If you’re considering a website for your small business you have 2 clear choices of either renting or owning. Let’s take a deeper dive.
Renting (SaaS).
Do you own your own music or video collection, or do you pay each month to have access to a library. Chance are, you’re already renting, you traded ownership for convenience.
Websites are much the same. If you want to, you can pay a company (like Wix or Framer), to provide you with a relatively simple-to-use website framework. You’ll use their tools to create your site, they’ll host it on their server and they’ll handle the maintenance and security. You can probably have a site up-and-running in a couple of days if you know what you’re doing. If you’re just testing the waters with an idea, renting a website maybe an ideal solution, but if it takes off, you may be faced with a complete rebuild.
Owning (WordPress, DIY, etc.)
The alternative is to own your site and whilst you may still need a hosting solution, the actual site belongs to you. WordPress is the most popular of these choices. You can take the code and run it on your own server if you want, but for small business owners, it’s relatively quick to find a hosting company. What kind of site, what kind of functionality is up to you. There are hundreds of themes (paid and free), and thousands of plugins (software that adds extra functionality). You’re not limited in the direction you can take your site, but you’ll need to do a lot more legwork to get it to where you want it. WordPress hosting typically provides backup and some limited security, but owning requires you do to the maintenance or pay a 3rd party to handle it for you.
| Consideration | SaaS | Own |
|---|---|---|
| Control | Walled garden | Your garden |
| Portability | Vendor Lock-In | Freedom |
| Maintenance / Security | Done for you. | Do it yourself. |
| Functionality | Only whatever is provided. | Almost limitless |
| Speed to go-live | Very Fast | Depends on the complexity of your site. |
Opinion
I’m not a fan of renting but it is the right choice for some businesses. If you have an idea for a business and want to get it off the ground quickly, jumping on the rental bandwagon gets you there. The downside is that if the idea appears to be working, you’ll end up having to rebuild the website elsewhere to regain control and break free of the walled-garden. My main objections to renting are :
1. Rent increases / Portability. If you want to go elsewhere, you can’t take the site with you. It’s gone. If you use a service for your website and they double the price next year, either pay up or lose it. Your website is held hostage. If you own, and the hosting company doubles their rates, simply back-up your site and move to one of the many competitors.
2. Functionality. If everyone is using the same templates and has access to the same functionality, then sites can look “samey” and functionality may be limited to whatever the landlord provides. A business, particularly a new business has to stand out. With an open platform, there are many more options, so finding the right fit is easier, and, if you want, you can pay a developer to write something just for you.
4. Trust. The only person looking out for your business is you. If the landlord change their terms-of-service, if they choose to sell your data, if they choose to do X because it’s more profitable, then you’re stuck. Over the last few years I’ve seen many tech companies add “features” I never wanted or remove something I was using. They’ve sold my data, or forced me to watch more and more ads. I’ve seen prices go up and service go down. I’d prefer to have control even if that control costs me time. If my hosting company did something I didn’t like, I’d move, the inconvenience of doing so is sweetened by the fact that I’m no longer contributing to their bottom line. I have trust in myself to do what’s best for my business, but it would be naive to assume my landlord is on the same page.