Sitepad vs WordPress – Which One Should You Use?
There are numerous options when it comes to websites. Depending on your needs and the amount of content you plan on putting out, there’s a suitable solution out there. One of the most popular content management systems (CMS) is WordPress. It’s extremely versatile, and it has the amazing community of WordPress users behind it.
Another option is the standalone website generator called Sitepad. Sitepad allows for basic blogging capabilities and also comes with a fully featured CMS called Cube. While many may think that WordPress is the only game in town when it comes to blogging, Sitepad shows that you don’t necessarily need a CMS to have a successful blog. This article will compare and contrast the functional differences between the two so you can make the right decision for your needs.
Key Differences Between WordPress and Sitepad
WordPress is a bit like Lego; it can be customized and combined to form virtually any shape or size website you could want. This is what makes it so popular. With WordPress, it’s very easy to find the right plugin or extension to suit your needs. There are hundreds of them available, and new ones are added on a regular basis.
On the opposite end of the functional spectrum, you have Sitepad. Sitepad is a complete website package that is more of a “set it and forget it” solution. The developer provides all the necessary building blocks for you to create your site exactly how you want it. While this may be enough for some people, it’s not necessarily a good fit for everyone. For example, if you’re looking for something that is more interactive and has a lot of content, then the ease of use and broad feature set of WordPress may not be for you.
Features Of Each
Let’s take a quick look at the features of each platform and how they differ. We’ll cover all the basics such as hosting, content, and reading management along with some of the more specific features that may be of interest to you.
WordPress
WordPress is probably the most popular content management system (CMS) overall, and it’s easy to see why. It has virtually every feature you could want or need, and it’s constantly expanding with new features being added on a regular basis. It’s highly customizable, too, so you can make it look and act however you want.
WordPress is typically free to use, though there are premium versions that offer additional features and functionalities. Along with the standard version of WordPress, you get access to an incredible network of over a million blogs and websites that you can join and interact with on a daily basis. You don’t necessarily need a blog to use WordPress, but it certainly makes the platform more suited to content publishing. Aside from hosting, WordPress also offers a custom domain, free backups, and an award-winning support team.
Sitepad
The standalone website generator called Sitepad provides a simplistic and quick way to get your own website up and running. You don’t need any previous experience to use Sitepad, and it comes with everything you need to launch your own blog or online store. The best part is that it’s very affordable — costing just $4.95 to $9.45 per month depending on the plan you choose. Sitepad offers the basics such as hosting, a custom domain, and a free built-in email account along with some premium features like free backups and advanced SEO tools. You also get a free 20×20 business card to use along with the website. When comparing price and features, Sitepad is clearly the better option.
Hosting
When it comes to hosting, you have some amazing options to choose from. You can host your site on your own server, on a rented server, or on one of the many hosting providers out there. The cost of hosting is constantly changing, so make sure you check the rates before you sign up. One of the best things about WordPress is that it’s extremely affordable, as most hosts will charge you just $2 to $5 per month. If you’re just wanting a simple site and don’t need a complex platform, you can get by with just a standard web host. If you do need a more complex platform, you can opt for the premium version of WordPress or a platform-specific host. Platforms like Squarespace and Wix offer amazing prices for their plans as well.
Content
The content on your site is extremely important. When somebody visits your site, they want to quickly understand what it is they are looking at. This is why it’s so important to have high-quality content on your site. When it comes to written content, you have a variety of options. You can write your own articles and post them on your site, you can hire a freelance writer to do some original content for you, or you can use an online tool to quickly produce fresh, quality content for your blog posts. When picking an article topic, make sure you choose something that is both informative and engaging. If you can pull off these two key elements, you’ll be on your way to creating an authoritative blog.
Reading Management
After your blog posts are published, you’ll want to make sure that they’re easy to find. You can use a variety of tools to accomplish this such as the Google Reader or Feedly. When somebody searches for information on your topic, they’ll want to see only the articles that are relevant to them. To achieve this, you can use filters to display only content that is relevant to certain keywords or tags. You can also use tools like the Ultimate Blogger Guide to discover the best ways to increase your readership and grow your blog. These are just a few of the tools that you can use to improve your blogging experience.
SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) is everywhere, and it’s constantly evolving to fit new trends and ways of thinking. One of the key ways that SEO impacts your site is through improving the user experience. If somebody is searching for information on your topic but doesn’t find what they’re looking for, they’ll either leave your site or hit the back button on their browser a few times before giving up. This is extremely frustrating, especially if you’re the one who wrote the content in the first place and spent a lot of time and effort into making it relevant and informative.
To avoid this, you can use key words and phrases in the text of your articles and throughout your site. You can also use tools like the Google Keyword Planner to explore the various keywords and phrases that people are using to find your content.
Backups
It’s important to have backups of your data. This way, if something happens to your site (i.e. hackers attack your site or a computer crashes), you can quickly recover your content. Most web hosts will provide you with free basic backups, and some even offer complete site backups for a yearly fee. It’s always a good idea to have regular backups as well as one-time backups just in case. If you can’t afford a full backup service but would still like to have the peace of mind that comes with having one, you can use services like Cloud Backup or CrashPlan to back up your site.
One of the things that make WordPress so popular is that it’s extremely affordable. You don’t necessarily need a pricey web hosting plan to run a successful blog on WordPress. Even a shared hosting plan from a reputable provider will only set you back $2 to $5 per month. Along with the standard version of WordPress, you get access to an incredible network of over a million blogs and websites that you can join and interact with on a daily basis. You don’t necessarily need a blog to use WordPress, but it certainly makes the platform more suited to content publishing.