Wix, Squarespace and Weebly ads seem to be everywhere these days. These companies promise quick and easy solutions for anyone who needs a website and who has neither webdesign nor programming skills. And although their services can be a viable choice for some, I strongly advise against using them. Let me explain why and what the different between these fully hosted services and a self-hosted website is.

Hosted vs. Self-Hosted

Hosted (or fully hosted): A website built and hosted by a service such as Wix or Weebly. Customers can use the server and software infrastructure these companies provide to build a site with minimal effort and with no technical skills. New websites will be hosted on managed servers and someone makes sure all systems run smoothly. This is very tempting. It is a quick and easy solution for many.

Self-Hosted: A self-hosted website is a website that a customer builds with his or her own (software) tools on a server of choice which has to be rented and configured to accommodate the new website. This may sound scary, but in this day and age none of this is difficult to do.

Today most websites use WordPress as their underlying framework, and most hosting companies run this open source application on their servers. In fact, many hosting companies specialise in WordPress hosting.

This means that customers can rent server space that is already pre-configured for WordPress sites, and because the hosting companies run large numbers of installations on the same server, the costs for these individual server shares are low and affordable for even the smallest budget. Because of WordPress’ popularity (with around 30% market share, it is the biggest player on the market), installing a new self-hosted WordPress website on a server is simpler than ever. Many hosting companies offer a one-click installation to their customers, which makes the entire process even easier.

The Benefits and the Disadvantages

Now, what are the actual benefits of both self-hosting a website and using a ‘one-click-solution’ provider such as Wix or Squarespace?

The advantage of the easy-peasy solution: Buying into a solution that makes setting up and building a new website as easy as scarfing down a piece of cake has an advantage over self-hosting a site: it can be set up in no time and with no technical skills. Users can click their way through a set of pre-configured modules and elements, and the resulting site will almost always look great.

The disadvantages of the easy-peasy solution: By using Wix and friends, you make yourself dependent on their services and have to comply with their terms. This doesn’t mean that you will inevitably run into trouble with them, but they often limit you in the control you have over your website and everything that comes with it.

You will only be allowed to install from a limited range of approved plugins, themes, etc., and server customisations will not be available under normal circumstances. This may not seem like a deal-breaker at first, and it may well never be one, but from my own experience with hundreds of people who have been running and maintaining websites for many years, I know that over time every website is subject to significant modifications and upgrades to ensure it is fit for purpose.

Although Weebly and friends charge prices that may seem acceptable at first, consider (and don’t underestimate) the long-term costs. You will have to pay a subscription-based fee for as long as you want to keep your site up and running. These providers may increase their prices at any time, and there is rarely any space for price negotiations.

And please don’t forget: if one day they feel they don’t like you anymore, or they shut down their service, they may just shut their doors behind you or compliment you off their servers.

The advantage of self-hosting: self-hosted websites really are an investment in your business. Despite the less convenient initial installation and the regular maintenance they require, they are the better choice. Self-hosted sites are cheap. They require nothing more than a recurring annual registration/renewal fee of around $15 or less for the domain name plus low fees for the server (the hosting). Depending on your requirements, you can run a complete full-fledged website for around $35 per year.

Self-hosting is also sexy because you can install whatever you want and screw your site up as often and as seriously as you want. Just kidding. No one tells you what you’re allowed to install, and with only a few skills (or someone who does the installation for you), you can realise even the most ambitious website. You can also send as many emails with as many attachments to as many people as you like, you can run your own newsletter service on your server (not recommended!) or operate the next big hamster porn thing on your site (recommended!) and no one can tell you to post cute cat photos instead. Kidding again.

To put it simply: self-host your site and you’re the boss!

The disadvantage of self-hosting: none, unless you’re a brainless mole!

Ok, ok, there may be a little (tiny) disadvantage in self-hosting your website: responsibility. You are responsible for your site. For its security, its regular updates, its backups and for complying with the legal requirements, although that really applies to any website.

The Van Metaphor

I like to compare creating a website on Wix or Squarespace (or any other similar service) with buying a van for your business vs. leasing it. If you’re Postman Pat and you need a van for your poetry and your cat, and you lease that beautiful red van, modify it to suit your needs, set up shelves and crates inside it and a cosy bed for kitty, then add beautiful adverts on the outside and modify the engine so it can run entirely on water, then that’s something you don’t want to lose when you have to return the van on the day the leasing contract runs out (or you’re bankrupt). If, on the other hand, you buy that van, you and kitty can drive around in it until you both die (or run out of water). All you need to do to keep it running is a little regular maintenance.

Can you now see why self-hosting your website is such a splendid choice and why it is so much better for you than throwing your hard earned coppers into the maw of greedy, hip hosting companies? No, you don’t? Remember the mole…

Note

WordPress is an open source content management framework for web applications. It is free and everyone can download it from wordpress.org.

WordPress.com is a commercial service by Automattic and it is based on the free open-source WordPress software. Although websites created on wordpress.com are based on the free WordPress framework, available features are heavily limited in most packages, which, despite Automattic’s excellent service, makes the platform much less suitable for budget-aware customers.