Are you planning on starting an online business where you can start making money? For that, you are obviously going to need a website.

When building a website, nowadays there are two basic options you can opt to build a sustainable and reliable website. These two options come in the form of two website-building platforms.

Solo Build It (SBI) and WordPress are two of the most popular website builders on the market. Both platforms have their own strengths and weaknesses, so it’s important to choose the one that’s right for your needs.

In this article, we will discuss the key factors that will help you decide on which platform to use to create your new website.

While both WordPress and SBI are reliable options, depending on your needs, one could be better than the other.

Let’s take a good look at both the options and what is available to you through them.

WordPress

WordPress is an extremely popular online content management system that thousands of people across the globe use to create websites and blogs.

From the get-go, WordPress is pretty simple to get started with. Many hosting companies will offer you pre-installed WordPress software on a domain if you choose to host your website with them.

But as you progress through the creation process of your website, you will realize that you have many options to customize your website through plug-ins that are widely available for use within WordPress.

Understanding the difference between WordPress (standalone free to use the software) vs WordPress.com (blog creation platform)

When talking about WordPress, a lot of new website developers are unaware of the fact that WordPress.com is different from WordPress’s standalone free-to-use version.

WordPress.com allows you to create a blog without ever needing to buy a domain or hosting. Your website or blog will be hosted on WordPress.com and all you need to do is register with them to begin creating your website.

This sounds very simple and it is indeed very simple, but a site hosted on WordPress.com doesn’t give you maximum freedom when it comes to customizing your website.

For starters, many third-party essential plug-ins are unavailable on the WordPress.com-hosted website. Plus the biggest disadvantage is that a site hosted on WordPress.com cannot be used to make money.

The terms and conditions of any site being hosted on WordPress.com are very clear. You cannot use third-party ad programs or affiliate links on your blog.

So using WordPress.com with the aim of making money is definitely not the right path to take. However, if you just want to share good information with other people, it is the best place to get started.

The WordPress standalone free-to-use software is however very, very different from WordPress.com hosted sites.

WordPress is free to use and anyone can install it on their new site. The platform offers a set of comprehensive customization for any site builder. Plus it supports millions of third-party plug-ins that give your website speed, optimization, and maximum customization.

In order to use WordPress on your site, you will need to buy a domain and hosting services separately. Also note that while WordPress and many of its third-party plug-ins are free to use, there are still plug-ins that will require you to invest some money in before you can start using them.

SBI! (Site Build It)

SBI! is a good platform for people who want everything in a single place. The SBI! program is a package of different tools and services that a website owner can use to create a standalone website for business purposes.

SBI! isn’t free to use and will cost you around $1 a day which is deducted in the form of $419.99 every year. If you do not like the idea of installing third-party plug-ins or using third-party tools to customize and optimize your website, SBI! is a great program to use.

However, remember that SBI! has its own optimization tools which are available to you when you purchase the program. You will have no access to plug-ins that are available with WordPress.

Plus if you already use a set of tools to optimize your website for search engine performance, you may not be attracted to the tools that are already present within the SBI! package.

Now let’s compare the features and benefits of using WordPress or SBI!

SEO Capabilities

In today’s SEO world, content is king. And creating good content is only possible through the WordPress content management system.

There was a time when SBI! sites ranked pretty high in Google rankings thanks to extensive optimization offered by SBI!

But as time passed, Google extensively changed its algorithms which are now designed to help people find great content. Since SBI! sites were only targeting optimization and didn’t really care about what the content was, a website was developed and run through SBI! suffers rankings in Google.

The Price Factor

When building a website, there is always a budget for different development and marketing aspects. So understanding the costs associated with using both platforms is important if you want to get ROI.

If you consider costs, SBI! is a better option. While SBI! charges you $34.99 a month, it does offer you an array of different tools that are absolutely necessary to run an online business.

When you purchase the SBI! package, you receive several tools including keyword research and search engine optimization tools. Plus you also get hosting and domain ownership within the package.

Now this all sounds pretty good when you think you will have to pay separately for domain and hosting when using WordPress.

But…

Given the sheer popularity of WordPress, there are now many hosting companies that offer you the chance of making a WP website that is included within their hosting package. This means that when you purchase a domain and get it hosted, you will also get access to certain keyword research tools and other necessary things to run an online business.

Since WordPress is naturally very SEO friendly, it is a good idea to choose WordPress when a hosting company is offering a package that includes everything from developing to important tools.

Ease of Website Creation

As mentioned above, SBI! offers you a complete package that contains everything necessary to build a successful running website. But it is only recommended to people who are very new to the whole online money-making business.

This is because SBI! provides you with training courses plus other guides and tools that can help you create a decent website. But when you need to go beyond just a basic website, you will need to have freedom.

And that freedom is offered by WordPress only.

WordPress may feel overwhelming if you are new to the business, but as you start learning the process, WP is far superior in creating a good website. Plus there are thousands of third-party tutorials available for you to learn something from.

WordPress 5.9 introduced the ability to create block-based themes, which makes it easier to customize the look and feel of your website.

If you want maximum freedom and know how to code a bit, WordPress is good. If you have no coding skills but have the money, hiring a virtual assistant to work on a WordPress-powered website is also a good option since you’ll have more customization available with better SEO reach.

Performance of Website

It has already been mentioned several times that WordPress is better when it comes to performance, especially if it’s SEO related.

It is a general fact that Google prefers websites created with WordPress because of the fact that WP focuses on great content creation. Whereas SBI! is lacking in great content creation tools because this software focuses more on optimization rather than content.

Looks at Your Website

Websites created through WordPress are not only better performing but are also very pretty to look at.

As a general note, you should always focus on the content rather than making your website look pretty. But then again you need to make sure your website is navigationally friendly to your users.

WordPress is superior in this regard simply because there are tons of themes available to choose from within the software.

You also have the option of buying premium WordPress themes for extra costs. The good news is that all of these themes are completely free to customize according to how you need them to be. So with a bit of coding knowledge, you can turn just about any theme into whatever you want it to look like.

Plus you also have hundreds of plugins to add even more customizable layers on your website.

Technical Aspects

Understanding the technical aspects of a website is very important as an owner because at some point, your website will grow and you will need to move it to a new and better server.

When shifting sites to a new place, WP wins in all regards because it allows you to completely back up all your content and settings data which can then be moved to the new server.

Since SBI! hosts all the websites themselves, moving a website is not an option.

WordPress is more technical than Solo Build It, so if you’re not comfortable with coding or web development, Solo Build It may be the better option.

Which is right for you?

If you’re a beginner and you’re looking for a platform that’s easy to use and has a lot of built-in support, then Solo Build It is a good option. However, if you’re looking for a more customizable platform with a wider range of features, then WordPress is the better choice.

Here is a table that summarizes the key differences between SBI and WordPress:

Feature	Solo Build It	WordPress
Cost	Starts at $34.99/month	A limited selection of plugins and themes
Ease of use	Easy to use for beginners	Can be difficult to learn for beginners
Customization	Not as customizable as WordPress	Highly customizable
Plugins and themes	A strong community of users	A wide variety of plugins and themes are available
Community	The active community of developers and users	A wide variety of plugins and themes are available
Support	Comprehensive training and support	Not as much built-in support as SBI
Domain Name Included	Yes	No
Hosting Fee	NO	Varies by the Hosting plan
Analysis for SEO	Yes	No
Helps to Find Niche	Yes	No
Link Library	Yes	No
Hosting Space	Yes – Unlimited	No – Varies by Host plan
Keyword Research Included	Yes – BrainstomIt!	No
Market Research Included	Yes – BrainstomIt!	No

Conclusion

Site Build It! and WordPress both offer critical and extensive options to create a good website.

SBI! once had great potential but it seems that search engines are increasingly becoming harder to impress and the model in which SBI! is operating is slowly losing its spark to the fast evolution of these engines.

You can still use SBI! to create great websites but don’t expect them to perform too well on Google because the search engine giant is focusing on making websites that offer great content visible to the people who use them.

WordPress is superior in every way because the software is evolving with the evolution of search engines. It also is being used by tens and thousands of people across the globe which makes it a popular platform for third-party developers who release new tools to help developers and online marketers.

If you want a website that can rank high on Google and is easy to customize, move to another server and optimize for search engines, WordPress is definitely recommended over SBI!

However, since you can move your SBI! website to a WordPress server, you can try out the package because it does have many tools that are great for learning techniques for creating a successful online business.

Ultimately, the best way to decide which platform is right for you is to try both of them out and see which one you prefer.