When building a website, or commissioning us to build you a website, you might be wondering which is the best tool for the job.
WordPress, Wix, GoDaddy, and SquareSpace are different tools, and each has advantages and disadvantages.
Both BlueHost and WebHosting Canada offer WordPress hosting.
WordPress
Advantages
- Has many free plugins, including third-party tools.
- WordPress blocks are easy to use and customize.
- The editor is very stable and behaves consistently.
- You can create reusable patterns for your templates (like blocks but more complex).
- You can edit the underlying code (HTML and CSS).
- The Site SEO plugin walks you through the SEO settings for each page.
- You can customize the page templates, including the blog layout.
- Many web developers are familiar with WordPress.
- The website is hosted in Canada (if you use WebHosting Canada).
Disadvantages
- It is harder to animate the transitions in your website.
- There are less templates available.
- You need to pay to remove ads and get access to fully customizable templates.
Wix
Advantages
- Has built-in forms, templates, e-commerce tools, and more.
- You can switch between editing for desktop and mobile.
- Animations are provided as part of the setup.
- There’s a wide variety of templates for different types of website, and they come with a members-only area.
- You can do a lot of customization on the free version.
- The SEO settings take you through what needs changing item by item.
Disadvantages
- The editing interface jumps around (especially when resizing a section).
- Cannot directly edit the underlying code.
- Options for styling the text and backgrounds are hard to find.
- The SEO settings are not as flexible as on WordPress.
- Changing text styles doesn’t always carry across to other pages.
- The website is hosted in the USA.
GoDaddy
Advantages
- Has built-in e-commerce tools, and more.
- There’s a wide variety of templates for different types of website.
- Easy to use if you are not familiar with web tools.
- It is easy to change the site colours and theme template.
Disadvantages
- You cannot do a lot of customization of the templates.
- Cannot directly edit the underlying code.
- Options for adding alt text to images are hard to find.
- The SEO settings are not intuitive.
- Activating the SEO “automagically” inserts words and phrases into your web pages, and they don’t fit. It would be better if it took the keywords from your existing content and added them to your meta keywords without interfering with the content on the page.
- The website is hosted in the USA.
SquareSpace
Advantages
- SquareSpace offers many templates and content patterns.
- You can build a website with AI.
- The editor is very stable and behaves consistently.
- SquareSpace provides a large number of useful layouts.
- You do not need to learn coding.
- All packages come with lazy loading and animations by default.
Disadvantages
- After you have generated your website with AI or with the template provided, you still need to remove all the content it has added and create your own.
- The editor is a bit fiddly to use – you have to edit the settings for each element in a popup (instead of in the side panel that WordPress gives you).
- You cannot edit the underlying code on the Basic package.
- You need to pay to publish your website. SquareSpace’s cheapest package is $21 per month (if you pay annually).
- The website is hosted in the USA.
Check out our portfolio of website designs for examples of websites built with these tools.