The internet is bustling with blogs, websites, company profiles and more. But have you ever wondered how these websites are built? Maybe you are considering starting your own blog but not sure how to get up and running. Or your small business needs an online presence, and you are not sure where to start; Well, the good news is this. Chances are these sites are using a popular site builder platform, such as WordPress or Weebly. And what is more, these website builders and helpers on the market today exist to get non-technical users up and running fast. Therefore, in this article we are going to take a deep dive into 2 of the most popular website building platforms on the market today. Keep reading for our WordPress vs Weebly site builder showdown so you can pick the best site builder for you today
What is WordPress
First, let us define what WordPress is. WordPress is an open source and free site building platform. In fact, WordPress is the most popular site builder suite on the market today. In 2020, it’s estimated that 455 million websites utilize WordPress. That equates to nearly 35% of the internet! With such a large market presence, WordPress has staying power for a reason. Its free site building software is one of the easiest for non tech savvy individuals to build a powerful and well-designed blog or website. WordPress is the most well-known solution for business owners, bloggers, consultants and more to get an online presence fast.
What is Weebly
Another popular site building platform is Weebly. Weebly has considerably less influence than WordPress, but it still packs a punch! With over 50 million websites built with Weebly, it offers a unique and free website design experience with plenty of market power to show for. Weebly offers a slightly different platform that is geared more towards businesses with products to sell as well. This makes it an incredibly popular choice with artists, photographers, and other creatives alike.
WordPress Vs Weebly: Round 1
Best Features for WordPress
Some of the best features when it comes to WordPress is its simplicity of use. WordPress houses simple design and publishing processes for end users while seamlessly integrating complex developer tools behind the scenes. So, what does this mean? It means that while WordPress is an easy-to-use platform for users, it is incredibly flexible and versatile from a technical standpoint.
One example of how this platform translates complex code to easy-to-use end user elements is the use of WordPress Plugins. These are separate sets of code that you can easily install to your site to instantly boost its capabilities. And what is even better is there are plugins for every occasion. Thinking of starting a blog? Get an SEO plugin and watch your rankings skyrocket! Or maybe you love to cook and are considering a recipe blog? Try a recipe plugin for instant templates and preformatting so you do not have to design beautiful recipe designs. This flexibility in the WordPress website builder suite is the main reason why it is the most used platform to date.
Best Features for Weebly
Although Weebly and WordPress serve similar functions, they certainly differ when it comes to use. Weebly features and easy to use drag and drop website builder. This style of creation is often found to be easier for new users to understand how website pages are built. In fact, the Weebly editor helps create a professional design while keeping mobile and tablet resolutions in check. What is more is this includes storefront sections as well so you can have amazing product layouts on all screens. If this sounds foreign to you, do not worry! Weebly works to make sure your drag and drop website you created will look great whether your audience see’s it on mobile, pc or tablet!
Weebly also offers free design templates that you can implement for instant design creation. These templates are a great starting point for the novice designer or business owner that needs to get an online presence up and running quickly.
Round 1 Winner: WordPress
Although just slightly. The only reason we give the edge to WordPress is it packs so much flexibility. Whatever your site building needs are WordPress will get the job done.
WordPress Vs Weebly Support: Round 2
Support or WordPress
With such a large platform it is essential WordPress offers good support for any questions that arise. Not only can you call a toll-free number to get specific help over the phone, but they also include a live chat for quick questions and how-to instructions. Although the time it takes to get your question answered can vary greatly, it is nice to know that you have a place within WordPress itself to get your questions answered.
Support for Weebly
Weebly also offers a toll-free number to call for phone support and recently unveiled its live chat feature as well. Also, with a smaller user base and less feature rich product makes troubleshooting issues an easy process with Weebly. This feature of fast support has been a big selling point for Weebly sites for new website creators.
Round 2 Winner: Weebly
Weebly wins this round with a slight edge over WordPress support. The biggest reason for this is a smaller user size can help diagnose problems faster than WordPress sites typically can. WordPress also has a complex set of plugins and themes that may cause additional issues that take longer to troubleshoot.
WordPress Vs Weebly: Round 3
Limitations of WordPress
With all massive platforms, issues are sure to arise. Some of the pitfalls of using WordPress rest with how many different features you can implement. Although WordPress is incredibly easy to use as a base platform, the additions of themes and plugins can make your site confusing, and fast. What is worse, these plugins are additional sets of code and sometimes do not interact well with other plugins. The good news is installing and removing plugins is as easy as 1 click.
One other drawback of WordPress is the number of updates it goes through. One downside to open-source software is the need to constantly update it and make sure it is not at risk to security concerns. With this comes frequent WordPress updates which can cause issues with existing themes and plugins. However, this is not a typical outcome. And WordPress offers automatic updates, so you do not have to worry about forgetting to update versions.
Limitations of Weebly
What makes Weebly a popular choice is its drag and drop editor. However, many limitations of the Weebly service still exist. One of the biggest downfalls to Weebly is its lack of backup potential. With a lack of site backup, the potential of losing your work increases. Weebly also is a considerably basic platform for blogging specifically and may not be the best choice for new bloggers. The blogging section offers truly little customization and is fixed, so what you see is what you get.
Finally, the biggest drawback to using Weebly is its poor page management for your site. Some smaller sites with minimal pages may not see this as a downfall as much, but as your site grows having a good page management system is critical to your success.
Winner Round 3: WordPress
This round goes to WordPress, and it is not close. WordPress offers so much flexibility that some of the issues with using this platform are mitigated with its resource rich interface and useability. Weebly is a great option for a small site that needs to get up and running quickly but may not be a good long-term solution for your online presence.
WordPress Vs Weebly: Round 4
Premium WordPress Plan
Although WordPress offers a free platform, they offer a premium plan as well. This plan is 3 tiered and will cost anywhere from 4 dollars a month to 25 dollars a month. These upgraded plans give you an additional set of premium themes and priority support! The best part about going premium is it enters you into the Word ads program. This program allows you to display advertisements on your site so you can monetize! This is the WordPress version of Google Ads.
Premium Weebly Plan
Weebly also offers a set of tiered premium plans that provide additional features and support. These plans range anywhere from 9 dollars to 30 dollars a month. The 9-dollar plan allows you to use a custom domain name (not a dot Weebly site). However, this personal plan still has an advertisement displayed at the bottom of your page that says it is powered by Weebly.
Additionally, higher priced plans will get rid of the Weebly advertising, but do not add a ton of feature rich support that is much different than their free plan.
Wound 4 winner – WordPress
With affordable options and superior support, upgrading to a paid WordPress account can make a lot of sense for new site owners. And it is more affordable than the Weebly premium plans overall. And the best part of this paid plan is the ability to advertise and monetize your site
WordPress Vs Weebly Wrap up
WordPress and Weebly are both fantastic solutions if you are looking to get up and running fast. Both offer out of the box solutions and templates to get a blog or business site up fast. However, if we had to pick, we would go with a WordPress site. The reasoning for this is its massive user base, flexibility, and affordability make this website builder the best choice for a solid site foundation. And what is more is WordPress is not going away so you will not have to worry about site migration or discontinued services in the future. Get started with a free WordPress site and discover how easy it is to get up running fast!
Don’t have time to build your website? Give us a call and ask about our affordable WordPress web design services. We’d be honored to partner with you!
