If you are looking for the cheapest way to be online, you have three options: a free site builder, a paid template or a custom design. This article explains what each one gives you, what it does not, and which one fits you.
01What the three options give you
- Free site. With a tool such as Wix, WordPress.com or Google Sites you open a site without paying. It usually runs on the tool's own address.
- Paid template. You use a site builder's paid plan or a theme you bought. The site runs on your own domain, and the design changes only as far as the template allows.
- Custom design. A designer or studio builds the site for your business from scratch. Text layout, photos, Google setup and launch are part of the job.
02What a free site costs you later
Free plans are fine for starting. But they have limits you should know from the beginning:
- Someone else's address. A free Wix site runs on a Wix address. To connect your own domain you need Wix's paid Premium plan.
- Ads. WordPress.com shows its own ads to visitors on free sites. On Wix, removing Wix ads also needs Premium.
- A site you cannot move. According to Wix, Wix sites cannot be moved to another platform. If you want to leave, you rebuild the site.
- Your time. You build it, write the texts, choose the photos and keep it up to date.
Before you start a free site, check what connecting your own domain and removing the ads will cost you each year.
03When a ready-made site is enough
- You are just starting and first want to show your address, phone and a few photos.
- You have the time to build the site and keep it up to date yourself.
- A few pages in one language do the job.
04When it is not enough
- You want to appear in specific searches. That takes a page for each service and each area, the right titles and a fast site.
- You sell in more than one language. Each language needs a full set of pages.
- You do not want to look like everyone else. Other businesses use the same templates. Your site may end up looking like theirs.
- Your business is growing. As you add products, branches, bookings or quote forms, you can run into the template's limits.
05Side by side
| Free site | Paid template | Custom design | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start-up cost | None | Plan or theme fee | Quoted per project |
| Every year | None | Plan renewal | Domain and hosting, written in the quote |
| Address | The tool's address | Your own domain | Your own domain |
| Ads | The tool's ads may show | None | None |
| Design | Template | Template | Made for your business |
| Who builds it | You | You or a freelancer | A designer |
What decides the price, and what to check in offers, is in How Much Does a Website Cost in Turkey.
