Should You Build A Fully-Hosted or Self-Hosted Website?
When building a website, one of the first decisions you’ll face is choosing between a self-hosted website and a fully-hosted website. Both have their pros and cons, but for many businesses, particularly small ones, a self-hosted website offers far more flexibility, control, and long-term growth potential. It takes more effort initially, but it provides strength, security, and flexibility as your business grows.
Building your business on a self-hosted web platform is like building it with bricks. Read that again, folks!
Let’s break down the differences between fully-hosted and self-hosted websites, and why choosing the right one depends on your business.
Fully-Hosted Websites: The Straw and Wood Approach
Fully-hosted platforms, such as Squarespace, Wix, or Shopify, are like building your house out of straw or wood. They offer ease and speed – you can put up a website in no time without much technical knowledge. And we’d be lying if we said that’s a bad thing. These platforms bundle everything you need, from hosting and templates to security features, and they handle most of the technical stuff for you. And for many businesses, this is plenty!
And we get it. We used Shopify and continue to still use all three for clients who’s businesses are aligned for it. And that’s not a bad thing!
But, like the straw and wood houses in the fairy tale, there are limitations that you should be aware of when planning out for the future:
- Customization limitations: You can only build within the constraints of the platform’s templates and features. Want a custom feature or design? You’re out of luck unless the platform supports it.
- Higher long-term costs: While the initial setup might seem cheap, you’ll face ongoing monthly fees, and if you need extra features, you’ll have to pay for additional apps or integrations. The costs pile up, especially as your business grows.
- Lack of control: Since your website is hosted on their servers, you’re at the mercy of the platform. If their servers go down or they decide to change their policies, your business could suffer.
- Ownership issues: You don’t fully own your website or its contents. If you ever want to move your site elsewhere, it can be difficult or even impossible to transfer everything seamlessly. Yikes vibes.
Much like the pigs who built their houses of straw and wood, a fully-hosted website might be fine for a while, but when challenges come – whether that’s higher traffic, ads, new business needs or platform limitations – you might wish you had chosen something a tad bit stronger.
Ok, that was maybe scarier than we intended it to be!
Fully-Hosted = PRO: Great For Speed/Ease. CON: Future Limitations
Self-Hosted Websites: The Brick House for Your Business
A self-hosted website, on the other hand, is like building your house out of bricks—it takes more effort upfront, but it’s pretty much rock-solid. When you self-host, you buy your own hosting plan from providers like Bluehost or SiteGround and use an open-source platform like WordPress.org to build your site. Our top pick, duh! =)
Here’s why the brick-house approach of self-hosting can protect your business in the long run:
- Full ownership: With self-hosting, you own your website, domain, and content. You can build exactly what you want, without restrictions.
- Unlimited customization: A self-hosted site gives you total creative freedom. With platforms like WordPress.org, you can install thousands of plugins and custom themes. If you want something unique, you can code it yourself or hire a developer to create it for you.
- Scalability: As your business grows, your website can grow with it. You’re not confined by the limitations of a fully-hosted platform, and you can handle higher traffic and more complex functionality without compromising on performance.
- Cost efficiency: While self-hosting has higher upfront costs, like purchasing hosting and a domain, the long-term savings are significant. Plus, you avoid many of the extra fees fully-hosted platforms charge for added functionality or services
Is Your Business Ready for the Brick House?
Here’s where things get a bit muddy (get the piggy reference there?)
Building a self-hosted website is more involved, but just like the piggy who built his house of bricks, it’s a smart, long-term investment. If you value customization, control, and scalability, and are willing to put in the effort to manage your own site, self-hosting is the way to go.
On the other hand, if you need something simple, fast and don’t mind the limitations, a fully-hosted website might be enough for now. It gives you what you need in the moment and if you’re open to change in the future, could be a great start!
It’s not about whether it’s right or wrong, but whether it aligns with the season in which your business is in.
When the Fully-Hosted Is the Best Option
- You have a small budget and want to minimize initial expenses.
- The purpose of your website is straightforward, like a personal project, small business with limited products or simple informational site.
- You have plenty of time to dedicate to learning the web builder tools.
- You’re building your first website and want to experiment before committing to more professional help.
When Self-Hosted Is the Best Option
- You need a more advanced or e-commerce site with complex functionalities.
- You want a well-designed website that will make a lasting first impression on potential customers.
- You don’t have the technical expertise or time to create a site yourself.
- You want an SEO-optimized, fully customizable solution that meets the unique needs of your business.
- You want copy on your site that is engaging, helps convert and connect with your visitors.
- You want to grow the blog portion of your site, with fresh content often and templates to make that a streamlined process
- You want email marketing support, making sign ups and embed forms seamlessly integrated on your site.
Hiring a Professional Web Designer: A Custom Solution
Ready for this? For businesses or individuals who need a custom website or want a truly unique online presence, hiring a professional web designer or web developer can be the better choice. While it may come with an additional cost upfront, the long run benefits often outweigh the upfront investment.
“Working on my website with Donata was such an easy, smooth collaboration.
She understood my needs and my vision very quickly, and I loved seeing her ideas for my content. She’s efficient, responsive, and so pleasant to work with. I’m very excited to see my website come to life!”
CRISTINA ALONSO, WRITER
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ABOUT THIS POST
This post is written by Donata Delano – A Web Designer, Professional Artist and Architect based in Burlington, Canada. She specializing in visual communication and web design, creating branding solutions and websites that are thoughtful, unique and aesthetically pleasing.
