'Should I use WordPress or Shopify?' is the question I hear most from new clients. It sounds like a technical choice, but it's really a business one. The right answer depends far less on the platforms than on how you plan to run things after launch.

Both are excellent. Both power millions of sites. And both can be the wrong choice for the wrong business.

So instead of starting with the platform, I start with a few questions about you.

What Are You Actually Selling?

If the website's main job is selling products online, with stock, shipping, payments and discount codes, Shopify is built exactly for that. It handles checkout, security and hosting for you, and it rarely breaks.

If the main job is bringing in enquiries for a service, like a contractor, a clinic or a studio, WordPress gives you more freedom with pages, content and SEO, and no monthly platform fee on top of hosting.

Who Will Update It?

A site is only as good as its last update. If you want to add products yourself every week, Shopify's admin is hard to beat. If you want to write articles, build landing pages and control every detail of your SEO, WordPress is more flexible.

• Selling many products: lean Shopify.

• Winning local leads and ranking on Google: lean WordPress.

• A launch that needs a one-of-a-kind experience: a custom build.

The Honest Answer

Sometimes the answer is neither. A product launch with a 3D showroom or a scroll-driven story may be better as a custom React site. My job is to pick what fits your business now and still fits it in three years, not what I happen to prefer.