, take this week to review all of the platform’s features to see which you require immediately, narrow down your options, watch comparison videos, read reviews and forum posts discussing these services, and even see which platforms your competitors are using.

When you’ve decided which platform BEST suits your needs (none will be 100% perfect), sign up and get your website build underway. Once your website is at the minimum viable stage — i.e. has all the essentials for the vast majority of prospects — launch it and start driving traffic to it. If your website has to be perfect prior to launching, it will never take off.

Once you’re generating leads and receiving feedback, that’s a great time to make adjustments and improvements as you grow your business.

Now, get started and feel free to drop any questions for me below!