There are three common ways to get a business website: build it yourself with a website builder, have it made on a CMS you install on your own hosting, or have it written as a custom site. None of them is the right answer for everyone. The right one depends on your budget, your time, and how much you want to depend on someone else.
I have worked with an all-in-one CMS and its themes and plugins, and I built Indica Online, a directory of Portuguese and Brazilian businesses in Belgium, from scratch as code. Both routes have their place. What I hear most from owners is a third story: they started a site themselves on a builder and gave up halfway.
What is a website builder?
A website builder is an online service you subscribe to. You choose a template, drag in your texts and photos, and the service hosts the site for you. Everything is in one place: the editor, the design and the hosting.
It suits you if you enjoy doing it yourself, have evenings to spend on it, and want something online this week at a low starting cost.
Watch out for:
- You rent it, for as long as the site exists. Stop paying and the site goes offline. The monthly fee often rises once you add a shop, bookings or more languages.
- Moving away is hard. You can usually export some content, but not the design, and the site has to be rebuilt elsewhere.
- The free plan uses the builder’s address. One salon I came across had its site on a free subdomain of the builder, not on its own domain. Customers notice, and the address is not yours to keep.
- Your time is the real cost. Writing, choosing photos, setting up languages and keeping everything current is your work.
- Speed and search depend on the platform. You can adjust a lot, but not everything.
What is a self-hosted CMS?
Here the site is built on a content management system installed on hosting you choose. These systems have a very large supply of themes and plugins, and most web designers know at least one of them. If you are new to the term, the guide to what a CMS is explains it.
It suits you if you want a lot of features, expect the site to grow, and have someone, inside or outside the business, who will keep it maintained.
Watch out for:
- Updates never stop. The system, the theme and every plugin get updates, many of them for security. A site left alone for a year is a risk.
- Plugins add weight. Each one solves a problem, and together they often make a site slow on a phone.
- Responsibility is easily blurred. When something breaks after an update, the theme maker, the plugin maker and the host can each point at the others.
What is a custom build?
A custom site is written for your business by a developer. It contains what you need and nothing else, which usually makes it fast and hard to break.
It suits you if you want it done properly without spending your own evenings on it, and you are happy to work with one person or team over time.
Watch out for:
- Everything depends on who builds it. Ask to see sites they have built, and ask who looks after them once they are live.
- You need a way to change content. Either an editor that comes with the site or a plan that includes content changes. Ask which one, before you sign.
- Ownership has to be in the contract. When do the code and the content become yours? Is the domain in your name?
How do they compare?
| Website builder | Self-hosted CMS | Custom build | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who builds it | You | A web designer, or you | A developer |
| Starting cost | Low | Medium | Medium to high |
| Ongoing cost | Monthly subscription | Hosting, plus someone’s time for updates | Hosting and maintenance, usually a monthly plan |
| Your own time | High | Medium | Low |
| Speed on a phone | Depends on the platform | Depends on theme and plugins | Usually fast |
| Moving away | Hard: you rebuild | Possible: the files are on your hosting | Depends on the contract |
| When it breaks | The platform’s help desk | Whoever maintains it, if anyone | The developer |
Which one fits my business?
A few honest rules of thumb:
- Little budget, plenty of time, and you like doing it yourself: a website builder is a reasonable start. Register the domain in your own name from the beginning, so you can move later.
- A large site with many features, and someone to maintain it: a self-hosted CMS gives you the most room, as long as the updates really happen.
- You want it done, fast, and kept right, and you mostly change prices, hours and photos: a custom build with maintenance and a simple way to change content is usually the least work for you.
Whatever you choose, the questions about the domain, hosting and ownership are the same. The guide to domain, hosting and email lists them.
What does Ovrick build?
Custom builds, and only those. Every site is code: I start from my own groundwork for each kind of business and write the rest for yours, with no page builder and no theme bought from a marketplace. Maintenance is part of every site, because I cannot promise anything about a site I do not look after. That is not the cheapest route on day one, and the price of every site and plan I sell today is published, so you can compare for yourself. The process page shows how a site gets built, and the pricing page shows what it costs. Want to change your text and prices yourself without touching the design? That is what Ovrick Cassini is for, and it is coming soon.