The platform decision is more important than the design
A bad design on a good platform can be fixed in a week. A good design on the wrong platform is a multi-year problem.
Pick a platform that's too restrictive and your business outgrows it inside two years. Pick one that's too custom and your only developer becomes a single point of failure. Pick one your team can't update and you'll pay agency invoices for every phone number change.
The five questions that decide it:
- What's the lead model? Brochure, ecommerce, marketplace, SaaS marketing site?
- Who edits content after launch? A non-technical office manager, a marketing team, or a developer?
- What's the realistic five-year traffic horizon? 5,000 visits/month or 500,000?
- Do you need integrations? CRM, booking system, ecommerce, membership, multilingual?
- What's the in-house technical capability? Anyone who can run a WordPress update? Or pure non-technical?
Answer those honestly and the platform usually picks itself.
WordPress — my default for UK service businesses
40% of the web runs on WordPress for a reason. Plugin maturity, hireable developer pool, mature SEO ecosystem, your team can edit it. For 5-15 page service business sites, it's almost always the right answer.
WordPress web design — From £1,500.
Shopify — when ecommerce volume justifies the rails
Shopify wins for ecommerce above 50 SKUs or where the operational load (inventory, fulfilment, checkout reliability) outweighs the customisation cost. The trade-off is rigid templates and rising app costs. For under 50 products, WooCommerce on WordPress is usually cheaper and more flexible.
Shopify builds typically run £2,500-£5,000 depending on theme customisation, app stack and product count.
Custom builds (Astro / Next.js) — when speed and code control matter
Static-first builds on Astro or Next.js win when:
- Page speed is the conversion lever (LCP under 1 second, perfect Core Web Vitals).
- Content is mostly written by you, not edited weekly by a team.
- The site needs custom functionality WordPress plugins can't handle cleanly.
- You're a tech business and the site is a marketing surface, not a content engine.
Custom builds run £3,000-£8,000 for marketing sites. Hosting on Vercel, Cloudflare Pages or Netlify keeps running costs near zero.
Wix, Squarespace, Webflow — where each one earns its place
- Webflow — for design-led brochure sites where the team wants visual control without code. Strong design output, growing CMS. Best for agencies, studios, creative consultancies. £2,500-£5,000 for a custom build.
- Squarespace — quick brochure sites for sole traders. Cheap monthly fees, decent design. SEO ceiling is lower than WordPress. Use only if budget is genuinely tight.
- Wix — generally avoid. The SEO architecture is improving but still trails WordPress and Webflow. Migrations off Wix are a meaningful cost when you outgrow it.
Magento — only if you already know you need it
Enterprise ecommerce platform. Powerful, expensive, complex. If you're asking "should I use Magento?", the answer is almost certainly Shopify or WooCommerce. Magento earns its place at £100k+ annual ecommerce revenue with complex catalogue, B2B pricing, or heavy ERP integration.
I take Magento projects in partnership with a specialist Magento agency, not solo.
Decision framework — 6 questions before you choose
Print this list and answer each one before getting a quote:
- How many products do you sell, if any? (Under 10 / 10-50 / 50+ / 500+)
- How often will content change after launch? (Rarely / monthly / weekly / daily)
- Who'll edit it? (Owner / marketing manager / agency / developer)
- What's the budget — build only? (Under £2k / £2k-£5k / £5k-£15k / £15k+)
- What's the budget — annual hosting and tooling? (Under £200 / £200-£600 / £600-£2,000 / £2,000+)
- What integrations are non-negotiable? (CRM, booking, payment, multilingual, custom API)
Show me your answers and I'll tell you which platform fits.
Quoted from £1,500 — what changes by platform
| Platform | Approx build price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| WordPress (Starter package) | £1,500 | 5-page UK service business |
| WordPress (Standard with full SEO) | £2,000 | Most UK service businesses |
| WordPress (Growth, custom theme) | £2,750+ | Established firms, competitive markets |
| WooCommerce on WordPress (under 50 SKUs) | +£500-£1,500 on top of WordPress build | Service businesses adding products, small shops |
| Shopify (theme-customised) | £2,500-£3,500 | Pure ecommerce, 50+ SKUs |
| Shopify (custom theme) | £3,500-£5,000+ | Brand-led ecommerce |
| Webflow | £2,500-£5,000 | Design-led brochure sites |
| Astro / Next.js custom | £3,000-£8,000 | Tech businesses, performance-critical sites |
| Squarespace / Wix | Not recommended for new builds | Sole traders on tight budgets only |
VAT additional. All quotes fixed.
Related guides
Comparison content for buyers still deciding (Phase 2):
- WordPress vs Wix
- Shopify vs WooCommerce UK
- Webflow vs WordPress
- Custom-built website vs template
- Web design agency vs freelancer
Get a platform recommendation
Not sure which one fits? Tell me about the business on a fifteen-minute call and I'll recommend the platform with no obligation. Message me at Hello@SunnyPatel.co.uk or call 073055 23333.
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