According to our research and experience in the last 15 years, there is no single platform that is right for every business. WordPress may be ideal for one organisation, Shopify for another and a custom-built solution for a third. The best choice depends on what you need the website to do, who will manage it and how it needs to connect with the rest of your business.
The mistake we see most often is choosing a platform before the requirements are clear. It is better to start with the business need then choose the technology that supports it.
Below is our seven-point checklist, which we use at Smart Web Agency to identify the most suitable website platform for clients across the UK and internationally.
1. Start with the purpose of the website
A simple service website and a B2B ecommerce portal may both be called a “website” but they require very different planning.
Think about questions such as:
- Will you need to update pages, articles or case studies regularly?
- Are you selling products, subscriptions or services online?
- Do you need bookings, payments or appointment management?
- Will the website need to connect with a CRM, ERP, email marketing platform or accounting system?
- Do customers need to log in, view orders or access documents?
- Will you need multiple languages or websites for different regions?
- Is the website likely to grow into something more complex over the next few years?
You do not need every answer before speaking to a web agency but having a clear view of the direction helps avoid the wrong platform being selected simply because it is familiar.
2. Think about who will manage the site after launch
A website should be manageable by the people who use it.
If your marketing team needs to add campaign pages, publish news, update services and manage case studies, the content management experience matters as much as the public-facing design. You need enough flexibility to keep the website current, without making it too easy for layouts, branding or important conversion pages to be changed by mistake.
For content-led websites, WordPress can be a strong option when it is properly planned and built. We often use a bespoke Gutenberg setup so the editing experience reflects the way the business actually creates content, rather than handing over a generic page builder with too many options.
For a smaller website that needs occasional updates, a hosted platform such as Squarespace or Wix may be sufficient. These can be useful where the requirements are straightforward and the business wants to keep technical administration to a minimum.
The important point is not whether a platform is “easy”. It is whether it is easy for your team to manage properly.
3. Choose the right level of flexibility
Most website platforms can produce an attractive website. The difference becomes clearer when you need something beyond standard pages and contact forms.
A template-led platform can suit a small business that needs a simple online presence, a portfolio or a basic service website. It may not be the right choice if you need a bespoke quote calculator, a complex booking flow, advanced product options, a customer portal or integrations with business systems.
WordPress is often a good fit for businesses that need a tailored marketing website, regular content updates, search-friendly page structures and room to add functionality over time. It is widely supported and can be developed as a bespoke website rather than based on an off-the-shelf theme.
Shopify is usually the first platform we consider for ecommerce businesses. It is purpose-built for selling online and can support the day-to-day requirements of a growing store, including products, orders, payments and marketing tools. The right Shopify setup still needs planning, particularly if you have subscriptions, trade accounts, different customer pricing, product options or integrations with stock and finance systems.
Webflow can work well for design-led marketing websites with relatively simple requirements. It is worth looking closely at how your team will manage content, whether the integrations you need are suitable and how the platform will support future changes.
Where a website needs to behave more like a business system, custom development may be the better route. For example, customer portals, membership systems, marketplace platforms, internal dashboards and complex integrations often require a bespoke application rather than trying to force the requirement into a standard website platform.
4. Look at your integrations before making a decision
Your website is unlikely to operate on its own.
It may need to connect with a CRM such as GHL, HubSpot or Salesforce, an email marketing system such as Mailchimp or Klaviyo, a payment provider such as Stripe, a booking system, an ERP, stock management software or internal databases.
These connections should be discussed early. A platform may have an available app or connector, but that does not automatically mean it will meet your requirements. You need to understand what data will move between the systems, whether it happens automatically and who will be responsible for maintaining the connection.
This is particularly important for ecommerce. If product information, stock, customer records and orders need to move between a website and an ERP, the platform choice should support that operation from the beginning.
For example, on a B2B ecommerce project involving Shopify and Microsoft Business Central, we would look beyond the website design. We would consider how products, stock, customers, orders, branch-level access and trade pricing need to work together. This is where the right technical planning saves a great deal of manual work later.
5. Consider the real cost over time
The platform licence or first development quote is only part of the cost.
You should also consider hosting, maintenance, security updates, app subscriptions, payment fees, support, integrations and future changes. A low-cost website can become expensive if it needs several paid apps, workarounds or a rebuild once the business grows.
That does not mean every business needs a large bespoke project. It means the solution should match the requirement honestly.
A simple website on a managed platform may be the sensible choice for a new business. A more established organisation may benefit from investing in a tailored WordPress website, a Shopify store or a custom-built platform that supports its operations properly.
We would normally advise clients to consider where the business is expected to be in two or three years, not just what is needed on launch day.
6. Do not overlook performance, search and accessibility
The platform will not make a website perform well on its own. Good results depend on the design, content, technical build, user experience and ongoing work after launch.
However, your chosen platform should allow the website to be built properly. It should support clear page structures, mobile-friendly layouts, sensible content management, analytics, search engine optimisation, redirects, image optimisation and accessibility considerations.
A website can look impressive but still be difficult to use, slow to load or unclear about what the business offers. Those issues affect enquiries and sales far more than the logo in the website footer.
The platform should support a good website. It should not become an excuse for poor planning or poor implementation.
7. Understand ownership and future options
Before choosing a platform, make sure you understand what you will own and what would happen if you wanted to move in future.
With a self-hosted platform such as WordPress, you generally have more control over the website files, database and hosting arrangement. Hosted platforms can reduce technical administration because the provider manages more of the underlying infrastructure, but they may offer less flexibility if you later need to move elsewhere.
Neither route is automatically better. The important thing is that you understand the trade-off.
You should also have clarity over ownership of your domain name, hosting account, website content, source code, data and any paid licences or third-party services used as part of the website.
A simple guide to the main options
WordPress is often suitable for bespoke marketing websites, content-heavy websites and organisations that need flexibility over time. It works best when it is properly designed, developed and maintained.
Shopify is usually a strong choice for ecommerce businesses. It can be particularly suitable for retailers who want a reliable platform for managing products and orders, with scope for integrations and future growth.
Webflow can suit design-focused marketing websites with relatively straightforward content and functionality requirements. It is important to assess the editing experience and integrations before committing.
Wix and Squarespace can work well for smaller, simpler websites where a business needs to get online quickly and does not need extensive bespoke functionality.
Custom development is worth considering when the website includes complex workflows, customer logins, business-system integrations, bespoke tools or requirements that cannot be delivered sensibly through a standard platform.
Choose the platform after the discovery work
The best platform is usually the simplest one that can meet your requirements properly, without creating unnecessary restrictions later.
We work with WordPress, Shopify, Webflow and custom technologies including Laravel and React-based builds. We do not recommend one platform for every project because the right answer depends on the business, the users, the website’s purpose and the systems it needs to work with.
If you are planning a new website and are unsure which route is right, speak to our team about what you are looking to improve. We can help you assess the options before you commit to a platform.
