Why choose WordPress? A small business owner’s guide to making the right decision

Your website is the digital front door to your business, welcoming potential customers and partners into your world. Choosing the right platform to build and manage this crucial business asset can feel overwhelming. Ready-to-go options, all-in-one options like Wix and Squarespace can seem simpler. At first.

However, when it comes down to flexibility, customisation, and being future ready, WordPress is by far the best choice.

Before we get into it let me clarify that I’m talking about self-hosted WordPress.org. NOT the WordPress.com hosted service. The latter is a proprietary hosting service run by one of the founding WordPress developers. While the basic level is free and you need to pay for additional features.

Read more about the different between WordPress.org and WordPress.com here.

OK, now let’s dive into why I think WordPress is the champion for small business websites.

1. The power of complete customisation: Choose unlimited potential

Imagine having the freedom to design not just a website but a reflection of your brand’s unique identity and vision. That’s the unparalleled customization power WordPress offers. With Wix or Squarespace, you’re confined to preset templates and limited customization options. Whereas WordPress opens up a world of possibilities. Whether it’s through the thousands of themes and plugins, or custom code, your website can grow and change as dynamically as your business does.

Right now Wix or SquareSpace might offer you all the functionality you think you need. But future-you will have different needs. I’ve seen too many business owners get frustrated by the design and functional limitations placed on them by proprietary solutions. They then have the time consuming and expensive headache of moving an established site to WordPress so they have more options available to them.

2. Cost-effectiveness: WordPress gives you the best bang for your business buck

WordPress itself is free. Every penny counts in small business, and you can get started with merely the cost of website hosting. You control what you spend based on what you need. There are no surprise fees or mandatory subscriptions. You can start with a free theme and only upgrade to a premium version later when your budget allows. And there are free plugins for available for pretty much everything!

Compare this to Wix and Squarespace, which quickly become costly with their tiered pricing structures, especially as your site grows or requires more features.

3. A vast ecosystem: Plugins and themes galore

When you choose to create your site with WordPress, saying ‘there’s an app for that’ is an understatement. The platform boasts over 50,000 plugins and thousands of themes, meaning there’s always a solution at hand. Whether you need SEO tools, social media integration, e-commerce capabilities, or anything in between, it’s at your fingertips. 

This ecosystem dwarfs what’s available on other platforms. You have the flexibility to enhance your site in pretty much any way you can imagine! 

4. SEO mastery: Climb the search engine rankings

Visibility is key to standing out online, and WordPress is built to do just that. Created with SEO in mind from the ground up, it gives you a strong foundation to make sure your site climbs the search engine rankings. 

Not only this but plugins like the free version of Yoast SEO offer guidance every step of the way. Optimising your content for SEO becomes less daunting and you have step by step guidance very time you publish. This is much harder to achiever with the more rigid structures of platforms like Wix and Squarespace.

5. Unparalleled community support: Never feel alone

Choosing WordPress means joining a vast global community of experts (👋 Hello!), enthusiasts, and fellow business owners who are always ready to lend a hand. 

From forums to blogs to local meetups, support is never far away. Whenever you’re stuck you simply have to search on Google, ask in a group or log a support ticket and you’ll get your answer. I’ve learned half of what I learned about WordPress this way. There’s a wealth of information out there. 

Other platforms have helpful communities too but they simply can’t match the volume of WordPress wisdom out there..

6. Flexibility and scalability: Grows with your business

Your business will evolve—that’s a given—and your website should be able to keep pace without skipping a beat. WordPress shines in its ability to scale from a simple one page site or blog, to a full-fledged e-commerce powerhouse without needing to switch platforms or start from scratch. 

No matter how big your dreams get, your website will always be up for the challenge. As your business grows you might upgrade your theme, or invest in premium plugins but the underlying platform your site sits on can remain the same.  Less impact on your search engine rankings, less time spent fixing code and ultimately less stress for you.

If you build a site on Wix or SquareSpace and later decide to move it, that’s one giant tech nightmare that will require a complete site redesign, cleaning up code and recreating all your blog posts. Or paying a professional to do it for you. 

7. Ownership and control: You’re the captain of your online ship

When you build your site with WordPress, you’re not just renting space—you’re claiming it as yours entirely. This means complete control over every aspect of your online presence without worrying about platform restrictions or changes affecting how you run your site. 

Every decision made is truly yours, from hosting choices to data management—a stark contrast to the more controlled environments of all in one platforms.

Ready to elevate your online presence with WordPress?

Now that we’ve explored why WordPress is the best choice for small businesses —it’s time to take action! Start exploring the possibilities today and turn your dream into a reality.

Here’s your first step:

Read: Creating your own website? Here’s what you need to know about hosting & domains

Next, join my email list – see below ⬇️