Given the multitude of platforms currently available, it is sometimes difficult to decide which one to use to create your website and with which one to entrust your online presence and sometimes even a large part of your professional activities.

Should I create my website with WordPress or opt for Wix instead? Should I manage my online store with Odoo or go with Shopify? This is what we will explore in this little overview of the various services.

Who Owns Your Data?

The first important criterion is the ownership of your data and the freedom to use it as you wish.

If you choose to start on a turnkey online platform, you can simply and quickly create a website with the help of the many templates at your disposal.

You don't have to worry about updates and other hassles because the platform takes care of everything.

However, you are also very dependent on the goodwill of the platform, its rates, and choices to keep your business running. And even if there are possibilities to export your data, they often turn out to be incomplete and practically unusable if you want to change your hosting provider, for example.

If you value simplicity and immediacy over the durability and control of your data, then websites like Wix, Squarespace, Webflow, and Shopify could make you happy.

Useful Information: Since your website will depend on these platforms, be sure to choose the well-established ones with a large user base.

My Advice:

• Wix: Beginner. Wix is ideal for a simple website.

• Squarespace: Beginner - Intermediate. Squarespace is also perfect for a simple website. The proposed templates are very professional, and the platform offers interesting e-commerce possibilities.

• Webflow: Intermediate - Expert designer. This is the most complex of the four. There are many options to add a "Wow" effect to your website. Nevertheless, Webflow is aimed at advanced users with good knowledge of CSS and HTML. Beginners can get by but will only take advantage of some of what the platform has to offer.

• Shopify: Beginner - Intermediate. As the name suggests, Shopify is heavily focused on online sales and is clearly the most interesting of the 4 in this area. Shopify has many partnerships and can easily be linked to websites like Facebook and others.

Is it Just Your Website or Your Entire Business?

Beyond the classic platforms mentioned above, other platforms provide even more services than just a website.

Odoo and Zoho, to name a few, offer complete solutions to businesses to launch and manage their activities. This ranges from website creation to invoicing, including customer prospecting. Each service is provided in the form of "apps" that are independent of each other but can be stacked and interact with each other for even greater efficiency.

More than what is offered by Wix and others, the platform is heavily dependent on your data and activities. However it is possible to host Odoo on your servers, but this requires a lot of technical knowledge.

The setup can be complex for beginners, but it is tremendously efficient once the system is in place.

Creating a website is very simple with "drag and drop" and the whole thing integrates well with the rest of your applications (sales, chat, etc..). It is possible to customize the website with some knowledge, but it is very far from Webflow, for example.

Does Your Website Need to be Dynamic and Highly Adaptive?

If keeping control over your data is important, then you can use CMS (Content Management System) to create your website or have it custom developed with technologies like REACTJS, Node, Strapi, etc.

Here, your data is stored with the host of your choice, and you can move it more easily.

When choosing, it all comes down to your comfort with the web, your budget, the complexity of your website, and its features.

WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, and Prestashop are some of the most popular CMS platforms that allow you to create your website in a relatively simple way while controlling your data.

However, who says control says "manual" handling? To launch this type of website on the web, you will have, for example, to take care of the host and the domain name, which can be confusing for beginners. Moreover, you must update it regularly at the risk of being exposed to hackers.

On the other hand, the big advantage of these CMS is that it has a very active community and can do almost everything with thousands of plugins.

Finally, if the project size justifies it and you have the budget, then I advise you to develop your website with a specialized team that will respond precisely to your needs.

You will keep control of your data and will be able to make the website evolve as you go along.

There is a myriad of technology (PHP, React js, Vue js, Angular, etc... ), and, at this level, you should contact a developer directly who can guide you in your choice.

My Advice:

• WordPress: This is the most popular CMS. It is the first choice for beginners who want to create their website.

• Joomla: This CMS is still very popular, but the official team no longer supports it. I don't recommend it to start a new project.

• Drupal: It is recommended for creating very complex websites. Drupal is more for more prominent companies with particular needs.

• Prestashop: This is the equivalent of Shopify, except that you can (and should) manage everything. This CMS is very focused on online sales and is not recommended if you want to create a simple blog.

Summary

Here is a quick summary to help you decide which platform is best for you.