How to Choose the Right Website Approach for Your Business
A practical guide to choosing between custom development, WordPress, Shopify, and other platforms based on your specific business needs and goals.
Who This Is For
Business owners and stakeholders making a technology decision for a new website or application, trying to understand the tradeoffs between different approaches.
The Decision Framework
Choosing the right approach for your website is one of the most important technology decisions your business will make. The wrong choice can cost you time, money, and opportunities. The right choice sets you up for growth.
Here's a practical framework for making this decision.
Option 1: Custom Development (Next.js, React, etc.)
Best For
Businesses needing unique functionality, SaaS products, high-traffic sites, or companies with specific integration requirements.
Typical investment: $15,000 - $100,000+
Pros:
- Complete control over features and design
- Optimal performance and SEO
- No platform limitations
- Scales with your business
Cons:
- Higher upfront investment
- Requires ongoing maintenance
- Longer development timeline
Option 2: WordPress
Best For
Content-heavy websites, blogs, organizations with limited technical resources, or sites requiring many third-party integrations.
Typical investment: $5,000 - $30,000
Pros:
- Large ecosystem of plugins and themes
- Easy content management
- Familiar interface for many users
- Strong SEO capabilities
Cons:
- Security requires attention
- Can become slow with many plugins
- Premium plugins add ongoing costs
Option 3: Shopify
Best For
E-commerce businesses of any size, retailers needing reliable checkout, businesses wanting hosted solutions.
Typical investment: $3,000 - $25,000 + monthly fees
Pros:
- Built specifically for e-commerce
- Reliable and secure hosting included
- Payment processing built-in
- App ecosystem for extended functionality
Cons:
- Monthly platform fees
- Transaction fees unless using Shopify Payments
- Customization has limits
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Custom | WordPress | Shopify |
|---|---|---|---|
| Investment | $15K-100K+ | $5K-30K | $3K-25K + fees |
| Time to Launch | 8-20 weeks | 4-10 weeks | 2-6 weeks |
| Best For | Unique apps | Content sites | E-commerce |
| Customization | Unlimited | High | Moderate |
| Maintenance | Required | Required | Minimal |
Making Your Decision
Consider these questions:
- What's your primary goal? Selling products, generating leads, providing information?
- What's your budget? Both upfront and ongoing.
- How unique are your requirements? Standard features or custom functionality?
- What's your timeline? Weeks or months?
- Who will maintain it? In-house team or external support?
Our Recommendation Process
When clients come to us, we start with a discovery call to understand:
- Your business goals and target audience
- Required features and integrations
- Budget and timeline constraints
- Internal technical capabilities
From there, we recommend the approach that best balances your needs, budget, and long-term goals.
Our Commitment
We'll give you an honest assessment and recommend the best path forward—even if that means suggesting you don't need custom development.
Not Sure Which Approach Is Right?
Let's discuss your specific situation. We'll help you understand the tradeoffs and choose the best path forward.
Need Help With This?
If you have questions about the topics covered in this article, or need help implementing something similar, we're here to help.