Best Website Builders

Website builders help eliminate manual code editing in the website construction. There are two categories of these tools – online and offline. Online website builders are often provided by web hosting companies. Offline tools (often called website design software) create pages on a computer and publish them on a host.

Online builders often require users to sign up with the company which provide a website hosting. These tools differs a lot. Some of them provide the ability to create basic personal pages or content for social networks, while the others help with complete e-commerce websites. Complex solutions can be both template based or design free.

Online website builders have a lot of advantages over offline tools. First of all, they are quick and easy to use. They also do not require any prior experience. Online website builders are designed to create content within limited periods of time. In order to help customers achieve maximum speed, there is often a technical support. In addition, there can be how-to videos and different documentation. Keep in mind, that there are both general and specialized websites builders. For example, you can easily find website builder which provides features needed for the certain niche, for example, ecommerce website builder or even website builder with shopping cart.

In their turn, offline website builders are often more complex and require the understanding of HTML and CSS. They are used by professional web designers to create pages for different clients and web hosts. Offline tools relies on both WYSIWYG, source code editing, and CSS styling. Being more flexible than online counterparts, they are often more expensive.

Every business, even small, needs an online presence. If it is not on Google, it loses a huge percentage of possible clients. In this situation a team of developers can help but such solution is too expensive especially in a case of a small enterprise. Luckily, the Internet is full of simple and inexpensive website builders. One solution usually includes design tools, marketing tools, and a website hosting plan.

Thus, you don’t need any HTML, CSS, or PHP geniuses. Online website builders allow you to use a simple drag-and-drop functionality. Of course, there is a possibility to rely on classic coding if you prefer, but it is not the main feature. Just watch a few tutorials, read the appropriate documentation and you will be ready to make a professional-looking website within your budget.

The right balance of features, simplicity, and support is crucial for website builders. We recommend you to take the following features into the consideration while choosing the best solution: design and media features, marketing capabilities, website hosting, and support.

Design and media features

Talking about design and media in the context of website builders, we should make the emphasis on drag-and-drop interface. It allows you to add all possible media files (text, video, audio) within seconds.

Another important thing is a dashboard. In a case of confusing or non-responsive dashboard, you may spend much less time on the creation of your website, as a result it won’t get a professional and attractive look. We advise you to use only user friendly website builders, otherwise you will have to rely on  your patience to create a good-looking site.

Image-editing tools are also a great addition to a set of design and media features. They can help you reduce time if your site is based on images, but you can always use more advanced third party solutions.

Last but not least is the support of responsive design. If your website is incorrectly displayed on smartphones and tablets, you will lose a huge percentage of visitors.

Marketing capabilities

User friendly website is not the solution of all you problems. Of course, the site should look good on all devices and be useful for your audience, but also important is ease of access. Keep in mind, that you need to get your website out to your future customers. That’s why marketing capabilities are important the same as design and media features. A good website builder should send your content to major search engines, provide SEO features and the ability of social media sharing.

Hosting

The best website builders often provide hosting into their services. You should compare the amount of storage and bandwidth to find the solution that suits your needs best. Pay your attention to the maximum number of webpages and associated email addresses, which are provided by a builder. It is also necessary to understand, if analytics tools and a domain name are included in the purchase price.

Help & Support

Last but not least is the level of support that the website-development solution offers. This aspect is less important for people with the experience in web development, but if you are a novice the ability to get help is crucial. Keep in mind, that FAQs and tutorials are often not enough. A dedicated email support or a live chart are much more helpful.

The Best Website Builders

Accoding to fitsmallbusiness.com Weebly, Themify and Ocoos are the best website builders. After reviewing 20+ counterparts, the author decided that these three solutions cover the full range of features necessary for the small businesses.

Weebly

Weebly

Because of drag-and-drop interface, Weebly is among the easiest-to-use website builders. Text boxes, images, and any other elements can be placed anywhere on the page. You can also edit their size and customize style.

There is a limited free version of Weebly, which is good for the creation of basic websites. The premium plan costs $10 per month, which is the cheapest price. Pro version of Weebly provides you with unlimited pages, site-search, advanced tools for site analysis, and the ability to sell up to 25 products.

In addition, you get a good support, over 100 customizable themes, and robust SEO features.

Weebly’s drawbacks are not the highest possible customization level and expensive custom domains.

Themify

Themify

Themify is a great solution for tech-savvy business owners. This website builder provides full control over site’s look and feel and gives more customizability than most counterparts do. Themify is based on the WordPress platform, so you get the functionality of vast variety of plugins and a full access to HTML/CSS code. Last but not least is the price. In order to use Themify, you will have to pay a one-time $49 fee. For this money, you will get a reusable premium theme. There is also an option for website designers: the access to all 40 themes, which costs $139.

And now few words about negative aspects of using Themify. First of all, it is a learning curve. As mentioned before, Themify is a solution for tech-savvies. The second major drawback is the necessity to use 3rd party website hosting. It will cost around $5 per month.

Ocoos

Ocoos

Ocoos is a service business orientated website builder. This solution has a range of unique features, such as an internal CRM system, tools for digital document signing, built-in newsletter, booking features, and flexible payment options. There is also a possibility to hire a team of professional web developers directly at Ocoos. They will create a great looking website for $300-$400.

The main drawback of Ocoos is the only one template with limited customization options. Thus, this website builder has limited target audience.

The Best Specialized Websites Builders

SquareSpace

SquareSpace is the best solution for musicians, artists and designers. This tool helps in a creation of visually stunning websites. SquareSpace provides premium themes with a minimalist, classy, and sophisticated design.

SquareSpace

Shopify

Shopify is a leading solution among ecommerce website builders. It s designed with a significant focus on different business aspects. With Shopify, you will easily boost your online sales.

Shopify

Google Sites

Google Sites is the best tool for creation of internal sites. You will never build a website that will represent your business to customers with the help of this solution, but it is enough for a classroom or sport team site aimed at parents, teachers or classmates. Google Sites is a free and easy-to-use website builder.

Google Sites

GoDaddy

GoDaddy is the best budget friendly solution. You get both a custom domain and a website builder for just $3-4/month. Of course, GoDaddy lacks a lot of important features, but they can be useless for the project with such a low budget.

GoDaddy

OnePager

OnePager is the best option for a creation of one-page sites. Despite other website builders provide the same option, OnePager is specifically tailored for this purpose.

OnePager

Best E-Commerce Website Builders

These are the best website builders for e-commerce. They will help you create a robust online store and boost your sales in the Internet. Of-course, Shopify is the greatest one, but other solutions are also good enough.

• Shopify
• AmeriCommerce
• Big Cartel
• Supadupa
• Bigcommerce

Sites Reviewing Website Builders

In this part of the article you will find sites about website builders. Each link will lead you to the list of the best solutions with their detailed reviews, pros, cons, and feature sets.

Site Builder Report

Steve started his guide in the summer of 2012. He created a crash test environment for website builders. Now, Site Builder Report includes information about more than 50 solutions, and their number continues to grow. Steve writes about both good and bad website builders and makes emphasis on the best solutions. He has already helped over 500 thousand people find their perfect tools.

Website Tool Tester

Website Tool Tester also provides a complicated review on website building tools. According to this website, the best solution is Weebly. Other website builders include Jimdo, Squarespace, Wix, and Webnode. Pros, cons and prices are listed for every solution. Website Tool Tester exists since 2009. The project helped thousands of small businesses and individuals create their own websites without coding. Besides website builder reviews, Website Tool Tester provides a free eBook, regular blog posts and useful links.

Top Ten Reviews

Of course, there is a post about website builders on Top Ten Reviews. According to the article, the best builder is also Weebly. Other solutions are Homestead, Squarespace, Yola Silver, and Jimbo. The review includes informative visual materials and eloquent tables. The site iself is famous for its comparisons of products, services and software.

Website Builder Insider

This is another useful source of information about website builders. The site provides information about the best solutions, compares them, and shows how to use them. The interface of Website Builder Insider is a little messy, so it is not the best place to start from. Instead, you can always use the site to find more detailed reviews, how-tos and tutorials to previously discovered website builders.

5 Best Website Builders

According to 5 Best Website Builders, the best solution is WebsiteBuilder.com with over 1000 templates, HTML drag-&-drop editor, social media integration, e-commerce-mobile features, and a free plan. Weebly is only third. Other website Builders are Wix, duda, and iPage.

HowToGetOnline.com

How To Get Online also provides a guide to website builders. The article reviews the best software and provides a list of the top solutions, which are easy to learn and use. According to the website, Wix is the best solution, Weebly is only third. Web, SquareSpace, and WordPress are other possible alternatives.

As you can see, the Internet is full of both high quality website builders and sites with their reviews. At a first glance, it seems difficult to find the best website store builder, but the problem is much less significant than you think. Just use the aforementioned links wisely, and you will discover what you’ve been looking for.