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I’ve been building websites for years. It’s way easier now than it used to be. You can go simple or take your site to the next level–no programming or design experience necessary.
There are a handful of popular options that will get you to where you want to go. However, the best website builders have different strengths and limitations.
I use WordPress because I can do exactly what I want and support millions of visitors to my blog each month. It might work for you, but some of my other top picks could work better, depending on what you are trying to do.
Here are the six best website builders you can start using today. I’ve included in-depth reviews to help you get a sense of why each product is so good.
Take control and manage every detail of your site. Or, use my number one pick to have the website build itself. Your call.
Wix is a really easy website builder that can help you create just what you want. Start with one of its many, many templates and customize from there.
You don’t need any web design experience to put together a sharp website, whether your goal is a blog, company page, or online store. Wix is a real Swiss Army knife solution and it’s easy for anyone to use, to boot.
In fact, it’s so easy that you can sit back and let Wix build your site for you. If you don’t feel like dragging and dropping site elements into place, simply answer a few questions and Wix’s Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) will whip up what you need in just a couple clicks.
Wix really goes the extra mile to enable anyone to build an effective website and offers a lot of extras to help them gain traffic.
Most of the Wix paid plans give you $300 in free digital ad vouchers so you can market your new blog or ecommerce store with no extra spending on your part.
Plus, there’s a lot more marketing you can do for free to reach the first page of Google through employing my SEO strategies for Wix sites.
On top of all of that, Wix’s paid plans are quite competitively priced:
Here are the best things about Wix:
Here are the weaker parts about Wix:
Try Wix for free today.
For many businesses, building a useful website isn’t as simple as committing to a web store or a simple one-pager with contact information. It can be frustrating to have to commit to a site builder that has separate plans for standard pages and ecommerce.
Zyro makes it easy to take your business website in any direction you need.
And “easy” is the operative word for the overall experience of building a site on Zyro. After signup, you can choose to build your website from scratch, work from one of 140 templates, or use their AI-powered site builder.
Once your site is built, Zyro’s pricing plans encompass all of the features you could need. From the basics, like blogging tools and email service, to specialties like ecommerce, live chat, inventory management, and remarketing, you can get it all in one package from Zyro.
If you need something basic with room to grow, you can start on the cheapest plan. Or, if you want your business website to handle content marketing, online sales, and customer service right out of the box, opt for Zyro’s higher-octane plans, which still come at a price that is near or better that of the other big names in ecommerce builders.
Get started on a Zyro plan today.
Not far behind Wix is Weebly, which is a drag-and-drop site builder that prides itself on its ease of use.
Weebly delivers site building with a simple user experience and short learning curve. It doesn’t bombard you with features or a complicated interface, making it fantastic for anyone building a webpage for the first time.
Despite being so beginner-friendly, Weebly does not skimp on features. Bolstered by being acquired by Square in 2018, all Weebly plans allow you to add ecommerce features to your website with the same level of ease.
Even its free plan lets you add a shopping cart and unlimited products to your Weebly site. It’s fantastic for local stores, because you can also utilize inventory management and in-store pickup on all site builder plans.
Here are the best things about Weebly:
Here are the weaker parts about Weebly
Try Weebly for free today.
Web.com is a lot like Weebly—it’s fantastically easy to use, with an intuitive drag-and-drop editor that lets you mold any available template to your needs. And it comes at a great price and with great support.
But I think Web.com’s website builder shines brightest for a particular need: setting up landing pages and single-page sites in a snap.
Seriously, it’s so easy with Web.com—start from one of their 126 templates, then just tweak the colors, swap out some imagery, replace the copy, and add a custom form. Voila, you have a gorgeous landing page, done in about 15 to 20 minutes.
You can build a ton of unique landing pages in one sitting or make simple or temporary websites with ease. And at a competitive price, too.
Get started with Web.com today.
If you plan on selling any type of product online – from jewelry to electric scooters – then your best bet will be to use a dedicated ecommerce platform and website builder.
Without a doubt, the number one in this category is Shopify. The platform powers over 1 million merchants in 175 different countries, and is the third-largest online retailer in the US, trailing behind only Amazon and eBay.
The Shopify software represents a complete end to end platform that allows you to set up, manage, and promote a store online. You can easily list your goods for sale, take payments, and fulfill orders – all under one roof.
Here are the best things about Shopify:
Here are the weaker aspects of Shopify:
One of the oldest and most reliable website builders is WordPress. The platform has come a long way since it launched in 2003 and is the most popular content management system on the web today.
In fact, WordPress powers a whopping 37.6% of all websites.
As WordPress was around during the earlier days of the web, its focus revolved around content, which was the most prominent form of website at the time.
It maintains that focus to this day, with WordPress having arguably the best content management system out of all the different website builders.
An important caveat is that WordPress is divided into platforms:
Here are the best things about WordPress:
Here are the weaker aspects of WordPress:
Now it is time to take a closer look at some of the specific features to consider when evaluating a website builder.
Remember that although some website builders may fall into the same category, each may suit your needs differently.
For instance, you may be setting up an online shop and your primary consideration may be a low learning curve, whereas somebody else may be thinking about a platform that can allow them to scale easily.
Here are some features you should consider.
Things to consider:
If you are new to setting up online or are time-constrained, how easy it is to get started will likely be your primary concern.
You should think strongly about scalability if you are already an established business looking to create an online presence. This is particularly true if you are already selling products at scale in the real world.
Startups in the fundraising process and are looking to scale fast or even change core features of their product should also take caution here.
If you plan on running a site with a lot of visitors and it happens to go down, the last thing you want is an unresponsive support team. This is especially true if you plan on driving a lot of traffic at a given time.
A website builder with a strong support team is also useful if you are just getting started online, considering you may still get stuck, even with simple interfaces.
If you plan on making money from your website, either by selling products directly or to capture leads, then price should not be a key consideration for you. Make an investment in the best service for your needs.
However, if you just want to set up a small information site, then you could do with the cheapest options.
Generally, website builders that have feature depth are typically more expensive as they solve more specific problems.
The features of a website builder are the main thing to consider when deciding which route to follow. This is because they will have the most impact on your specific goals.
For instance, if you want to set up a landing page for a specific product, trying to optimize with a generic site builder will be a pain. It will probably lack the in-depth analytic tools that a dedicated landing page builder would have.
Also keep in mind that there are some features that you may not need now, but you could need in the future, such as if you plan on running paid ads to your blog posts.
Regardless of your goal, you should always be concerned with providing a great user experience to the people who are visiting your site. It simply makes logical sense – if your site is hard to navigate, people won’t get the most out of it.
The actual design and branding are important too. For instance, some designs are more corporate while others are more welcoming. There may be a design template that really suits your particular brand.
And if you are selling something, you need to ensure that the design is optimized to increase conversions.
Now that you have a good understanding of the types of website builders and the features to look out for, it is time to take a look at some of the best website builders on the market.
An important thing to keep in mind is that the website builders listed above can serve multiple functions. Now that you have a solid overview, it’s time to look into the details of each platform.
Use my recommendations as a guide a guide to get started:
Follow the links to further explore each option. The best choice for you will come down to both your needs at the moment and where you plan on taking your website in the future.
After reading reviews like this one, make sure you take a step back and put your particular needs at the forefront of the decision before you commit.
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