When it comes to setting up a professional website, you no longer have to be an expert. There are a lot of ways that you can get a good site up and running, and one of the easiest methods is through the use of a hosted platform site builders. This opportunity allows you create lavish websites through the use of a built in system that is in these hosting providers. For a small fee you could use their subdomain and limited resources, or for an increased amount, you could have your own domain name and an increase of storage and bandwidth. If you’re on the fence of which one to choose, you may want to look at Squarespace and Wix as the two prominent hosted platform site builders.
The Squarespace Solution
Squarespace works a lot like WordPress, only it’s a self-contained hosted solution. They offer a wide variety of templates, and each of their designs really don’t give you as much freedom as they claim to give you. As far as hosted platform site builders, they are elegant, minimalist, and on par with what’s going on in the world of web design right now. You will find that there is a great number of resources that they provide as they piggy back off the same kind of design protocol that you would get with a WordPress hosted solution. If you pick their subdomain, it’s somewhat affordable, but if you want to register your own name and get a larger hosting plan, you will have to pay a premium price much higher than your average shared web hosting solution. However, as you pay more the tools and plugins you can use increase as well, making this a solid choice amongst hosted platform site builders.
The Wix Edge
Wix is an interesting option amongst hosted platform site builders, as it is free to use the basic solution. If you pay a premium you can have more control, and even add customizable JavaScript, HTML, advertising and more. However, if you don’t want to purchase a paid option, you’ll be limited in bandwidth, storage, and more. The editor here is simple, beyond simple, and it sticks to build in templates that act more like an old time Yahoo, or Lycos sub domain website page. While it doesn’t offer 100% customizations, it is adequate for those that want a very simple website, but not necessary a blog platform like that of Squarespace.
Which Is Better?
As far as hosted platform site builders, they both have their ups and downs. Artists, higher end professionals, and web 2.0 marketers will want to go with Squarespace. However, small businesses, blue collar shops, and other storefronts will want to go with Wix’s free solution. Either one is limited when you consider web hosting in the wide open platforms that are available, but then again, the cost effective nature of these makes them appealing to most. Look at each one and see the test versions to further understand which will be worth exploring on your end.
