You’ve heard the hype, watched some videos, maybe even asked colleagues their thoughts on WordPress. But is it right for YOUR business? Join WordPress consultant Alison Knott for a Lunch and Learn where she’ll outline the strengths (and weaknesses) of WordPress. What are the realistic costs? How long does it really take to get up and running? How does it stack up against Wix, Squarespace and Shopify? Ask all the burning questions you have about WordPress - Alison will be there to educate, not convert. Alison Knott is the owner of Eraserheader Design, a one-stop web consultant and brand shop. She is a designer, national public speaker, instructor and coding queen with over a decade in the field. She turns the complicated simple, dreams in both rgb/cmyk, and prides herself on delighting those she works with. You can find great ‘what the hell do I do with my website now?’ tips from her weekly Facebook live show LunchPress. Presented at a Daley Progress Lunch & Learn in Halifax, November 3.

1. FOR MY BUSINESS?
ALISON KNOTT ERASERHEADER.COM
IS WORDPRESS RIGHT

2. IS WORDPRESS RIGHT
FOR MY BIZ?
BEFORE WE BEGIN...
WHAT’S YOUR BUSINESS? WHAT YOU HOPE
TO LEARN IN THIS SESSION?

3. IS WORDPRESS RIGHT
FOR MY BIZ?
Alison Knot | @eraserheader | eraserheader.com
Howdy, I’m Alison!
• Coder as well as designer
• Freelancer since 2007, focused on training and
consulting since 2014
• Teach design at NSCC IT Campus
• Created Halifax WP Meetup and conference
• Love WP but agree it’s not for everyone

4. IS WORDPRESS RIGHT
FOR MY BIZ?
Alison Knot | @eraserheader | eraserheader.com
What we’ll cover today...
• Background of WordPress
• Comparing it to Wix, Squarespace and Shopify
- Cost
- Ease of use
- Selling (ecommerce and services)
- Customization
- SEO
• Any specific WP questions you may have

5. • Started in 2004
• Makes up 59.7% of CMS sites
• 28.9% of all sites online (!!!)
• Open Source/General Public License
• Two versions: .com and .org
https://w3techs.com/technologies/details/cm-wordpress/all/all

6. LET’S LOOK AT COST

7. IS WORDPRESS RIGHT
FOR MY BIZ?
Alison Knot | @eraserheader | eraserheader.com
Questions to ask yourself about cost
• How much you want to spend maintaining
content or site technology
• Budget for add-ons or scaling up
• Flexibility in plans or leaving platform (only WP
lets you switch hosting easily)
• Professional developers are ~$80-$150/hour
• Professional designers are $45-$100/hour

8. WordPress.com
WordPress.org
Wix
Squarespace
Shopify
Domain
Free
Option Hosting Monthly Charge (annually) Transaction FeesSSL
$10+
package
Buy your
own
Buy your
own
Buy your
own
(free or
$40+)
$10+
package
x
x
Personal $5.00
Premium $10.00
Business $32.42
Only any plugin
subscriptions you
may have or
$800+ for contractor
Just domain $5
Combo (Personal) $10
Unlimited *Entrepreneur $14
eCom (small biz) $17
VIP (priority support) $25
Web personal $16
Web Businesss $25
Ecom Basic $34
Ecom Advanced $52
trial
Lite $9
Basic $29
Shopify $79
Advanced $299
Their System: Credit Cards
Lite 2.9-3.5% + 30¢
Basic 2.9-3.5% + 30¢
Shopify 2.7-3.4% + 30¢
Advanced 2.4-3.3% + 30¢
External Fee
Lite 2.0%
Basic 2.0%
Shopify 1.0%
Advanced 0.5%
None (so they say?)
Connects to Stripe,PayPal or both
2.9% + 30¢
Dependant on external payment gate
(Paypal 2.9% + 30¢)(Gumroad 3.5% + 30¢)
Dependant on external payment gate
(Paypal 2.9% + 30¢)(Gumroad 3.5% + 30¢)
USD
USD

9. IS WORDPRESS RIGHT
FOR MY BIZ?
Alison Knot | @eraserheader | eraserheader.com
Solve A LOT of common WordPress woes
• Avoid“cheap”hosting - you get what you pay for
• Should cover backups, updates, speed, SSL, security
and staging (so you can play safely)
• Siteground: $5.95-$11.95US/month (on sale)
• WPEngine: $29-99US/month
• Flywheel: $14-69US/month

10. LET’S LOOK AT EASE OF USE

11. IS WORDPRESS RIGHT
FOR MY BIZ?
Alison Knot | @eraserheader | eraserheader.com
Questions to ask yourself about content
• How comfortable are you with working online?
• How much time will you dedicate to updating content
or managing someone else who will?

12. IS WORDPRESS RIGHT
FOR MY BIZ?
Alison Knot | @eraserheader | eraserheader.com
Learning curves
• Both WPs can have a bit of learning curve if you
try to DIY with little support/training
• Wix is drag and drop... presto!
• Squarespace is pretty straight forward
• Shopify uses own‘liquid’language and can get
heavy in“jargon”at times

13. LET’S LOOK AT SELLING

14. IS WORDPRESS RIGHT
FOR MY BIZ?
Alison Knot | @eraserheader | eraserheader.com
Questions to ask yourself about selling
• What are you selling and how? (digital and
subscriptions are tricky so plan that out)
• Logistics of shipping and payment?
• Budget for transaction fees?
• Do you need to link inventory, POS, etc?
https://eraserheader.com/lunchpress-24-things-consider-ecommerce/

15. IS WORDPRESS RIGHT
FOR MY BIZ?
Alison Knot | @eraserheader | eraserheader.com
Selling points
• Squarespace and Shopify are built specifically for
a shopping experience
• WordPress can solve any 3rd party link
• Wix storefront isn’t talked about a lot
• It’s ok to mix platforms (ie: WP for content,
Shopify or Squarespace for e-com)
• WP can integrate with Square Card Reader

16. IS WORDPRESS RIGHT
FOR MY BIZ?
Alison Knot | @eraserheader | eraserheader.com
Selling Points
• You want to be able to track abandoned carts,
re-target customers and increase sales
• Wix remains quiet on this front
• All others offer a bevy of add-ons, apps, etc to
achieve this

17. WordPress.com
WordPress.org
Wix
Squarespace
Shopify
Domain
Free
Option Hosting Monthly Charge (annually) Transaction FeesSSL
$10+
package
Buy your
own
Buy your
own
Buy your
own
(free or
$40+)
$10+
package
x
x
Personal $5.00
Premium $10.00
Business $32.42
Only any plugin
subscriptions you
may have or
$800+ for contractor
Just domain $5
Combo (Personal) $10
Unlimited *Entrepreneur $14
eCom (small biz) $17
VIP (priority support) $25
Web personal $16
Web Businesss $25
Ecom Basic $34
Ecom Advanced $52
trial
Lite $9
Basic $29
Shopify $79
Advanced $299
Their System: Credit Cards
Lite 2.9-3.5% + 30¢
Basic 2.9-3.5% + 30¢
Shopify 2.7-3.4% + 30¢
Advanced 2.4-3.3% + 30¢
External Fee
Lite 2.0%
Basic 2.0%
Shopify 1.0%
Advanced 0.5%
None (so they say?)
Connects to Stripe,PayPal or both
2.9% + 30¢
Dependant on external payment gate
(Paypal 2.9% + 30¢)(Gumroad 3.5% + 30¢)
Dependant on external payment gate
(Paypal 2.9% + 30¢)(Gumroad 3.5% + 30¢)
USD
USD

18. LET’S LOOK AT BRANDING

19. IS WORDPRESS RIGHT
FOR MY BIZ?
Alison Knot | @eraserheader | eraserheader.com
WordPress
• 1,000 of themes
• Many you can customize with lots or little effort
• Tweak for your brand and stand out
• Lots of help out there (forum or paid)
• Learn CSS and you’re golden

20. IS WORDPRESS RIGHT
FOR MY BIZ?
Alison Knot | @eraserheader | eraserheader.com
Wix
• Easy drag and drop for perfect look BUT...
• Posts are not as customizable
• You may not be designing a good website

21. IS WORDPRESS RIGHT
FOR MY BIZ?
Alison Knot | @eraserheader | eraserheader.com
Squarespace
• Beautiful UI (WP has similar in development)
• Limiting themes especially with blogs
• Lots of support
• Tend to all look the same

22. IS WORDPRESS RIGHT
FOR MY BIZ?
Alison Knot | @eraserheader | eraserheader.com
Shopify
• Simple but effective UI
• Does basic landing pages and blog
• More design options than Squarespace
• Lots of support and contractors

23. IS WORDPRESS RIGHT
FOR MY BIZ?
Alison Knot | @eraserheader | eraserheader.com
LET’S LOOK AT SEO
(AKA RANKING IN SEARCH RESULTS)

24. IS WORDPRESS RIGHT
FOR MY BIZ?
Alison Knot | @eraserheader | eraserheader.com
Considerations around SEO
• You have to meet the needs of humans
AND technology
• Make sure you can edit as many aspects as
possible as you get more savvy
• Rebecca Gill did all the hard work for us
(WordPress wins, Wix sucks)
https://www.web-savvy-marketing.com/2017/08/website-seo-wix-squarespace-wordpress-weebly/

25. IS WORDPRESS RIGHT
FOR MY BIZ?
Alison Knot | @eraserheader | eraserheader.com
Total SEO scores by CMS platform:
• WordPress SEO = 39/39
• Squarespace SEO = 29/39
• Wix SEO = 23/39
• Weebly SEO = 21/39
• HubSpot COS = 37/39

26. CONCLUSION

27. THANKS FOLKS!
HAVE ANY QUESTIONS?