The short answer: if your website’s main job is to explain what you do and bring in enquiries, start with WordPress. If its main job is to sell products online, start with Shopify.
We build on both, and most of the time the decision comes down to that one question. Here’s the longer version, including the costs and limits worth knowing before you commit.
When WordPress is the better choice
WordPress suits most service businesses, trades, professionals and studios. It runs more than 40% of the websites on the internet, which is both its biggest selling point and its most common criticism. Because it’s everywhere, you’ll find excellent WordPress sites and terrible ones.
It’s flexible. We’ve used it for simple sites for local tradespeople and for much larger marketing sites. When your business changes, the site can usually change with it.
You own what you’ve built. Your content sits in your own database on your own hosting. You can move to a different host or change developers. With some website builders, the day you stop paying is the day your website stops existing.
It doesn’t get in the way of SEO. WordPress gives you clean web addresses and a sensible page structure, and a plugin like Yoast gives you good control over how your pages appear in search results. It won’t guarantee rankings, because content and links from other sites still do the heavy lifting.
What to watch with WordPress
WordPress needs regular maintenance. The core software and plugins need updating, and security needs watching. If that isn’t something you want to think about, we offer WordPress support.
When Shopify is the better choice
For most retail online stores, Shopify is where we’d start.
It handles the technical side. Hosting, security, updates and payment processing are all built in, so more of the budget can go into a store that sells well.
You can run it yourself. Adding products, changing prices, running a sale and checking orders are all done from a straightforward dashboard. If you can use online banking, you can learn Shopify, and most clients are comfortable after a handover session.
Payment security is largely looked after. Shopify is Level 1 PCI DSS compliant, which is the highest level of the payment card security standard.
There’s probably an app for it. Shipping rules, loyalty programs, accounting connections and product reviews are usually covered by an app, so you rarely need something custom built.
What to watch with Shopify
Shopify charges a monthly fee, and paid apps can add to it. It’s also less of a natural fit if you’re selling B2B with complex pricing, running unusual subscription billing or need a deep connection to a custom business system. In those cases, it’s worth looking at other options before you commit.
What about WooCommerce?
WooCommerce adds a store to a WordPress site. It can suit a business that wants a content-heavy website alongside a smaller store, and it can cost less month to month. The trade-off is that you’re also looking after the store’s updates and security, so for straightforward retail, Shopify is usually simpler to run.
Selling products and services?
Choose based on where most of your income comes from. A service business selling a few products can often stay on WordPress. A store that also offers a service is usually better on Shopify.
If you’re still not sure, tell us what you sell and how you work and we’ll give you a straight recommendation. You can also read what a small business website costs in Australia.