‘Simple,’ ‘Easy-to-use,’ ‘Get started within minutes’…
These words are used for every website builder. No website will ever explicitly state that it isn’t fit for beginners.
But more often than not, the website builder you select is simple and easy for those who have coding and design know-how. Or at least some website building experience. And you end up spending hours trying to figure out where to start.
So, how do you find a builder that is actually great for beginners?
Well, we made complete newcomers take the most popular website builders for a test drive. Based on the feedback gathered and our expert analysis of the website builder’s functionality, we have the top 10 best website builders for beginners.
If you have no website building experience, you can still get online with a stellar website in 2021 with these top website builders:
Wix
You probably know about Wix thanks to their big-budget marketing campaigns starring Gal Gadot, Heidi Klum, and several other big names. And with over 150 million websites built on Wix, their marketing campaigns are working too. But that’s not just because of marketing, but also because the builder is actually one of the best out there.
Price: Free plan available. The lowest plan ‘Combo’ comes at $13/month (paid annually).
Features that make work easier for beginners –
Drag-and-drop builder to help you create a website without having to add even a word of code.
Plenty of free templates (over 100) to make sure you can get the design that suits your needs and helps you stand out from the crowd.
Hosting and domain name are offered by Wix (both free and paid variants available). This frees you from the stress of handling the backend. Also, you get the safety and backup features.
A loaded app market with all the functional attachments you need to take your website from drab to fab.
Mobile optimized themes and templates that make it easier for you to reach a wider audience across devices. You don’t have to spend time carrying out mobile optimization on each page.
Weebly
Most people won’t say their website building experience was fun. Easy, yes. But fun isn’t probably the right word. But that isn’t true in the case of Weebly users. Your website building experience with Weebly will be effortless as well as fun. You’ll enjoy moving around the objects and seeing your ideas materialize in front of your eyes.
Price: Free plan available. The lowest plan, “Personal,” comes at $6/month (paid annually).
Features that make work easier for beginners –
60 quality themes that aren’t old and recycled but fresh and new. Arranged in categories to make finding the right option easier, good quality, and uniqueness is their USP.
All themes are mobile-optimized, which means your website will load perfectly on smaller screens and mobile devices too.
350 plus apps are available in the App Center and that allows you to add the required functionality to your site with ease.
Build-in email marketing tool called Weebly Promote. This is a handy feature for those who would like to reach everyone on their mailing list without using an external service.
Robust eCommerce functionalities that aren’t easy to set up. But Weebly makes it easier with a straightforward, intuitive process.
SITE123
The experience that you have working with SITE123 does justice to the name. Creating a website for basic use is as simple as 1, 2, and 3.
Price: Free plan available. The lowest plan, “Premium,” costs $5.80/month (paid annually).
Features that make work easier for beginners –
180 mobile-responsive templates that come with some cool customization options. Making your SITE123 website truly your own is as easy as it gets.
Helpful tips, tutorials, and the guided tour make the process of creating your website a breeze. Other than the user-friendly interface, you also have access to 24/7 live chat support, should you need help.
All essential eCommerce features like multiple payment forms, email marketing list, wishlist creation, and unlimited orders are available. Also, SITE123 does not charge any sales commission.
You can build your website using one of the 21 languages available. Also, your website can be displayed in 5 languages (out of over 100 options available). A truly local experience.
Editing options are easy. And SEO functionalities are available either in the form of apps from the App center or third-party integrations.
Squarespace
Squarespace is the website builder for those who have a design focus. If you are looking for a website that has drop-dead beautiful designs, Squarespace is the way to go. While it is beginner-friendly for the most part, you do need a little patience while handling the tech aspect. But it won’t be tough if you take a couple of minutes to understand your way around.
Price: No free plan. The lowest plan, “Personal,” costs $12/month (paid annually).
Features that make work easier for beginners –
60 stunning mobile-optimized templates. These templates are perfect both from the perspective of beauty and features.
Beginners don’t need to worry about accidentally deleting a post or the pages as Squarespace lets you restore deleted posts and pages for up to 30 days.
If you know the basics of coding, you can make use of it. If not, you can still use the editor to create an equally stellar website. Also, you can use the Squarespace app and edit your site from your mobile phone.
Tons of built-in blogging features that make setting up and running a blog very easy. Also, a lot of images are available, and social media integration is possible. You can also add contributors to your blog.
Wide range of eCommerce functionalities that make it effortless to set up a designer storefront and manage inventory.
WordPress
WordPress powers more than a third of the web. And that is proof enough of how easy to use and feature-loaded it is. WordPress.org is a self-hosted platform. This gives you the liberty to choose your hosting. But it also gives you unprecedented ease of use.
Price: Completely free, forever.
Features that make work easier for beginners –
Multiple editor options to choose from. Whether you are looking for a drag and drop visual editor or a What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editor, WordPress has the right option for you. You can use the editor that you feel the most comfortable with.
53,000+ WordPress templates are available in the WordPress directory itself. You can also find more themes on Themeforest, Themify, and more. These options are both free and paid. And you are really spoilt for choices.
The WordPress plugin directory has a plugin for any and every feature, form, and functionality addition that you can think of. There is nothing that you need to do yourself. You can find a (free or paid) plugin to do that.
WordPress is SEO-friendly out-of-the-box. You can do nothing and still rank. But for competitive niches, you can also use plenty of optimized themes and SEO plugins.
Managing WordPress is a breeze. Mostly because the one unified dashboard has everything that you need. And even for your security concerns, you can use one of the multiple plugins available.
WebNode
WebNode is among the fastest-growing free website builders in the market. With over 22 million active users, it is a great point-and-click website builder that is great for beginners.
Price: Free plan available. The lowest plan, “Limited,” comes at $3.95/month.
Features that make work easier for beginners –
An easy-to-use drag-and-drop online editor that makes building a website as easy as possible. You just have to pick up the elements, drag them where you want to see them, and drop them right there.
No ads ever. Even if you are on the free plan, you don’t have to deal with WebNode ads on your site. This lets users select plans without pressure. You don’t need to jump to the higher plans right away to get rid of ads. Also, it lets you use custom domains as well.
Hundreds of pre-designed, beautiful, and responsive templates are available. Also, when you select a theme, you can select the pages that you want on your site. Home, About, Contact, News, Products, FAQs, and Our Team are some of the pages that are created automatically. You can edit these pages with the drag-and-drop editor and get your pages ready in minutes.
You get a lot of in-built SEO features. You can edit the page title, URL, and metadata. There is an option to edit the Alt tags for images as well. Those who aren’t experts at SEO can use these in-built features to get a higher search engine ranking. Plus, you can create up to 20 versions of your website in different languages.
WebNode comes with email support. But if you are just starting and want to learn things from the basics, you can check out their community forum. There is also an FAQs page on the website that will solve all the doubts that beginners are likely to have.
Strikingly
If you want to create a single-page website where your visitors just scroll through different sections, Strikingly is the best option. It is a quick and easy-to-use website builder that lets you create simple to use websites.
Price: Free plan available. The lowest plan costs $8/month (paid annually)
Features that make work easier for beginners –
Strikingly offers dozens of templates to build your website. Also, these templates are customizable, and so you can make sure your website looks unique. With the paid plans, you can also edit the header and footer as per your need.
A simple drag-and-drop editor makes customizations easy and quick. You can also get an SEO checklist to make sure you don’t miss anything. Plus, there is an option to add animations and scroll effects.
Strikingly can suggest color themes based on your logo. This is especially helpful for the users who aren’t very good at the design aspects. You can take the suggestions and create a website that looks in sync with your brand logo.
Mobile optimized themes are available. You can also make adjustments for a mobile display to make sure there are no discrepancies. iOS and iPad apps are also available. You can use this app for order management, replying to customer responses on the contact form, and to edit the website.
The Integration section has a lot of options to add more functionality. From email marketing to social media and payment partners, you can add a wide range of features. Without having to add codes or do complex settings.
SimpleSite
SimpleSite’s name says all that it has to offer. Simple sites. If you haven’t built a website before and have never taken a look at a website builder’s backend, this one is perfect for you.
Price: Free plan is available. The lowest plan, “Pro,” costs $15.49.
Features that make work easier for beginners –
Starting with SimpleSite is, well, too simple. You just have to choose a color theme. Then add images and titles. Go on to add a domain name and create a login setup. With that, your website will be ready to go live. You can then return to the fine-tune editing later. Plus, you also get five professional email ids with the SimpleSite account.
A quick editor. With SimpleSite, you don’t have to pull your hair trying to edit an element. The no-fuss editor is a quick way to make your site look like you want it to.
For those who are baffled by choices, SimpleSite selects the templates for you. Based on the type of website you want to create, you get a suitable template. But that doesn’t mean you have no choice. You can choose the Business option while selecting templates and browse through the available options.
The free plan that lets you see up to 5 products. If you just want to sell a few products without opening a full-blown eCommerce store, you can do with the SimpleSite free plan. A great way for beginners to test waters before taking the plunge.
Mobile optimized themes are given. Plus, you can also edit your website from your mobile’s browser. No need to download yet another app.
Jimdo
More than 20 million websites have been created with Jimdo. And that number is set to rise with the introduction of Jimdo’s AI-based editor. The AI-powered Dolphin editor takes the driver’s seat and makes website building a cakewalk for beginners.
Price: Free plan available. The lowest plan costs $10/month (paid annually).
Features that make work easier for beginners –
Jimdo Creator, the basic website builder, has a drag-and-drop editor that can be used to add style, sophistication, and uniqueness to your website with ease. The Dolphin editor goes a step forward by creating the website for you. You just have to answer a few questions and then sit back and relax. Once the website is built, you can fine-tune the site to make it fit your needs.
Jimdo has a modern arsenal of templates and themes. You can edit the style and text and add images. All the templates are mobile-optimized by default. You can also see the mobile preview during site-building.
Jimdo’s interface can be accessed in one of the eight available languages. The editor lets you add text in any language of your choice. And there is an option to create multilingual websites without much hassle or coding.
Widgets can be added to make sure your site looks fine and has the required functionality. The Gallery widget and social media widgets are especially useful for adding advanced features with ease.
Jimdo also comes with a form builder that lets you create effective contact forms right then and there. Also, you get all the SEO and eCommerce functionalities that you’d need for a beginner-level website.
IM Creator
IM Creator’s website builder IM XPRS is a decent website builder for personal and business use. You get eCommerce functionality with all the plans, and it is designed with ease of use in mind.
Price: Free plan available. The lowest plan, “Premium,” costs $9.95/month.
Features that make work easier for beginners –
Plenty of responsive and customizable templates arranged in 14 categories. Also, IM Creator doesn’t stop at its promise of simplicity for beginners. When you choose a template, you get the option to watch a YouTube video. The video details how to edit the template. If you are confident, you can skip the video and start editing right away.
The eCommerce functionality and storage upgrade options are available without having to pay too much. You also get an array of feature enhancement additions. These include checkout management, management console, and analytics.
If you want a multilingual website but aren’t adept at using plugins and adding code, IM Creator feels Godsent. You can create multiple versions of your website in different languages. Available at no additional cost.
IM XPRS mobile app lets you stay in control of your website even when on the go. You can edit all aspects of your site from the app itself.
The IM Creator website has two self-help sections for beginners. You can check out the FAQs and How-To section to get details about how things work. If you still have doubts, you can use the online ticketing system to contact support.
Now that you know what are the best website builders, it is time to select the most suitable option from the list and get started.
From this list of website builders for small business, you can choose the one that you feel the most comfortable with and create your online presence with ease.
Since 2016, small business owners have been keeping tabs on Google’s new mobile-first index. This new phenomenon, announced by Gary Illyes, places higher ranking emphasis on websites that are optimized for use on mobile devices. The more suitable your website is for mobile use, the higher your website will rank.
Now, here we are in 2018 and after hitting many major sites, the mobile-first index is now working for small local business websites. Google has been rolling this out slowly in small batches already, but recently one of the largest batches of websites yet has been released. While Google claims the wait has been due to the need to not trigger extreme changes in search results, this raises questions about the needs of key business players. Since Google cares about rankings of large online players such as Amazon or Facebook, it seems reasonable that they would not want the mobile-first ranking to affect the rankings of these large sites if they weren’t optimized for mobile as much as other sites. For the sake of their business relationships and their determination to keep search results from changing drastically, it has been a slow roll out for the mobile-first index.
For you as a small business owner, it may be time to think about optimizing your site for mobile use if you haven’t already. The bad part about the mobile-first index is that this ranking is applied whether the user is using a mobile device or not, meaning that your website will have a lower ranking based on mobile suitability even for someone searching on a desktop computer. Because of this distinction, you will want to optimize your website for mobile use even if many of your customers won’t be accessing your website from a mobile device. To Google, a mobile-friendly website is one that offers the same content on both mobile and desktop users. This doesn’t always mean the site has the same layout – just the same content is needed.
Many people have already begun preparations since the announcement came in 2016, but if you haven’t, consider getting a mobile site up and running soon as your search rankings may drop significantly if you don’t. If you aren’t sure about how mobile-friendly your site is, a good first step is to use Google’s mobile-friendly test online. It is a good sign if your website passes this test, but this doesn’t mean your site is as mobile-friendly as it could be. Consider the features below to make sure your website is great for use on desktop and mobile:
User Experience: Your website will be different on a mobile device versus a desktop, and you not only need to consider dimension and orientation, but also the way the users navigate the site. Google won’t actually go on your website and rate the experience, but they will track the time spent on pages when viewed on a mobile device and compare it to the desktop version.
Font: It is not only important for text to be placed correctly on a mobile site, but the font also makes a huge difference to readability. Trying using a minimum of size 14 font across your website.
Spacing: A smaller screen means less space for content and text. That paragraph nicely centered on your desktop website may actually be tough to read on a mobile device. Try adding line breaks more often, making your content short and to the point, and try to imagine if you were reading that content on a mobile device.
Keep the same content: Google will check that your website has the same content and links on the mobile and desktop sites. This can be tough to manage as your site may have had to be reduced to make it responsive, but it is not impossible!
Continue testing! Digital services need to be continually tested for responsiveness and quality. As you add and change content on your site, you will need to change the way your content is shown on mobile devices, and this means you will need to test these changes. To keep those search rankings high, make sure to always test your changes.
Once your mobile website gets going, watch your rankings stay stable and maybe even rise. Learn more about our website design service.
Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of questions about websites and the best way to build custom websites. There are many obvious reasons why you want a custom website. We build custom websites on WordPress but to many people, WordPress seems to be just another website builder. Whether you use WordPress or another platform to create your website, you can still end up with a good looking finished product.
So what’s the big deal? Technically, WordPress is not a website builder, it is actually a content management system, or CMS for short. If you aren’t familiar with using CMS’s, you may have a lot to learn. If you are looking for something that is a little easier to master, a website builder may be better for you.
Below I’ve laid out some comparisons of CMS’s such as WordPress versus website builders in order for you to decide what may work for you. It is a good thing to note that when choosing a platform to use, it depends on your comfort and your skills.
Ease Of Use
First, let’s talk about ease of use. If you use a website builder, you are pretty much guaranteed that it will be user friendly. Sites such as Weebly have easily managed page editors that help you add, move, or remove elements from your page in a flash.
On WordPress, you will not see this same visual interface. WordPress uses what is called a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor to create a visual interpretation of the website. As far as ease of use goes, a drag and drop editor is much easier to figure out, especially if you are not that computer-savvy. WYSIWYG is basically like a Word document. If you can edit a Word doc, you can use WordPress and WYSIWYG. Below is a screenshot of the WYSIWYG post and page editor for Wordpres.
Other ease of use elements includes the ability to insert new themes or plugins without using code on website builders. To do this on WordPress, you may need to change code, and not everyone is savvy with this. Another thing to consider is the difficulty of performing simple actions on WordPress. The interface itself can do many wonderful things, but the challenge may be finding out just how to do them.
Flexibility
The second element I want to discuss is flexibility. One of the best things about WordPress is that it can be used for a variety of website needs- whether that be a blog or an online store. As you just saw, sometimes the cost of this flexibility is the ease of use. Because WordPress can just do so many different things, it is bound to get a little complicated. If you are using a website builder, you generally need to be a little more picky and choose one that will suit the type of website you want to create. Some website builders will power small business websites or personal websites, while others are more suited to power large multi-page sites. For unconventional types of websites, you may want to look to WordPress as it can change to meet your specific needs.
Themes & Plugins
Next, themes and plugins is an element to consider. Due to the large number of people using WordPress, there are plenty of themes and plugins readily available to you. If you want your website to perform a certain action, there is probably a plugin that will let you do it. But with this volume of themes and plugins comes with some that do not work that well. Some of these plugins may require extra tweaking which defeats the purpose of the ready to go plugin. On the flip side, website builders may not have as many themes and plugins available, but the ones they do have always work.
SEO
Many people want to know what is better for SEO. Having done SEO for a few past clients websites who used Wix and Weebly, they’re SEO is pretty good. You can add page titles and descriptions for each page. We did not notice that their websites were impacted negativly from using their platforms.
For a few reasons though we love WordPress for SEO simply due to the fact we love the Yoast SEO plugin. There are a lot of great features to that plugin and the major one is being able to create templates for page titles and descritptions for pages. This saves a lot of time as a template can be used to ensure pages and blog posts have the proper SEO information filled out. Wix, Weebdly and other website builders don’t offer this.
Yoast also has a feature that allows you to see all of your Google Search Console data from your WordPress dashboard. This saves the hassle of logging into your Search Console dashboard.
Again, we believe that the website builders have pretty good SEO but WordPress and Yoast are a step above.
Hosting
Finally, let’s talk about hosting. When you use a website builder, your domain name gets connected to the builder and is already configured. With WordPress, you need to find your own web host. It may also require some reading up on FTP, which is a way to upload your WordPress files to your newfound host. A benefit of finding your own host is that you are able to download your WordPress content and move it to another host, while website builders will host your site forever. If this puts you in unfamiliar territory, you may need to recruit a friend or face a learning curve.
The big takeaway is that choosing between a website builder and a CMS like WordPress heavily depends on you- how much time you have to invest, what your current knowledge of computer code is, and what you want your website to do. If you have an unconventional idea but aren’t sure if you have the skills to navigate WordPress, don’t be discouraged. There are plenty of online tutorials that can get you started.
One of the common misconceptions out there is that web designers are the same as web developers. You may think they do the same thing when in fact there is a difference between the two. Let me explain below what each person does.
Web Designers
A web designer is an expert with graphic design software such as Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator, and uses these graphics to create certain themes or looks for a website. The designer’s creation is then attached to coding and uploaded online. It is important to note that not all web designers are experts at writing code, and they do not always deal with the coding that their designs will be attached to.
Sometimes designers do not even meet the team who will help their design go live. Web designers are creative and imaginative, and need to have an eye for aesthetically pleasing images. Supplementary education for a career in web design includes graphic design, or other arts classes such as photography. Many designers even study classical art techniques in order to better understand colour, use of space, or audience. One of the most important things for a successful web designer is a portfolio of their work, used to showcase what they are capable of to potential employers.
Once a web designer finishes a website, they will have to hand the website over to a web developer to code it to a live, functional website.
Web Developers
Although some parts of a developer’s job can overlap with a designers, there are some aspects that are completely different. The main job of a web developer is to work from the back-end of a website in order to build the frame, a frame which the design is then placed on.
Developers are very well trained and know coding languages as well as HTML, Javascript, JQuery and CSS. Rather than make the site look aesthetically pleasing, developers are more focused on making a website that runs smoothly and works well. Developers often study computer science, computer programming, and anything related to computer technology. In order to do this job, you need to enjoy tweaking the smallest details and performing tasks that may seem redundant to some. Developers also often have portfolios, and although they will look vastly different from a designer’s portfolio, they serve the same function.
So, it is clear to see that both jobs have a specific function in completing a greater goal: the creation of a website or online interface. In order to make a site that users enjoy, the design must be appealing, and the development must be sound so that it runs smoothly. When both these elements work in harmony, the user is more likely to return to that site.
Now for the complicated part: it has become more and more common for designers to delve into learning code and for developers to begin learning design theory. This is great for those who are exploring both fields as they have a greater skill set, and it is great for employers who may only have to hire one person for two jobs. It is possible for someone to be both a developer and a designer, and this makes them a hot commodity.
A benefit of this merge is that it is becoming much easier for developers and designers to communicate effectively. Due to the amount of jargon in the fields of design and computer science, it can be easy to fall into an explanation that someone outside of the field does not understand. A way that many designers and developers combat this is to avoid jargon as much as possible, and show each other rather than tell what they are looking for. As more people cross over from design to developing and vice versa, these techniques may not be needed as much.
So, now you know the difference between web developers and web designers, and how that distinction is quickly blurring into one title. Although it is very possible to do both tasks well, most people will always be better at one job, and they usually make that their primary focus. Remember, don’t always assume that a designer is a developer, or vice versa!
Over the years, we have worked on close to a hundred websites. A few of our current and past clients have come to us with websites created or designed by another company. In a few of those cases, the client has paid a web design company to “design” them a website.
But they haven’t paid for a custom design. Instead they’ve paid for a pre-made theme. I’ve listed one major reason why custom WordPress themes can be a nightmare. Another reason why pre-made themes are not a good option is that they are often bulky and very slow to load. Sure they look pretty, but they have way too many plugins and files that take the web browser too long to load. This obviously affects the user experience.
In the end, how can someone can call themselves a web designer or web developer if they don’t create custom websites from scratch or have little coding experience? I’ve heard of a few reputable web design companies charge $7000 to simply plug in content to an existing theme they paid $70 for over at Themeforest.
Full disclaimer: we have done this for a few clients on a serious budget. But we don’t take credit for the “web design”. We don’t believe this is true web design.
In saying that, should you employ someone to create a website from scratch, or buy a pre-made theme and plug your content in? Read on.
The system to use on a website varies on two factors: the server technical requirements and the developer’s level of knowledge on different platforms. Custom and pre-made templates have their share of pros and cons, depending on the site’s budget, goals and needs.
Custom Website Design
A custom website design involves a designing firm that will do all the professional work, someone who will focus on your brand, goals, and needs. The firm will take into account the SEO best practices and determine what ROI type you are looking for. With a custom website, you will have full control of the whole process and the features to be used.
Since custom websites don’t only consist of how a website will appear, the development process usually takes longer during the early stage. But, in the long run, it will save time since the designing firm will make sure that your website will perform as designed.
Website designing entails great effort and time, and glitches may arise if not done properly. This is where a designing firm comes in. Templates are great for simple organizations that want a website that works only as a business card and without intricate processes. However, if you desire more than that, then custom website design is ideal for you.
Theme-Based Website
With a theme-based website, coding and layout are already done. WordPress, an open-source blogging tool, and CMS, offers a wide variety of themes you can choose from. Theme-based websites are available on websites like ThemeForest, a theme website developer that aims to sell as many copies as possible.
With these premium themes, they often over do it with an excessive number of plugins that are unnecessary and too many plugins causes the page load speed to slow down. What these plugins achieve could be done with just a little bit of extra coding. When using plugins. You are prompted to update them for compatibility as WordPress updates are made. This can cause the site to break and you’d have to incur extra fees by hiring someone to do the maintenance updates to ensure no compatibility issues.
When using WordPress with too many additional and unnecessary functions like plugins and extra settings that are not applicable to your business, it can make your WordPress interface cluttered and confusing. Causing you to struggle to make simple website updates and changes to your site. We’ve lots of frustrated SEO clients with existing premade themes needing assistance to make, what should be, simple edits.
Some web designers prefer theme sites if a client isn’t too selective about the looks of the site. This way they can easily produce a website that is up and functioning quickly. Most of these theme-based sites have coding already written for customers. The only thing to work on is applying images and content, make some minor adjustments and you are ready to go.
Based on its quick setup, new WordPress sites produced from premade themes normally cost less compared to custom-coded websites based on a customer’s specifications. However, that is roughly the sole benefit a customer can get from buying a theme-based site.
The Bottom Line
A website can be an extremely potent tool if created properly, but a poorly made site can work against you. No matter what kind of website you require, the most crucial factor you should focus on is choosing the right designer.
So choose wisely and ask the question “Am I getting a custom website or a premade theme?”.
