Creating a business website

Frank12

Hi all,

I am in the process of setting up a website for my new business idea, I am looking to set it up myself . What website builder is best to use? I will need to be able to update the website regularly.
Also if anyone has any tips on how to accept online payments , I have being looking at PayPal and stripe.

luketitz

Frank12 wrote: »

Hi all,

I am in the process of setting up a website for my new business idea, I am looking to set it up myself . What website builder is best to use? I will need to be able to update the website regularly.
Also if anyone has any tips on how to accept online payments , I have being looking at PayPal and stripe.

What kind of business is it, ecommerce products, services, b2b, b2c, etc?

As a blanket response to someone relatively new to websites, I'd generally recommend WordPress and WooCommerce which have simple Stripe/PayPal payment gateway integrations are easy to maintain with a bit of practice, but other options such as Shopify are on the rise in popularity and are reasonably priced - it really depends on what exactly you need the website to do for your business (and what kind of budget you have to invest in a solid build and maintenance).

mneylon

Also what kind of budget do you have?

Do you have technical or design skills?

A lot of the sitebuilders are easy to use and have some level of e-commerce support.
Paypal support is pretty much a given at this stage, though you'd probably want something that supports other options as the business grows (Paypal fees are pretty high!)

pamello

I agree with @luketitz on:

I'd generally recommend WordPress and WooCommerce which have simple Stripe/PayPal payment gateway integrations are easy to maintain with a bit of practice

If your website is an ecommerce one, with Shopify you can get up and running quickly. It is simpler to use than Wordpress / Woocommerce but it's a bit more limited when it comes to customisation and SEO.

Wordpress + Woocommerce would allow a very high level of customisation and I would recommend it in the long-term.

webtimal

lWhat luketitz and pamelo have indicated, I consider as good advice. WordPress and WooCommerce are a good solution to implement a first website for your business idea. As a page builder I can highly recommend Elementor. With it, content can be created easily and quickly even without extensive programming knowledge and the updates you mentioned can be done comfortably.

Stripe and PayPal are very easy to integrate. The fees mentioned by mneylon should not be ignored, but other payment providers also charge fees and you are usually bound to long-term contracts with initial costs and monthly fees. Therefore it makes sense to calculate which solution is more economical for the expected sales.

Another advantage of WordPress is the Yoast SEO Plugin, which makes it easy for beginners to optimize the website. A great website or online shop is useless if you are not found. Plan the SEO work from the beginning or look for a suitable partner for it.

SixtaWalthers

I can recommend WordPress because it is really easy to handle and update without the help of technical experts. For payment, you can go with stripe, PayPal and even can also include Payoneer.

bo0li5eumx12kp

webtimal wrote: »

lWhat luketitz and pamelo have indicated, I consider as good advice. WordPress and WooCommerce are a good solution to implement a first website for your business idea. As a page builder I can highly recommend Elementor. With it, content can be created easily and quickly even without extensive programming knowledge and the updates you mentioned can be done comfortably.

Are you suggesting replacing Wordpress with Elemetor as a page builder?

I'm a blank slate on this topic and basically an advocate of reductionism so, core concepts first.

1) A builder + domain hoster

Or

2) An ecommerce site like Shoppify = both steps in 1.

Something like that?

I know dudes who have basic websites with an intro page and a series of info tabs, that run businesses locally and there's no WAY those dudes are tech wizards, and the probability of them paying designer to maintain their site is null (some of them run their business out of their moms spare room to save money).

In other words, there's a cheap and easy way to host a basic but effective website with ones own domain name, that's easily customizable with pics and tabs, info etc, and possible payment links.

What is it, basically?

FionMc

I also recommedn Wordpress and coupled with the Divi themes. They have an integrated page builder UI

inuendotime

I do apologize if I accidentally revived the thread. From my point of view, WordPress is one of the best website builders for creating an easy e-commerce website. Back in 2018, I did not know how to code and how to create a website and whenever I heard that someone is building a website I thought that he might be a developer. But later I met WordPress and I realized that anyone can make a cool e-commerce website and there is no need to be a developer for that.

Kazbah

Hi All,

I have a related query so hope it's ok to hijack this thread!
I want to host a basic website. I created one on wix. What is the best company to use for hosting?

Thanks

Philipmcnill

I got a website with seowizard with free hosting. I paid only 250 euros seo ready. Sometimes they have deals https://seowizard.ie go to web design

It pointless to pay WIX 29 permonth

MouseMan01

I'd agree. WordPress ( and WooCommerce ) are great.

However, they need to be updated/upgraded monthly by a web dev. Failure to do so will leave your system vulnerable and your themes may not render properly in the future.

You have to offset this against the fact that most Page Builders ie. Wix, Shopify etc... will charge you to do anything useful and will tie you into their ecosystem as much as possible as you expand.

If you see this as being a serious business with the opportunity to scale. Go with WordPress. If it's a hobby. Stick with Wix et. al. IMO.

raniemis

hey! old thread, but, I'd recommend using Wix or Squarespace as both are user-friendly for beginners and offer easy options for regular updates. For online payments, Stripe is great for its flexibility, while PayPal is widely recognized and trusted by customers.