When I work with people who are new to updating their own website, I often hear some surprising misinformation about what it takes to develop and host a website. Here is a basic introduction to websites, including information about some of the main website builders.
Servers and Domains
First off, a website is hosted on a server. This means that the data for your website is stored on a company’s server, and this is what you are paying for. Search “website hosting” and you’ll find a number of companies that do this. Separate from your web space, you will need to own a domain name. Some companies sell both domain names and web space and offer discounts if you buy both, but you must have both to have a website. If you work with a web designer, it may make sense for the designer to host your website and for you to pay for your domain name.
WordPress
WordPress is free. Yes, absolutely free and it is fully customizable. Many people are familiar with the simple blogs that people build through www.wordpress.com which is free with some pay-for-upgrade options. There is a whole other side of WordPress at www.wordpress.org which provides and maintains free open-source software. You still need your web space and domain name, but the free software gives you full control over your website, which is not the case for the free blogs. WordPress, when used like this, is often called a Content Management System (CMS) because the website can be edited from anywhere. You can log in from your computer and add content anytime.
The Other Options
Squarespace and Weebly are two other options that offer services that are in between that of www.wordpress.com and www.wordpress.org. Squarespace will host your website and create a domain name for $8 per month (with limited bandwidth and a maximum of 20 pages on your website). For $16 per month, you get unlimited everything. Squarespace is similar to WordPress in that it is designed for use with a pre-existing template. The templates on Squarespace are quite good and the editing mechanism is easy to use and centered around a “drag and drop” feel. Squarespace, like Weebly, just started offering a “developer” option so that you can customize any part of your website if you have knowledge of CSS and HTML. With this addition to Squarespace, there is almost no difference between it and Weebly. Weebly has its own developer platform and will try to sell you web hosting and domain names.
Confused? The good thing to realize is that in the end, each of these tools gets you to the same place, it just depends on how you want to get there. I choose WordPress because of its extensive support and it saves me time (and you money) since there are a number of built-in shortcuts.