Find Jobs
Hire Freelancers

Weebly or WordPress: Which should you choose?

Wordpress and Weebly are both very capable website builders but which one should you choose for your business? In this post we compare the two.
15 Mei 2020 • 8 dakika za kusoma
Picha ya Jalada

Not sure whether you should build your website with Weebly or Wordpress? This will help

What does it take to build a website?
A potload of HTML, with a seasoning of CSS and JavaScript. Throw in a dash of jQuery and then…
Sounds too complicated, doesn't it? Don't think you're alone in that response. Most business owners will balk at the thought of building an entire website from scratch. Even if they're adept in web technologies.
After all, with the myriad complications of running a full-blown business, who has the time to build a website using tag-level components? That's why more and more business owners are embracing drag and drop web builders.
But between Wordpress and Weebly, which is the better choice?
In this post we'll compare the two platforms based on a number of parameters to help you make the right choice for your business. 

Pricing 

Weebly Pricing Structure

When it comes to pricing, Weebly has a staggered structure that ranges from $0 to $29 a month. Payments can be made monthly or annually, and the benefits that you get with each plan differ as follows.

Free Plan: $0/month

SSL security 
Weebly subdomain hosting
Limited e-commerce capabilities
Site-wide analytics
SEO toolset
Embeddable Instagram feed
Other communication channels such as online chat, email, and phone.

Personal Plan: $9/month or $6/month billed yearly

The Personal plan gives you everything that comes with the free plan, the only major difference being you can connect your own custom domain name.
It's important to note that with both the free and the Personal Plan, you only get 500MB of Web Storage, and both come with Weebly ads.

Professional Plan: $16/month or $12 per month billed yearly

This is the favourite of most businesses and professionals as it combines all the features of the previous plans, plus it gives you access to better ecommerce facilities and unlimited storage. 
The additional features that you get with the Professional Plan include the following:
Free domain (only available for annual subscriptions)
Unlimited bandwidth and storage facilities
Password protected websites
Integrated shipping calculator
Plus, you finally get rid of the Weebly adverts which is a worthwhile advantage. 

Performance Plan: $29/month or $26/ month billed annually

This is the most feature-rich of all Weebly plans. It's got all the features of the preceding plans, with the addition of the following:
PayPal payment options
Automatic customer review collection
Integration of shipping labels and discounts
Advanced ecommerce analytics
Customer support features
In short, the performance plan gives you full ecommerce features that allow you to set up a complete online store that can fulfill complex online shopping requirements.

Wordpress pricing structure

While the Wordpress platform is free, creating a Wordpress website isn't. That's because you also need to purchase a domain name as well as hosting. 
There are different hosting solutions available and many of them accomodate a Wordpress installation,
Here are three popular hosting providers:
Hosting can range from about $4 a month to $30 a month. The more expensive options offer more storage space and more bandwidth which will prevent your visitors from experience loading issues during peak periods. Some of the higher paid plans also include free domain name registration and an SSL certificate which is a fantastic deal. 
Once you've signed up to a host, you'll need to install Wordpress on your server. If you're sure how to do this via your CPanel, the friendly of your chosen host can guide you through the process over the phone.

Ease Of Design

When it comes to ease of design, both Weebly and Wordpress score on several fronts. While both are pretty easy to use, the choice of which one you should go with depends on your own experience level and how much time you have on your hands. 

Designing a website with Weebly 

Weebly is the better web design platform if you just want to get your website designed and live in the shortest amount of time.
To get started, all you need to do is sign up via email. You can actually start with the free plan to test the ropes and then upgrade if the platform impresses you, the power of freemium!
Once logged in, you'll need to select a theme to start with. This is the fastest method of building a website because all you're doing is replacing the graphics and text of your selected theme and adhering to its base structure. So the theme you select needs to be as closely assigned with your intended web design as possible. 
Once you've chosen the desired template, you can then drag and drop design elements to the theme to create your own custom website. You can add elements such as photos, text, videos, and integrate maps. What's more, you can also include additional pages to your site, and even tweak styles at the element level.
If you're not happy with the aesthetics of your selected Weebly theme, you can modify it by editing its code base with a little HTML and CSS manipulation. This does require web development expertise so if you're not familiar with such coding you can hire a freelancer to help you.
If you're more adept at coding, then you can begin with Weebly's base theme and create your site from there. Weebly templates are free, and you can easily switch from one template to another without fear of messing up your site's appearance.
In short, the Weebly interface is simple, easy to learn, and can be used by anyone with ease. You also get clear instructions on how to use individual style elements. With Weebly, you can set up a new website in a matter of minutes.

Designing a website with Wordpress

With WordPress, the design process is entirely different from that of Weebly but is nevertheless a simple one. Compared to Weebly, WordPress is a bit more technical and has a steeper learning curve. If you're entirely new to web design, you'll have to do a bit of practicing before getting started.
If your web development coding skills are basically non-existent, you can actually transform Wordpress into an intuitive drag and drop web builder. Setting this up does involve a few steps which is why Wordpress is ideal if you have the luxury of time on your side.
Once you've transformed Wordpress into a drag and drop builder, a stunning website can be built with ease.

Upgradeability

When it comes to upgradeability, Weebly is a wee bit simpler. It's got a brilliant app center where you can find a large assortment of paid as well as free apps. 
These apps can be easily integrated with your website to scale it up and provide added functionality as per your business needs. And if you need greater network resources, you can easily upgrade to higher-level plans in a jiffy.
WordPress on the other hand really shines when it comes to added functionality and upgradeability. As it's an entirely open-source platform there is an unlimited number of plugins and add-ons that are available for upgrading your site.
While most of these are free, you need to be careful while using them, as they may have malware embedded inside. So, make it a point to download only verified plugins, or go for a premium, paid options that are guaranteed to perform as expected.
But unlike Weebly, with Wordpress your upgrade options are not limited to app or plugin availability. With a savvy web developer by your side, you can upgrade your wordpress website into an incredibly complex mechanism.

SEO Capabilities

We've fairly established that both WordPress and Weebly offer convenient platforms to develop a website. But are they customizable enough to incorporate SEO features? After all, a website that can't be optimized for search is like a kite without wind. 
Let's take a look at Weebly's SEO capabilities first. On this platform, you're given access to all the primary SEO tasks such as page title customization, meta manipulation, and URL customization. However, editing headers is a little tricky. 
But Weebly does allow you other SEO options such as editing alt-tags, setting up 301 redirects, and adding SSL certificates. What's more, you can even integrate Google Analytics code in your site.
SEO is predicated on stellar blogging capabilities and unfortunately Weebly's blogging platform isn't very impressive. The debate over the organic ranking capabilities of drag and drop web builders continues to rage, and if these solutions don't focus on improving their integrated blogging platforms they'll continue to be outranked by superior blogging websites.
Wordpress, on the other hand, started as a blogging platform so you know it's design is optimized to rank organically. 335% of the internet is powered by Wordpress, it wouldn't be this popular if the platform wasn't great for SEO 
The Wordpress plugin Yoast SEO makes technical SEO a breeze by guiding you through all of the necessary changes that need to be made to optimize your website content for Google.

Security

When it comes to security, Weebly has you covered. Since it's an entirely proprietary platform, all aspects of website protection are taken care of by the company itself.
What's more, since Weebly websites are hosted on secure servers, you have the piece of mind of knowing that there's a dedicated internal team continuously monitoring server security.   
For WordPress, security depends on your choice of host. Also, installing themes and plugins from questionable sources could compromise the safety of your web property. When downloading Wordpress add-ons, you need to ensure that they've been verified and are updated regularly.

E-commerce

If you're planning to use Weebly for setting up an online store, then there are a few limitations you'll have to deal with. While Weebly is capable enough to provide you with reasonable e-commerce features, this is only suitable for small and medium businesses that sell a limited number of goods. If you're looking for a customer login system and expecting to receive cash-on-delivery payments, Weebly can't help you there. 
WordPress, however, is fully equipped to offer ecommerce features. With an unlimited amount of ecommerce power, Wordpress's WooCommerce plugin provides unmatched capabilities for online shopping. Using Wordpress, you can sell any number of commodities, accept payments both online and offline, and communicate with customers in a fully operational manner. 
That being said, setting up WooCommerce requires a certain amount of technical expertise. Unless you're adept at WordPress principles, you might need to hire a developer to get things moving.

Customer Support

Finally, let's talk a bit about customer support. Weebly provides you with dedicated customer service. This includes live chat, online help, and a dedicated telephonic support system that can help you out in times of need. What's more, the company even publishes regular resources in the form of video and written guides and tutorials. 
With Wordpress, however, things are a bit more complicated.. Since it's open-source software, there's no centralized authority that can help you out in times of need.
However, the very fact that WordPress is open source means there's a huge community of Wordpress developers who can come to your aid. By means of social media, online forums, and a rich, dedicated community, you can be sure that you'll get help in one form or the other.

Final Verdict

If you want to always have the option of upgrading the functionality of your website in the future to limitless heights, Wordpress is definitely the better option. If you you just want a simple website published as quickly as possible, you will find Weebly a more comfortable choice. 
 
Tueleze nini unachohitaji kifanywe
Weka jina la mradi wako
Anzisha Mradi wako
Hadithi Zinazohusiana

Zungumza na mmoja wa Marubani Wetu wa Kiufundi ili kukusaidia katika mradi wako

Pata Msaada Sasa

Nakala Zinazopendekezwa Kwa Ajili Yako Tu

Kijipicha cha Makala Why you need a social media marketing strategy
Effective social media marketing is crucial your brand. Learn how to hire a social media expert to bring you maximum results for minimum investment
10 min read
Kijipicha cha Makala The beginner's guide to Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a powerful tool for monitoring your website's performance, so you need to master its use. Read our guide to learn how.
8 min read
Kijipicha cha Makala 10 free digital marketing courses to help your business
Brush up your entrepreneurial skill set with these free digital marketing courses
4 min read
Kijipicha cha Makala Funding your startup
A million dollar business idea is useless if it remains written on a napkin. Learn the best ways of securing funding to build your dream.
26 min read
Asante! Tumekutumia kiungo cha kudai mkopo wako bila malipo kwa barua pepe.
Hitilafu fulani imetokea wakati wa kutuma barua pepe yako. Tafadhali jaribu tena.
Watumiaji Waliosajiliwa Jumla ya Kazi Zilizochapishwa
Freelancer ® is a registered Trademark of Freelancer Technology Pty Limited (ACN 142 189 759)
Copyright © 2024 Freelancer Technology Pty Limited (ACN 142 189 759)
Onyesho la kukagua linapakia
Ruhusa imetolewa kwa Uwekaji wa Kijiografia.
Muda wako wa kuingia umeisha na umetoka nje. Tafadhali ingia tena.