Choose what best suits your goals and your (growth) wishes!
Nowadays you have a wide range of free web packages on the internet. Packages with which you can easily create a website or webshop yourself. It is a ready-made system for which you often pay an x amount monthly to the maker of the system. An ideal solution for a starting entrepreneur, at least it seems so. Often these are packages without personal support and where you can find possible answers to questions in a so-called forum.
And is free really free? In addition to paying a monthly amount, you have no personal contact and you pay the main prize for realizing (small) wishes, because this is custom work. A ready-made web package is what it is. No more and no less. Definitely a good start, but choose what best suits your goals and wishes!
“How I regretted that and now I can start all over again”.
In recent years I have seen many entrepreneurs pass by who afterwards regret that they have invested time and money in a web package that did not match their objectives and growth wishes. But what is the alternative? Build a website yourself? Most entrepreneurs have no taste for this or simply do not have the time for it. Have a website built? Doesn’t that cost a fortune?
Ready-to-use web package versus customization
Ready-to-use web package
With a ready-to-use web package you always have to deal with a monthly subscription. You actually ‘rent’ the web package from the supplier. Often such web packages come with a number of standard designs. Designs that you can personalize a little here and there, but in my view will never fully match your wishes and expectations. Some advantages of ready-made web packages are: MijnWinkel.nl, Strato, SEOShop, MijnWebwinkel, Luondo, Weebly and Wix.
Customization
With the ‘customization’ type, a distinction can be made between OpenSource and CustomBuild. An OpenSource is a (Content Management System – CMS) system that is maintained by several thousand people worldwide. In addition to maintaining this system, thousands of functionalities are also being developed and maintained for it. Features offered for 99% FREE. Think of functionalities such as forms, google maps, video, photo album, slideshow, newsletter, agenda etc.. ect.. Some well-known examples of such OpenSource CMS systems are WordPress, Joomla, Typo3 and Drupal. They all do what they have to do, but the big difference often lies in the user-friendliness of the system.
CustomBuild (or ClosedSource) is a (CMS) system that is created and maintained by a web builder. However, this is also the main disadvantage: maintaining the system is often an afterthought, because money is earned by developing websites and not by maintaining the system. Another disadvantage of a CustomBuild system is that functionalities are often limited. It also applies here that making such functionalities is an afterthought and wishes always concern customization. You can imagine that a web builder does not make a functionality for a single customer, or the customer has to pay a lot of money for that.
A big difference between OpenSource and CustomBuild systems is the freedom the customer has. When a website or a webshop is built in a CustomBuild system, you as a customer are always tied to the maker of the system. You can’t simply say goodbye and relocate your website somewhere else that same day. This is no problem at all with OpenSource systems such as WordPress, Joomla, Typo3 and Drupal.
Ready-to-use web package versus customization
And what’s best now?
Each system has its advantages and disadvantages. I have already mentioned some of these. Before you make a choice, it is important to review your goals and wishes for now and in the future. It turns out that not every system can meet this requirement. If you want to start a webshop just to do it “just for a while” or on a very small scale, a ready-made web package can offer a solution. You have to ask yourself whether you want a system with limitations or a system with possibilities. Always choose a system that matches your goals and your wishes and a system that you can freely adapt, completely to your wishes – or even better the wishes of your target group.
With ready-made web packages you are often limited in your search engine optimization (SEO). The makers of ready-made web packages do their best to accommodate this, but will never be able to make their software 100% search engine friendly. On the one hand because the technology moves faster than they can deliver new versions and on the other hand because every user / site owner wants to set up his or her search engine optimization in a different way.
Furthermore, a good Online Strategy means that you want your website or webshop to match the wishes and expectations of its visitors better and better. After all, you made the site for them. You want them to take a certain action, for example requesting a brochure, filling in a contact form or a direct purchase in your shop. To make your website or webshop even better and to allow visitors to take action more often and faster, this means that you regularly make adjustments. Think of certain (color) buttons or the layout of, for example, the product page or the order page. With a ready-made web package and a CustomBuild system this is not so easy, in fact it is often not even possible.
A ready-made web package may offer a solution in the beginning, but if you want to take your company a step further, you will soon run into limitations. Whatever you choose, make sure you have at least thought about it and choose a package/system that fits your goals and growth needs. Do you opt for a package/system with limitations or with possibilities? It’s a matter of what do you want now and what do you want later.
Finally
It’s a world of comparing apples and oranges. Especially for a layman there are sometimes few differences and they only see a price. Basically all systems do what they are supposed to do. However, the big difference often lies in the user-friendliness and the possibilities.
It won’t surprise you by now that I’m personally not a fan of ready-made web packages, nor of CustomBuild systems. You probably noticed that by the tone of my writing. Within MalshiSEO Marketing we have therefore chosen to develop all our web projects in WordPress in combination with WooCommerce as webshop functionality. The advantages of this are that it is free, gets continuous updates and there is a large community that serves as a source of information and helpdesk.
Choose to be elected
We have chosen WordPress within MalshiSEO Marketing and are therefore able to serve and support our customers on all fronts. As a customer of MalshiSEO Marketing you receive personal support and tailor-made advice. To this end, we organize a number of meetings each year to transfer knowledge, inform our customers about developments in our field and take joint actions to achieve objectives. Our customers do not opt for a web package or system but for a cooperation partner. You don’t manage a website or webshop alone, you do it together. We love bundling / combining knowledge. Where we know a lot about web development and online marketing, our customers know everything about their own company and the target group. By combining this knowledge, you jointly achieve goals. That is why we develop websites and webshop for our customers in WordPress in combination with WooCommerce, we transfer our knowledge and we support our customers in bringing the website / webshop to the attention of the target group.
Web design by MalshiSEO Marketing: not for everyone
Web design by MalshiSEO Marketing: not for everyone. That is a strange sentence and perhaps strange. But it is in line with our vision. In recent years we have built hundreds of websites and webshops and it always turned out that personal contact is very important. Don’t be a number to each other, but take the time for each other. Get together regularly to go through the whole thing, combine knowledge and take joint actions.
Are you planning to create a website or webshop soon or do you now have an existing website or webshop and are you faced with the choice to choose a suitable system or cooperation partner? I am open to a completely non-binding conversation to explain the possibilities in the field of web packages and web systems in a personal conversation.
