How to Choose the Right Website Platform for Your Startup or New Business

Most new companies start the same way: "We need a website fast and cheap." At that moment, WordPress feels like the obvious choice. It's popular, familiar, and seemingly free. But within a year, that "quick and cheap" website becomes a fragile Frankenstein: plugins break, SEO drops, and updates take the whole thing down. Sounds familiar? 😉

This article is about choosing your website platform consciously, based on where you want your business to be in 6, 12, or 24 months. We'll look at the pros and cons of popular platforms (WordPress, Webflow, custom React builds, and HubSpot) and help you understand which one fits your goals.

The Biggest Mistake Most Founders Make

The most common trap is tying your strategy to a tool instead of a goal. Many founders pick WordPress simply because "everyone does." But what works for a freelancer can easily become a nightmare for a B2B company where the website connects to CRM, marketing, and analytics systems.

Here's the truth: your website isn't just a brochure; it's part of your business's operating system. If you're building a product with ambition, start with a foundation that can actually scale.

WordPress: When It Works and When It Breaks Your Business

WordPress can be powerful. It's perfect for:

• Landing pages, MVPs, and short-term campaigns;
• Content-driven sites without complex integrations;
• Simple blogs and personal projects.

But as your business grows, so do the issues:

• Endless plugin updates, incompatibilities, and code chaos;
• Vulnerabilities and security risks you must manage yourself;
• CRM, marketing, and analytics are disconnected;
• Poor performance and SEO without heavy optimization.

WordPress often feels cheap upfront, but that's an illusion. In reality, it's "stone soup" development: SEO plugins cost money, visual builders cost money, spam protection costs money, and every "free" plugin hides premium features behind a paywall. The result? A constant drip of small expenses that quietly turn into a financial headache.

Ironically, premium plugins (the ones you pay for) often become the weakest link: they update slowly, lag behind the core platform, and are frequently written with poor code quality.

“WordPress, the behemoth that once empowered a third of the internet, stands in 2025 as a paradox.
On one hand, it's still everywhere — powering blogs, newsrooms, e-commerce empires, and SaaS landing pages.
On the other, it's increasingly irrelevant to the forward march of the modern web. It's bloated.”
— Web Designer Depot: The Slow Implosion of WordPress 2025

As a real-world example, a startup grows, adds lead forms, integrations, and nurture campaigns — and suddenly, WordPress turns from “flexible” into a bottleneck no one can squeeze through.

Modern Builders: Webflow, Framer, Wix, and the Like

These platforms were a breath of fresh air — visual design, no-code creation, instant results.
For small businesses and design studios, they’re a great starting point.

But here's what you need to know:

• You're locked into a closed ecosystem with no access beyond what the builder allows;
• Limited scalability and restricted integrations;
• "Sandbox-level" security;
• Minimal SEO control (titles and descriptions only).

I've seen countless Webflow sites with massive "blogs" that technically aren't blogs at all: no semantic markup, no schema, no structured data, just content floating in the void. Search engines can't understand it, so the content never ranks.

If your plan is to grow, build a content strategy, and integrate CRM, sooner or later you’ll hit a hard ceiling.

Custom Websites and React Builds

React is often seen as the "holy grail" of web development. And yes, it's incredibly powerful, especially if you're building a complex app or SaaS product.

But for marketing websites, it's usually overkill:

• Every change requires a developer, even text edits;
• Hosting and maintenance cost more;
• SEO and AEO (AI Engine Optimization) are more complex;
• The site behaves more like an app than a content platform.

A React website is like a Ferrari. Impressive, fast, but unnecessary if all you need is a city commute.

If your site's main job is to market, not compute, React will only slow you down. It adds weight to the frontend, while search engines prefer lean, fast-loading pages. Speed and simplicity win both SEO and user trust.

If you're set on going custom, consider modern static site generators instead: Eleventy (11ty) or Astro. They let you build blazing-fast, secure, and future-proof websites that scale gracefully with your business.

React or custom sites are powerful but expensive, an enterprise-level solution suited for companies with in-house engineering teams ready to maintain and evolve the platform long-term.

HubSpot CMS: Built for Businesses That Plan to Grow

If you're thinking long-term, HubSpot CMS deserves serious consideration.

Why it stands out:

• Everything under one roof: CRM, marketing, email, SEO, analytics;
• High performance and Core Web Vitals compliance out of the box;
• Marketers can manage content without developer help;
• Built-in integrations with sales tools and lead forms;
• No updates or security headaches (handled by HubSpot engineers);
• Integrated SEO tools at both page and content levels;
• Scales from startup to enterprise;
• Backed by HubSpot Academy and a strong partner network.

Yes, the entry cost is higher, but it pays for itself quickly. Instead of endless plugin maintenance and migrations, you get a stable, scalable ecosystem for business growth.

HubSpot isn't just a CMS; it's the foundation of your marketing infrastructure.

If you're unsure where to start or stuck on WordPress, I recommend reaching out to our friends at Orange Marketing, a top-tier Diamond HubSpot Partner that helps companies migrate and modernize their websites.

Recommendations for Startups and New Businesses

1. Define your growth horizon. Where do you want to be in 6 months, 2 years, 5 years?
2. Don’t choose a tool for “today.” Choose one that will still serve you “tomorrow.”
3. Think about your team. Who will manage content — a marketer or a developer?
4. Avoid migrations. It’s cheaper to build smart now than rebuild later.

In Summary

• WordPress: The illusion of "free." In reality, a slow, resource-hungry monster.
• Builders like Webflow and Framer: Visually stunning but lock you into their ecosystem.
• React: Powerful but over-engineered for most use cases; best for enterprise-level teams.
• HubSpot: An open, flexible platform with full API access and data portability. It doesn't lock you in by limitation. It keeps you with its quality, convenience, and care for your success.

Conclusion: Choosing a Platform Is a Strategic Decision

Your website isn't just design and pixels. It's the core of your marketing, sales, and customer experience. WordPress isn't evil, but it's temporary. Webflow is beautiful but limited. React is powerful but expensive: a fit for enterprises, not startups. HubSpot strikes the perfect balance between flexibility, performance, and scalability.

🍊 Stay fresh from day one. Don’t build your business on temporary solutions.