At first glance, DIY website builders such as Vistaprint may seem like a good deal for business owners who lack the technical skills or funds. The concept is simple: with Vistaprint’s tools, anybody is able to create a website using the simple editor for as little as $5 to get started. The reality is not so pretty.
Vistaprint vs. WordPress Cost Comparison
Depending on desired features, Vistaprint’s website builder starts at $5/mo and ends at $30/mo for their “Premium” plan. If you want even an ounce of control over your website, you’ll need the premium plan. You’ll still be heavily limited in your ability to edit many aspects of the website, especially on the SEO side.
That means over the course of the year, you’re paying $360. You’ll pay that year after year for the duration of your stay at Vistaprint. When you get fed up with paying that, say goodbye to your website! In other words, you are leasing your website with Vistaprint.
Total lifetime cost of WordPress with complete ownership and control over every aspect of your website? $0. You just pay for your website hosting, which will run about $40-50 a year for most small businesses.
Vistaprint for Search Engine Optimization
If you think Vistaprint’s editor is easy to use, you will love the simplicity, flexibility and reliability of WordPress. Vistaprint websites are locked up in cookie-cutter templates with limited control over anything other than adding text and images on to pages. The SEO side of things start to look a lot worse.
You will need the $30/mo “Premium” plan to get access to Vistaprint’s “Search Engine Optimizer” tools. Sounds pretty good, right? Only $30/mo and you get your whole website AND SEO services to boot. Wrong.
The SEO tools provided lack the simple ability to edit the title tag of your website or even properly hook up Google Analytics! If you can’t even have access to the most rudimentary SEO tasks, you should question the quality of Vistaprint’s “SEO-friendly” solution.
Better Alternatives to Vistaprint Website Builder
If you’ve been using Vistaprint to build or host your website, you’re not stuck with them. WordPress is the internet’s most popular web platform for both commercial and personal websites. It offers all the ease of use that Vistaprint boasts, without the headache. And you’ll have a ton of features not available to you from companies such as Vistaprint.
With WordPress, if you can think it up, you can build it. The best part is that you’re not “renting” your website by using a proprietary tool. Your website’s content and code is 100% your own. Vistaprint customers will find themselves paying many times more than what the same services should actually cost.
Vistaprint to WordPress Conversion Special
Let us convert your Vistaprint website to WordPress for only $399! We can move over your existing design from Vistaprint or you can go with something new. Here’s a full list of benefits:
- First Year of Hosting FREE ($38.88/year renewal price)
- Full Vistaprint Website Conversion
- Keep the Same Design or Get Something New
- Total Yearly Cost of Vistaprint: $360 + tax
- Total Yearly Cost of WordPress: $0
