How are professional websites actually built nowadays?
I have a genuine question about how professional websites are actually built nowadays.
I always assumed that a “serious” website or a powerful online store had to be fully custom-built (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, backend, etc.), but then I see that a huge number of websites use WordPress, Shopify, or other CMS/builders.
I also hear the term “marketplace” a lot, and I’m not completely sure how it differs from a normal ecommerce store.
For people who work in web development or have real-world experience:
- What percentage of professional websites would you say are built with WordPress or other CMS platforms?
- When is it actually worth building something fully custom?
- Do large companies and serious online stores usually use CMS platforms or custom development?
- What’s the real difference between a normal ecommerce store and a marketplace?
- Technically speaking, what makes a marketplace different?
- Is building a marketplace significantly more difficult than building a standard ecommerce website?
- Are there real differences in performance, SEO, scalability, or maintenance between CMS-based sites and fully custom stacks?
I’m interested in understanding how this works in the real world, not just the “ideal” technical answer.