How I build startup sites
Build in public day 20/30: A weekend update about how I handle startup websites. For context, I was a WordPress guy for over a decade. I even ran WordPress at GoDaddy and grew it from 7 to 9 figures ARR. My first startup back in 2011 was also built on WordPress, it was an automated site builder that used "AI" which sounds funny in retrospect given how far AI has come
Based on that experience you might think I'd use WordPress for all websites. I don't.
I still use it for my simple personal blog, but for anything more than that I use Webflow (and I recommend Shopify for stores). Why? Because it looks better, it's easier to maintain and update...way less hassle. WordPress also hasn't aged well and isn't adapting fast enough, which is a separate discussion.
With Webflow I'll spring for a nice template (~$100) then just pay the ~$30/mo. for the plan. That seems expensive considering you can get a WordPress site much cheaper, but you'll pay the costs in other ways (time, complexity, etc.). The other benefit of paying for a great looking Webflow template is pushing off website/brand design decisions for later.
Below is a screenshot of the homepage of the website. It looks decent and was quick to throw together, along with the legal pages, blog, pricing page, etc.
Tip: If you incorporate through Stripe Atlas there's also a 50% Webflow off and a free template. YC's Startup School course also has a discount on Striple Atlas among other things.
If you REALLY want to roll your own website, it's pretty quick to give Claude a design example and have it whip something nice up in Tailwind...
...but it's still more of a pain to update/maintain/tweak when you could just throw $30/mo at it and be done. You also get the easy UI to make updates, template system, and other features you're not thinking about now, but will want later.
That's all time you get back better spent on the core product finding PMF, building awareness, etc.
Examples:
Xtreeks site on Webflow: https://xtreeks.com
POPSMASH Site on Webflow (a few years old, still looks decent, zero maintenance): https://popsmash.com
Simple personal blog on WordPress: https://gmays.com and a writeup of how I host it free on GitHub + Cloudflare: https://gmays.com/how-to-host-wordpress-sites-free/
