Homestead Site Builder vs. Wordpress

dvduval

14 years ago

Wordpress is pretty awesome. You can surely find hosting for it for $5/month, so I wouldn't let that deter you.

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imMindset 14 years ago

Angelita,

I've had a client of mine who has hosting on Homestead, and it's really been a nightmare when we got started. I really wouldn't recommend Homestead Site Builder as it seems very "easy to use", but there are many behind the scenes issues you can run into later. I had to get all the files converted to .html just so I could customize things properly in Dreamweaver, and that itself was a hassle.

So my suggestion would be to stick to Wordpress and a different hosting company such as Hostgator. It'll make life much easier!

Hope this helps.
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mainstreetcm

14 years ago

Wordpress is easy to use. There really is nothing that can compare to ease of use and features that come with the open source package.

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Angelita

14 years ago

Thanks guys.. I should stop procrastinating on this and get onto WP for my next site..

It's just that HS is sooo easy!

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jaxrefinance

14 years ago

Wordpress has a gread advantage. With Artisteer you can create a theme within 30minutes. Also plugins support is GREAT.
You can even pay to get ANY kind of plugin done in 2-3 days dirt cheap.

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tehnolife

Banned 14 years ago

Go for Wordpress.If you build a site with Wordpress , the site will index more quickly and you have more chances to get on the first page.Wordpress has many SEO plugins!

Go for Wordpress!

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bgray

14 years ago

Make the jump now and avoid more headache later. The learning curve is there but the options will grow exponentially in regards to themes, plugins and competent developers/designers.

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edoho

14 years ago

wordpress is awesome blogs, and many plugin will help you, like all in one seo to build your site to be SEO site,

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John Durham

14 years ago

My Vote is homstead.

I have been using homestead for several years... I dont mind paying web designers, but if it is something simple... I dont want to have to be a slave to them... a few years ago I ran out of money to pay my fulltime designer... and I had to learn on my own.

I went through alot of HTML FOR DUMMIES COPY AND PASTE PROGRAMS... then about 6 years ago I found homestead and I have made many thousand of dollars using their program since.

It is unbelievably resourceful and easy for ANYONE to use.

They also have a really great reseller/webmaster plan also an affiliate plan comparable to host gator.

I seriously cannot say enough about them.

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Angelita

14 years ago

Hi John, I was actually viewing some of my competitor sites today and the site in #1 position was made with HS..

I love how easy it is to optimize... Another reason I haven't left them.
Have you ever used WP?

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1 reply

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John Durham

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Angelita

Hi John, I was actually viewing some of my competitor sites today and the site in #1 position was made with HS..

I love how easy it is to optimize... Another reason I haven't left them.
Have you ever used WP?

No havent used wp because I am a firm believer in not carrying around a bunch of knowledge that you dont need... if it's anything database driven... I let others do it, but I find that I really dont need anything more than a static site with a contact form for what I do. So, I use homestead because its easy , and grossly underestimated I believe.

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addictiod

14 years ago

I think Wordpress is the best platform for Internet Marketing.
I saw a lot of internet marketers that use Wordpress.
Has a lot of plugins and a lot of options to customize it.
The host will costs less then 7~10$/month. Depends what company you choose for this.

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thunderbird

14 years ago

Warrior Forum is definitely big-time Wordpress territory. I use wordpress most of the time. If Homestead has been working for you, great. It's like those rude long-hair 60-year-old musicians who talk like they're still teenagers, but make millions of dollars, have gorgeous super-educated model wives, and folks left right and center kissing their @ss. Would you advise them to change?

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John Durham

14 years ago

Originally Posted by thunderbird

Warrior Forum is definitely big-time Wordpress territory. I use wordpress most of the time. If Homestead has been working for you, great. It's like those rude long-hair 60-year-old musicians who talk like they're still teenagers, but make millions of dollars, have gorgeous super-educated model wives, and folks left right and center kissing their @ss. Would you advise them to change?

Yeah. Steven Tyler for example.

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BradB 13 years ago

Hi

I'm in deep into both of these tools right now.

I give each a small portion of my week looking for a tool to put something together fast and to build sites for the clients that don't need a super bells and whistle set up.....in other words they pay the least.

You got that right about this forum being just slightly WP bi"assed"
And I think that gives a lot of newbies the wrong impression....

From where I stand if you are looking for ONE solution to do all you need for client sites .....Take one or the other and ignore everything else....

Personally I found that I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to make wordpress look like a website.......:confused:

Homestead ALREADY is a website......

Do I like WP???
Sure I do but can I use it do do exactly what i want it to do instead of finding learning curves at every turn.......NOPE.

Not yet anyway.

is WP versatile? holy crap is it ever,...but you know what,...SO IS HOMESTEAD.......

ANd I came at this thinking Homestead was stupid..... Sorry John OK maybe you were right and there is the off chance that maybe there is the potential that I could have been Somewhat wr...ng......maybe.

The only thing I am concerned about is that I have this marketing plan i worked out with a big retail store owner and it involves having a Website then a separate blog then a separate photo site and one or two others conducive to niche areas of expertise where they stand out from their competition......

I can see how to do all of that, and tie it together on the same donmain (subdomains) in a WP site but at this point I'm not sure how to do it with homestead.....

But I'm going ahead with the Homestead site anyway because I have been able to get the look I wanted in one evening........ME..... the thick fingered typer who can't spell.

So Wordpress great "but if you are stalled in WP at any point at all",.. and you'd rather take action than learn how to program.........Homestead could get you up and flying fast in a totally satisfactory way.

And by the way most offline owners are Super impressed to just see themselves online as fast as you can do it.
YOU can work on the SEM and SEO later.

My 2 bits worth.
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sarahberra

13 years ago

I tried homestead about a year ago and I really didn't like it at all. Wordpress is so much better. You can use themes like Ezwordpress theme on wordpress. The themes were limited on homestead.

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rioguy 13 years ago

Hi John,

Just found your posting on using Homestead to start a website business for local businesses.

1). Is this still a viable business in 2011 ?

2). Do you still recommend charging $199 to setup and $24.99 per month?

3). I went to Homestead.com but can not find any mention of a reseller's program option. Does it still exist ?

Your approach definiely sounds good and I would like to try it soon.

Thanks,
Dave
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- 1 reply
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- JTzor 13 years ago
  
  Hi Dave;
  
  On behalf of John D - I believe if you go to the Homestead main site you will find their affiliate link which details the options you have to resell/affiliate Homestead.
  
  I have linked it above and HERE as well.
  
  Warmest Regards,
  
  - JT
  
  Thanks
  
  1 reply
  
  Signature
  
  "The Path to success is not a straight line but a jagged, broken road which we must piece together & make our own."
  
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  rioguy 13 years ago
  
  Thanks JT,
  
  Actually I just called Homestead and I think it is their $19.99 month Business Gold Option plan that John Durham refered to.
  
  You pay $19.99 per month + $2.00 per month per hosted domain. The Homestead rep even said they would give you he domain name for free IF you ask for the actual domain name registration fees to be waived.
  
  Sounds petty good to me, especially if you can get $299 or $399 for the initial setup. Maybe charge a bit more than $24.99 per month fo the on-going hosting too(residual income).
  
  I think your link to Homestead's affiliate signup page would be another way to make money in addition to John's ideas.
  
  Dave
  
  Thanks
  
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Carlsbadd

13 years ago

Both platform work fine, I prefer wordpress as I have more experience with it.

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nagidr

13 years ago

i prefer Wordpress for it's ability to drive traffic and not just content

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1 reply

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tanyathib 13 years ago

I know this is a bit of an older thread, however, it is still a very valid one with a lot of good points in it. As a user of both WP and HS I'd have to say there are pros and cons with both - as with anything in life.

I've been working with HS for somewhere around 15 years - that's back when they were completely free and I've grown with them ever since. They have advanced leaps and bounds. But without question, for anyone who is new to developing a website and looking to get started without having any knowledge, HS is a terrific place to start. It is the only true WYSIWYG builder out there that I have come across. So many of them try, but there are countless restrictions and gliches. With HS, if you want a rectangle, you place a rectangle. If you want an image, you place an image. Sounds similar enough to programs like WP - however, with HS you decide where exactly you want these items to be. They are not left, middle or right - they're wherever you want them to be.

The beauty with HS is that it will grow and expand with you. As you learn more knowledge and learn how to work with the html snippets and various java scripts there are enormous things that can be done. But long before that time you will still be able to have a professional looking, functioning website.

Oh and a side note on a previous comment about the templates being limited..... one trick with with HS is that you must learn to work within your account online as much as you do with the Site Builder you download. At the moment there are a couple of thousand templates within Homestead, but you have to log in to your account through homestead.com to access them.

Further, with proper use and understanding of controlling Domains and working with links and embeddable html/java scripts - there really is nothing that can't be done with HS. You are only limited by your own knowledge - which fortunately, the world of the Internet is more than willing to expand.

I know I've talked mostly about HS, but that's because most of what I've read here seems to indicate that there is more general knowledge of WP already here, so most of you already know what you can do with it. The plugins really are marvelous, probably the biggest strength behind WP. In my opinion, if HS would take a page from that book and integrate plugins for the more advanced functions that users look for eventually, then it really would become the absolute top of its class.

Just my humble opinions, for what they're worth to others.

Happy creating!
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CCB

12 years ago

I realize this thread is older, but I am hoping there are some of you still receiving notices.
I have no formal training in web design but have been building a website on Homestead's Sitebuilder for the past several years for a non-profit I co-founded.
To secure some income, I have been presented with an opportunity to manage/update a site for a business that uses word press. I have no experience with word press, nor training in code/web design. I have familiarized myself with SB by trial and error, etc. I am wondering if WP is similar enough to SB, that I could manage/update this WP site?
I have a link to their site, but I don't know how customized it is, being unfamiliar with WP.
Thank you for any assistance you could offer!
CCB

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buddy7 12 years ago

Does Homestead easily lend itself to mobile sites?
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Homestead Site Builder vs. Wordpress

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