Showing posts with label Wechat vs Weibo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wechat vs Weibo. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 11, 2018

How Do Wechat Mini-programs Boast KOL Sales Campaigns?
Wechat offers wechat mini-programs in its exosystem which can help the users in generating more sales for their businesses. Wechat mini-programs can help in setting up a Wechat store or a Wechat shop.

Monday, July 2, 2018

WHY CAN’T FASHION RETAILERS AFFORD TO IGNORE MOBILE?

Today, almost everyone is using a smartphone, probably it is not considered as desire or leisure item anymore but rather as a necessity. The extraordinary boom in the usage of smartphones by people of all age groups and especially young individuals have seized the attention of garments and fashion industry. The major brands have all shifted their focus to getting a share of the ever-increasing e-commerce and m-commerce market. The major benefit of focusing on mobile based marketing strategy is that you can reach a huge number of users.

BENEFITS OF M-COMMERCE

It will be easier for the companies to market their products. More and more opportunities for earning will be opened to a seller in the mobile app. The mobile apps make the experience of purchasing the commodities and fashion items where easy and convenient as anything from garments to fashion items are one click away. In this generation and fast-paced world, people would rather choose to click and buy than go to malls and search for the clothes that they want, as it involves spending of precious time.

FASHION INDUSTRY IS GROWING FASTEST IN M-COMMERCE SCENARIO

For the last 12 months in the year 2017 survey (source from Refinery29), still, one of the most purchased items using the mobile app is all about fashion.70% of the survey’s respondents had bought clothing, shoes, or accessories by means of their phones.
In today’s competition, primarily about business, it is important to be innovative and knows how to integrate planning. The success of the business on mobile app depends on how those plans will be executed. Something must be unique but user-friendly, should be aware of where to improve and what to retain. Lastly, the app must be accessible to all users.
Mobile apps have changed the way how an individual would purchase an item. It gives the consumers a great chance to save more time, instead of visiting malls, with just a click from their smartphones items or products can be purchased and just wait for its arrival through fast delivery services provided these days. This surely gives the users who have not much time in purchasing the items that they desire and at the same time get along with their life.
Mobile Shopping – Not Just a Trend
Survey about the people who prefer buying online using mobile app versus in-store
Smartphones have proved to be an integral part of people’s daily lives and it is no brainer to assume that they will keep their stature for a long time to come. These mobile apps are able to interact with individuals of all ages, meaning, it doesn’t matter what is your age, there will always be a suitable app for you that surely will be patronized. This extraordinary ability of mobile apps shifted the momentum of the fashion industry towards them.
Shopping here and there, Shopping everywhere-anytime of the day
Shopping is made easy for us by technology. It is true that women enjoy going to malls for window shopping, checking of prices about the latest and the hottest trend in terms of fashion, try to put it on check whether it fits them or not. But in time this concept might eventually perish. Fashion apps in all smartphones are very powerful. They contain a lot of features that would encourage and convince each buyer to just browse, click, order, checkout and pay. Buying stuff in the fashion apps allows its buyers to make hassle-free purchasing.

DESIGN MATTERS FOR FASHION APPS

Nowadays, most of the well-known brands cater their products through fashion apps powered by smartphones. In this way, they can market their products faster. It might be also a risk and it takes a lot of effort to make a good fashion app. The app shall not be plain and simple, since it is a fashion app there must be something stunning for the viewers’ eyes. It must be able to please the consumers.
Amazon, a fast-growing app also offers a lot of items, it has been patronized by a lot of consumers. The mobile apps have changed the way how a person can purchase an item. In this generation nothing’s impossible, a buyer will just browse, pick, lock item, put it into a virtual cart, finalize the order then, that’s it! An item can be purchased following few basic steps.
Fashion apps are also now able to give a lot of choices to its consumers on how to conveniently make payments for the orders they place or the goods they purchase. Credit cards, cash on delivery, remittances are just some of the methods of making easy payments. The great thing about mobile purchasing is that when a client is able to love your product these people will patronize buying your products even more.
Clothing/Accessories and Mobile Go Hand in Hand
A survey in the U.S shows that people spend 59% of their online shopping time on their mobile devices (versus on desktop computers), yet mobile shopping only accounts for 15% of sales, with 85% of sales taking place on desktop computers. In 2020, mobile shopping is predicted to account for 45% of all sales made beyond physical stores. It is quite alarming for the physical stores that this scenario might happen. The physical stores must do something about this.
-Alexandra Ilyashov
If you’re still somewhat shy of getting along with the trend, you can certainly consider and try using limited features to initially stimulate the craving of your customers; it doesn’t need to have full-fledged capabilities as you may find in some other apps.
Apps for Entertainment = Apps for Shopping
The simple truth: a way to your customer’s heart is through “What do they desire for?”. A fashion app must be able to entertain and must encourage the customers to admire the product. The user experience of the fashion app should be such that the customers just want to browse all the time which will, in turn, convert them into buying customers as well. There must be a great strategy for a fashion app on how they can hook their clients and make them loyal to your fashion app. Let your customers feel that they can’t help but to check your items, add-on wish list, buy and buy, until it becomes a routine.
Smartphones will continue to replace the traditional phones and the new opportunities will continue to present themselves. What you need to do is make the best use of them.

Saturday, June 30, 2018

THE IMPACT OF WECHAT MINI PROGRAM IN SOCIAL ECOMMERCE

On the 10th of January, Alibaba published an annual report on Intellectual Property Rights. One of the highlights is since Alibaba was a preeminent fight against counterfeit goods, a gaining adhesion of counterfeit sellers are moving their market towards mini-programs and Pinduoduo, an e-commerce platform. They even build an overseas webpage through Facebook to introduce a traffic flow into their local platform to sell fake goods. Despite the fact that Pinduoduo and Wechat never made an official statement regarding Alibaba’s published report, however since then, a competition between Taobao (Chinese online shopping website similar to eBay) and Pinduoduo was brought into the public.
With the help of WeChat’s traffic flow, Pinduoduo has totally immobilized Taobao in just two years. However, with WeChat’s enormous 980 million traffic, Pinduoduo may just be an unimportant might within the bulk of mini-programs.
WeChatCurrently, Wechat can’t share its content to Taobao directly and vice versa, so users can only share their information through “Tao password”. When this was introduced, a lot of people thought that this was almost identical to Baidu’s strategy, but, its not.
Taobao didn’t want it’s users to develop the routine of purchasing straight in WeChat. Undismayed by their policy, they prefer utilizing only its traffic flow. Hence, they adopt hundredths of TaoBao promoters, who are responsible in creating traffic within the circle of Wechat sellers. According to an insider, the daily numbers of transactions from Wechat to Taobao is at least 1 billion.
Wechat is not in favour of this situation, defensively finds a way to block Taobao’s strategy. Even in the year 2017 itself, Wechat had made a few planned measures. Unfortunately, it doesn’t get to the core of the issue. Consequently, WeChat found a way to solve it. Instead of allowing Taobao to gain an upper hand, Wechat hit back by attracting the same group of people to do business on its own platform so that sellers, buyers and prompters can form a closed loop system, and that happened when they announced their mini-programs on the 9th of January.
This development from WeChat was not to be underrated. They enhance their product delivery speed from 3 days to 1 day, which reduce the user’s purchasing cost, a good strategy, thus causing a larger amount of purchasers to migrate to their own platform. Most importantly, this traffic is established by the business seller themself and allows an accumulation of traffic within the WeChat ecosystem. As for this, during WeChat’s public courses this year, Zhang XiaoLong (also known as the “father of wechat”) believes that Wechat’s search system will be the next entry gateway, and it proves by their high traffic.
As of now, Taobao is worried on Pinduoduo’s performance because it is currently the only e-commerce platform that does not share the same traffic system as Alibaba and is a premier platform for local online retailers.
WeChat
In the e-commerce field, there are a lot of e-commerce platforms like Fanli, ChuchuJie, Mizhe, Juanpi and Mogujie etc. You can treat these platforms as a form of Taobao Coupon or a huge Taobao Promoter. Their platforms does not pose a threat to Taobao and has quite an influence on them. If it will produce a conflict with Taobao, it can easily take over and deliver a striking blow to them. In a way, Mogujie’s achievement today partly comes from one of Taobao’s defensive strategies. Because of the defensive measures taken, Mogujie has since found another way out to be independent.
However, Pinduoduo is different, it was linked to WeChat. Most of its original users enter this mobile e-commerce era directly without the needs of a personal computer. However, with the advantage of Wechat’s 9.8 million users pool, Pinduoduo becomes an envious target of Taobao, yet it has no power over the market.
Our parents can use Wechat to gain red packets, share, connect and pay using Wechat. In this case, mini-programs and Wechat provides a solution that suits our today’s users generation.
WeChat
As of now, Taobao still hasn’t pit face to face in a battle against Pinduoduo. Of course, when that day comes, Taobao has no power against WeChat’s traffic at all. WeChat can easily overtake Taobao’s promoters with a move like the year before, preventing Taobao from overusing WeChat’s platform for their own usage.
Last January 15 2018, Zhang XiaoLong’s WeChat public lecture PRO became popular in the internet community. One of the important thing to take note of, is that WeChat’s DAU (daily active users) maintains at 800 to 850 million, while WeChat’s at 980 million, closely tipping to a billion.
According to WeChat’s current traffic, being on the top against its peers is not a problem. However, in the e-commerce field, WeChat has some imperfections. Certain people believes that Tencent company doesn’t have the skills yet to perfect the e-commerce spot. Hence, WeChat uses their flaw to their end. They only create a basic structure and provide a complete ecosystem, how the retailers come up with their business models.
WeChat
When WeChat’s ecosystem improves further, Taobao’s retailers will slowly be attracted over and over. But in the beginning, most of them have no idea how to take this step of transition or transformation. Just like You An Mi mentioned, they should get a portion of that traffic with good retailers, and then they can start attracting more small business.
Taobao has its own brand, and in the near future, WeChat, I believe will have its own brand as well. Different from Taobao, these brands are born within WeChat has its own loyal consumers and fans, and have a direct pool that provides them their users. WeChat is optimistic in this, Taobao will slowly be grind down. And when that time comes, small and medium businesses alike will slowly transform into mini-programs in WeChat.

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

RESPONSIVE WEBSITES VS. MOBILE APPS, WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?

When we look at mobile apps and responsive websites with the slider features, we usually think they’re the same thing. However similar they seem to be, they are actually quite different. Both of them have their own features and purpose, depending on the specific use they are required for.
To help you understand the difference between a mobile app and mobile website, we’ll be taking a closer look at the key features of each and their respective pros and cons.

RESPONSIVE WEBSITES VS MOBILE APPS

What is a Responsive Website?
A responsive website is a very minimalistic and simple website that showcases minimal functions so that it can easily adapt to the screen size of any device, which is why it fits perfectly on mobile devices. So, when we say responsive web design, we are referring to a design that responds accordingly to the device that it is being used on with regard to size and look.
A responsive website often makes use of big layouts and versatile grids. It also makes heavy use of simple CSS media functions. Responsive websites usually use slider functions and interactive features to make it easier for the user to navigate.
Key Features and benefits of Responsive Websites
  • Instantly available– As long as you type the URL on your mobile browser, you can access the mobile website.
  • Compatible across devices– You don’t need specific requirements to access a mobile website since you just input the URL in a browser.
  • Can be updated instantly– Unlike apps, you don’t need to keep on updating the site.
  • Can be found easily– You don’t need to search for it in an app store.
  • Broader Reach– Brands can reach broader audiences since mobile websites aren’t hard to access.
  • Less time and cost of making– Brands don’t have to spend so much in creating a responsive website.
Cons:
  • Limited Functionality- It won’t be able to contain all the functions an app does.
  • Not so fast- The responsive website still heavily uses bandwidth and may lag a bit.
  • The interface is not so good- The interface of an app is still better than that of a responsive website.
What is a Mobile App?
Mobile apps are computer applications that are designed specifically for mobile phones. A mobile app is generally smaller in memory size as compared to a mobile website and sports more functions and information. A mobile app is also specific to one OS. Different mobile apps have to be created to run in two different OS’s (ex. Android and iOS)
What makes a mobile app different is its functionalities. As compared to desktop apps, mobile apps only scroll up and down. Mobile apps are also optimized to give good readability and aesthetic appeal as compared to desktop apps. Finally, mobile apps are built to be more interactive so that users will get hooked on using mobile apps.
Key Features and benefits of Mobile Apps
  • Regular Usage and personalization– Apps can be used anytime you want since they are installed on your phone. Also, some apps can be personalized with your own customizations and information, unlike mobile websites.
  • Offline Usage– Unlike a responsive website, some apps may be used offline. However, some functions may only be accessed with an internet connection.
  • More functionalities– In an app, you get to have the complete functions that a responsive website doesn’t include.
  • Ability to connect with other apps and functions in Mobile– Through Wifi or Bluetooth, you can connect with other apps to share pictures, videos, etc.
  • Speed– Apps have a better loading speed as compared to mobile websites.
  • Brand Recognition– For brands, apps give better brand recognition since people can frequently see a visual representation of your brand on their smartphone.
  • Better Interface– Apps are designed to have better interfaces than their mobile website counterparts.
  • More Opportunities for Purchases– Brands have the opportunity to make more money through apps because of in-app purchases. Usually, customers won’t mind making in-app purchases as compared to purchasing from a mobile website.
Cons:
  • More time and money required– Brands who want to make an app will need more effort from a development team, as well as more budget.
  • Requires Maintenance– App creators will also need to maintain the app regularly to keep it working properly.
  • Takes up space– For users, downloading an app means taking up more space on the phone.
  • More Updates– Users have to constantly update the app to get all the new features and functionalities.
Conclusion
Mobile website and mobile app are different in their own fields of functionality but both serve their own specific purpose. None can replace the other. So, if you’re a brand, how do you choose between Web vs Mobile App Development? First, define the purpose of creating an app or mobile website. After that, look at the pros and cons of each to see which one best suits your purpose. Or if you can, make both so that you can give your followers an overall good experience.

APPLE AND WECHAT AGREEING TO RESTORE ‘TIPPING’ FEATURE

Since the falling out of Apple and Wechat on “Tipping Issue”, it is now being reported that the two companies have found some common ground. Apple is being reported to have released a new policy for “tipping” and attempted to recognize the tips as in-app purchasing, in an attempt to resolve the issue with Wechat, which became the bone of contention for them last year. WeChat, which collects services within its app, is a famous messaging and calling app in China. WeChat always encourages its users to tip, but Apple wanted 30 percent cut of the revenue.
WeChat not appreciating the demand of Apple in response had disabled the feature.
According to the Wall Street Journal reports, both companies now have agreed over the tips. It is not uncommon for companies like Apple to have faced a difficult time in understanding China-specific features. It is only after some time that they seem to share a mutual understanding of the Chinese market and the Chinese partner companies. The same is true for Apple which is now on the common ground with Wechat and working towards resolving the policy issues.
It is still unclear if Apple will deduct anything from tips in future. In September iPhone makers made some changes in the app stores rules. It also now allows users to gift money to each other for free.
No doubt that Apple’s deal with Wechat can play an important role in Apple’s growth in China. China has emerged as a big software and services market for apple. While there is a dip in revenue and market share in China, Still apple recorded good revenue in the fourth quarter of 2016.

Saturday, June 23, 2018

HOW TO REGISTER A WECHAT ACCOUNT AS A FOREIGN COMPANY?

WeChat is one of the largest social media platforms in China with a huge user base. Due to which many potential and large businesses are moving forward on this platform to reach their potential customers. Not only China but WeChat is getting its attention from all over the world and it is very important for foreign companies to promote their products and services on WeChat. But non-Chinese users have always been concerned to open their account on the WeChat platform. In the past, it was very difficult for foreign companies to register their account on WeChat because of complicated and stressful barriers, but it’s not the case in the current scenario.
Let’s discuss the various ways of registering an account as a foreign company on WeChat without having a Chinese business license: –
  • Through a third party Chinese company or agency:
  • You can make a WeChat account by borrowing a business license from another Chinese company or agency. This is possible because every Chinese company has the advantage of registering up to 5 accounts on WeChat. You can decide on your name, logo, and description but the legal name of the company or agency will also be seen there. This means that your WeChat account will be fully owned by the third party Chinese company/agency and hence risks are also attached to it. It is very important to keep account ownership if another company terminates the account or closes its business. In such cases, the account will also be closed.
  • Through registering an account using Overseas business license :
  • With recent events on the platform, foreign companies are allowed to open an account with it and verify using foreign business license. You can go to apply.wechat.com and submit your application with all the necessary documents, but the big problem is that your account registered here will not be visible in China. It will only appear outside of China. This process sometimes seems to be unclear. It is not desirable due to its long and expensive process. Usually, it takes 2-3 months and you will be charged $ 1000-2000 for registration.
  • Getting Special WeChat Official account which is visible in China:
  • To address the situation and if you want to have a functional commercial WeChat account then you can go for Special WeChat official account. It can be acquired only by depositing all the required documents along with one-off initial investment in WeChat advertising WeChat can help you start advertising and reach a larger audience through the WeChat App. Annual verification fees are also required for foreign entities. It seems a small complex process but by doing so you will be visible in China and it helps a lot to gain the confidence of Chinese users.
  • Only service accounts are available for the overseas users
  • While applying for WeChat account, you will be required to outline the type of account you want to use i.e. the subscription account or service account. However, only service accounts are available for the Special WeChat Official Accounts for overseas users.
    With a service account, you can gain access to advanced WeChat public platform facilities like
    4 broadcasts on a monthly basis, custom menu, push notifications and API payment support for all verified accounts. Your business also gets 48 hours window to respond to user messages.
    On the other hand, subscription account is better for those businesses who want to publish regularly. There is lack of features like push notifications, custom menus and any support for payments. The business should be verified and use the WeChat API as it doesn’t allow customization. Here also a business gets a 48 hours window to answer user messages.
    Having a WeChat account can be an asset to any business that wants to target Chinese audiences, but its success depends on how well it is in setup. WeChat is a great platform to reach the targeted audience, especially for those overseas businesses who want to make their mark in the Chinese market.

    PINDUODUO IS FAST BECOMING A FORMIDABLE RIVAL TO ALIBABA

    While Alibaba has enjoyed long years of being number one in the Chinese online shopping industry, another rival seems to have loomed over the giant and takes the second spot of top eCommerce apps in China.
    For those who don’t know about Pinduoduo yet, it is an eCommerce platform that was founded by former Google staff Colin Huang. Huang formed the platform back in 2015 when he returned to China. From 2015 till the end of 2017, the startup was already able to garner a total of 156.5 million users, which was a 724% increase. This was a record breaker that no other giant was able to accomplish. This is why Pinduoduo and Alibaba were immediately put together under the spotlight.
    What Pinduoduo Does
    What makes Pinduoduo (PDD for short) very successful is its unique way for buyers to scout for extremely cheap buys. The platform allows its users to buy in groups by letting the users bring in friends to make a joint purchase. When there are enough friends shopping on the platform, everyone in the circle gets a discount.
    What makes the platform even more amazing is that it connects the buyers directly to the manufacturers, thus allowing them to get products even cheaper— cheaper than in Alibaba.
    It’s also really easy to use as it’s already a part of Wechat’s existing system. The platform allows you easy access to discounts of up to 20% or more. Consumers will also have the chance to get a lot of extra freebies and coupons for certain purchases. Another cool thing about PDD is that even if it is driven by Wechat, it is separate from Wechat and may function independently. This means that if Wechat were to pull out, PDD would still run.
    Overall, the Pinduoduo business model combines the social ecosystem of Wechat and the eCommerce concept that powers Alibaba. This gives customers an amazing shopping experience as a whole.
    Pinduoduo’s Entrance In the Market
    Although Huang already founded the app in the start of 2014, it was only in 2015 that it was officially launched to the public. During this time, the first round of investors was able to raise a total of $8 million from investors that included people from OPPO, Vivo, and S.F. Express. This amount was already able to get them started on a successful launch.
    In 2016, it was able to get another round of investments which reached up to $110 million with Tencent and Banyan Capital as two of the main investors. In mid 2016, PDD was already able to garner 100 million with more than 1 million transactions daily. This allowed them at least $159 million monthly.
    Today, the value of the company is now at $6.3 billion, which shots the Pinduoduo stock price up and makes it one of the fastest growing companies in China.
    Pinduoduo Versus Alibaba
    With Pinduoduo growing to such heights, it’s clear as day that there will be a huge competition between PDD and Alibaba, especially since Alibaba’s other big competitor Tencent has backed up PDD. What’s even worse for Alibaba is that Pinduoduo and Taobao have been forming some sort of relationship wherein consumers of Taobao and Pinduoduo have been interchanging app usage from time to time. A small partnership between the two could mean big trouble for Alibaba.
    Other than that, social media aspects have never been a strong point of Alibaba. Even when Alibaba released Ali WangWang as an instant messaging tool or Dingtalk, they still haven’t able to make a mark as a good social platform, unlike Wechat or QQ. Of course, Wechat is heavily backing PDD, so this doubles the competition Alibaba is going to get.
    Since PDD has been growing like crazy, they show strong potential to overcome even the revolution that Alibaba started. An increase in monthly active users reaching 153 million in just two years is much more of a record than the several years it took for Alibaba to reach 515 million. That said, PDD could already match Alibaba’s user count in a few years time if Alibaba doesn’t beef things up.
    Conclusion
    With PDD being a very strong competitor, Alibaba will definitely have its hands full. In order for Alibaba to still carry their edge, they’re going to need more innovations and definitely more investments. They also have to start adapting to the newer needs of the consumers in order to still stay ahead of PDD.

    HOW MUCH IS THE TOTAL COST TO MAKE AN APP FOR A SMALL BUSINESS?

    Apps are popular these days, so it’ll definitely be a good move to create a mobile app to further promote your brand. However, creating an app isn’t as easy as you may think. Making your own app entails a lot of planning and a lot of budgeting.
    You especially have to pay attention to the cost because it can be expensive to build an app, depending on how high tech or functional you want it to be. If you’re a novice or beginner at app creation, here is a guide on the estimated cost that you need to shell out.
    Given below are cost factors that you have to take into consideration, as well as the actual costs of the development.

    THE BUSINESS MODEL

    The first thing that you have to consider is your business model. How will the app fit into your business model? If it can compliment your brand, then it’ll be easy to market the app. If it’s a bit hard to fit in, you might need to do some thinking as to how you’ll make it fit.

    THE KIND OF APP

    How high tech do you want your app to be? Obviously, the more low tech the app, the cheaper it will be. To get an idea of how the costing is like, check out the estimated costs for Android apps below:
    • Basic App- up to $35,000
    • Standard App- $40,000 to $55,000
    • Semi High-Tech Apps- $55,000 to $100,000 (depending on the functions)
    • Very High Tech Apps- $100,000 and higher
    These are the costs for Android apps. Let’s check out the ones for iOS or Apple apps.
    • Table Based Apps- $1,000 to $4,000
    • Database Apps- $5,000 to $50,000
    • Gaming Apps- Up to $250,000 (depending on quality and functions of the game)

    THE FUNCTIONS

    Next, you have to consider the functions of the app. There are so many functions that you can choose from. As long as you tell the developer what you want, the developer will be the one to quote you. However, below are some of the most common functions that you can add along with their respective costs:
    • In-app purchases: Around $3,000
    • Internet services: $1,000 to $5,000
    • Share Functions: $500 to $1,500;
    • SDKs: $50 to $200
    The cost of other functions may vary depending on the developer.

    THE DESIGN

    The design would entail both the front and the backend of the app (what the consumer sees and what you see from the back). You have to work with your development team when including all the functions and development to create the final app design.

    THE MANPOWER

    You have two options with regard to manpower— you can create your own team of developers, or you can outsource a development company (or a freelance developer) to create the app for you. If you want to create your own team, you’ll need:
    • Operations Manager to supervise the development
    • The Coding Team to do the actual development structure
    • The QA Engineer to test all the protocols
    • The UX Specialist to help determine what people would want in the app
    If you want to get a development company, check out some of the costs below for three development companies:
    • Applico- $100,000 to $300,000
    • Fueled- $100,000 to $500,000
    • Savvy Apps- $100,000 to $500,000
    If you want to get a freelancer, you would most likely be charged by the hour. Here are some estimated rates:
    • Native Apps- $35 to 100 per hour
    • Cross-Platform Apps- $16 to 60 per hour
    • Hybrid Apps- $20 to $100 per hour

    CONCLUSION

    As you can see, it’s possible to spend over half a million dollars on the development of a regular app. However, it is also possible to spend much less like just a little below $100,000 depending on what you want your app to be like. All you have to do is to create your main vision first and work from there. You’ll be able to see the costs along the way. From there, you can start shaving off costs and functions that you won’t need.
    Take note that all these costs are estimates and may differ from the actual figures.

    SHOULD I CHOOSE A SITE BUILDER OR WORDPRESS FOR MY WEDDING BUSINESS WEBSITE?

    Almost every service provided in the wedding industry needs an online presence. Professionals rightly wonder which type of site they should opt for. The most frequent dilemma is deciding between WordPress and other website builders.

    SO, YOU ASK: WHICH ONE IS BETTER FOR YOUR WEDDING PROJECT, A SITE BUILDER OR WORDPRESS?

    Understanding the way these platforms work can provide you with an answer or at least, help you gain insight into their very nature. Unlike Squarespace or Weebly, which are website builders, WordPress is actually an open-source platform. That means the commercial restrictions are virtually non-existent and your project can be hosted anywhere. That alone can be a reason enough to prevail in its favor.
    website-builders-wedding-business

    SYSTEMS SUCH AS SQUARESPACE AND WORDPRESS ARE EQUALLY ESTEEMED.

    Yet, these content management systems do differ in several aspects.
    First of all, being in the wedding industry demands creativity. This is where WordPress features outweigh those of Squarespace or Weebly. Its customizability makes it the most popular platform of this kind in the world because thousands of widgets, themes and plugins work visual miracles.
    On the other hand, Squarespace offers fewer themes than WordPress does but quantity and quality in this instance come with strings attached. Unlike WordPress, Squarespace is cloud-based and that means everything is pre-installed and downloaded. Squarespace is generally a lot easier to use, especially for people who do not have any or have very little experience in website building.
    website-builders-wedding-business 3
    Being a cloud-based platform, Squarespace comes with a massive drawback, though. All updates and installments are done automatically so the moment the system goes down, your project is likely to go down with it. Conversely, WordPress is being continuously maintained and this can save you a lot of time and nerves.

    ON TOP OF THAT, WORDPRESS BRINGS THE CREATIVE EXPERIENCE TO THE MAXIMUM.

    The themes (so-called “skins”) WordPress employs support a range of website types – publications, blogs, online stores etc. Along with the plugins – tools for social sharing or e-commerce payment systems, WordPress delivers unparalleled customizability and functionality ideal for building an online wedding project.
    website-builders-wedding-business 4

    SO, IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THE PURPOSE OF YOUR PROJECT.

    What is the name of your game? Are you a blogger? Then, the ease of use Squarespace offers could be the right solution.
    One thing is irrefutable – Squarespace is characterized by its overall simplicity and usability. But, as with any other business, you want to think ahead and minimize your website’s flaws in the long run. This is exactly why WordPress is a safer bet.
    Wedding industry is an ever-growing one. The services you provide need to be presented with a dose of responsibility and professionalism. WordPress is fully-featured and depending on your desired content, the complexity it offers exceeds any other platform.
    website-builders-wedding-business 2
    The bottom line is that with WordPress, you have the upper hand in the business you are trying to pitch. This top-notch web publishing system exceeds any other on the market by enabling unrivaled performances suitable for any kind of online business and weddings are no exception.