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WordPress vs Website Builders: Hosting
November 30, 2016
WordPress vs Website Builders: Data Portability
December 13, 2016
WordPress
Website Builders (i.e. Wix, SquareSpace, Weebly, Blogger, and GoDaddy’s Website Builder)
Security
As we explained in our Website Security series, a website is only as strong as its weakest link. So if you have a weak password such as “1234567”, your site can easily be a target for hackers even if you have the best set of security features in place. WordPress can be very secure or it can be very insecure. We’ll spare you all the details of why this is because you can read it all for yourself in our Website Security series. The key to keep in mind is how much care and what preventive measures YOU put in place – yes, you. That might scare you a bit and frankly, that’s why we offer Managed WordPress Hosting so we can ensure our client’s websites are as safe as possible.
The bottomline is that WordPress is an easy target for hackers when people who are not well-versed in good security procedures are tasked with maintaining a WordPress website. The good news, however, is there are a lot of hosting companies (including us) who are security experts when it comes to WordPress and we can take this monumental job off your hands.
Summary
WordPress can be very secure with the right safe guards in place. However, most of these safe guards are extremely technical in nature and without a proper understanding of what to do and how to do it, the hosting environment can be compromised. However, there is a plethora of hosting solutions specific for WordPress including our own Managed WordPress Hosting solution that focus on providing a secure hosting environment for WordPress. That is why we give WordPress a 7 out of 10 for security.
Because Website Builders require you to host with them, they have all the security measures in place already and nothing more needs to be done by you. However, if you choose a weak password for your admin account, you can still be vulnerable to attack. Recently, there was a vulnerability in the code that runs Wix that allowed easy access for a hacker to gain control over Wix websites. It didn’t take long for Wix to respond and patch this vulnerability. Companies like Wix and SquareSpace have a large staff with people quality testing and fixing vulnerabilities. For the most part, we believe Website Builders to be very secure because their code is proprietary meaning it’s not open to the public. This means that attackers can’t gain access to the code to find vulnerabilities to exploit. Also, companies with Website Builders push updates to all the websites on their platforms when they have fixed an issue so they don’t leave it up to the individual website owner to do this which is a great security practice.
Summary
Website Builders offer a secure hosting solution because everything is turnkey. The code behind these builders is also closed to public view so attackers can’t easily find vulnerabilities by searching the code. However, if there is a vulnerability in the code, websites could be sitting ducks until the team of developers at these companies fix the issue and patch the vulnerability on all websites. That is why Website Builders get a 9 out of 10 for hosting.
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Testimonials
D3 Website Solutions came as qualified referral from trusted tech provider, Carolinas NetCare. Previously, we were a loyal, 15 year client of another provider. Service subsequently declined with the provider eventually failing. Laura took on our renovation project with undivided attention. She is always very patient in understanding our needs. Her guidance & insight is invaluable in building our site to best reflect our business. We greatly appreciate the excellent service & tremendous value we received.
We sought out the expertise of Laura and D3 solutions based on the recommendations of trusted colleagues and the need for a web developer who could understand our unique needs. Laura’s reputation is well earned as she was able to deliver a truly incredible product that exceeded all of our expectations. Her communication was timely and through a balanced combination of expertise and creativity, she was able to transform rough sketches and basic ideas into a captivating website that now serves as the centerpiece of our mission and work. Laura was patient with our questions and sensitive to our concerns. In every possible way, D3 Solutions demonstrated the highest level of customer service. In the end it became increasingly clear that for Laura and D3 Solutions, the people they serve are far more than clients, they are partners.
D3 Solutions is my go-to company for web development and website hosting. They provide solutions I can feel confident in, stable and secure servers and responsive customer service, all at a price I find very competitive. I could not do what I do without a partner like D3 Solutions.
We reached out to Laura at D3 Solutions after our website had a security breach. She was extremely responsive and had the issue cleared up right away!
It has been a true joy working with Laura! She was involved from the initial thoughts and concepts of what we wanted in a website to then seeing our vision fully realized in a very professional and attractive site. Laura helped us work through ideas, and offered expertise in how to best implement them in a manner that made sense and was best utilized by our target audience. We are thankful that the relationship is ongoing with advice and troubleshooting being just a phone call or email away. I highly recommend you consider Laura for your website design and development!
A couple of years ago I hired a company to rebuild my website, and when the process stalled out, Laura came in and salvaged what could have been a disaster. Since that time she has worked to maintain my website and has proven to be highly skillful in what she does, responsive, and ethical. I would recommend her without any hesitation.
Laura is a fantastic web developer! She’s developed three websites for me and it’s unbelievable how quickly she can get a project done! She’s decisive and thorough, but also creative and understands the whole process and how everything fits together. One of the things I appreciate most about working with Laura is that she’s very dependable and responds to emails within the hour. Her training videos explain things clearly and easily, even to a novice like myself. Thinking of creating a website? You can’t find anyone better than Laura.