Publishing online is now much easier than ever before. With the help of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other platforms, you can share your thoughts and ideas on their platform without knowing how to code. However, often this is not enough. It’s getting increasingly difficult to get noticed due to millions of messages posted every second on social feeds. To build, Sell products and sustain your brand visibility you can’t rely on social media. You need to have a website that truly stands apart from others.
Previously if you want to build a professional website you need technical skills and coding knowledge. However, technology has evolved small businesses resulting in many innovations making it extremely easy for anyone, even a novice to build a professional-looking website. One of these innovations is the rise of website builders.
What is a website builder?
Website builders are online software platforms that allow users to build and publish websites without knowing how to code. They fall into two categories: online and offline. (def: Wikipedia).
For this post, we’ll focus on online builders. Online site builders are web-based and can be accessed using your browsers. To use them, all you need is an internet connection and don’t need to download or install the software.
If you’re someone who is looking to publish a website without learning curve how to code, then website builder might be for you. On this list, you’ll find top website builders that are popular in 2019. They’re easy to use, mobile-friendly and inexpensive to use.
1. WordPress
The first website builder we are going to discuss is WordPress. Keep in mind, wordpress.com is not wordpress.org. Both of them are completely different. The former is the website builder while the latter is free open source – CMS. For this post, we’ll focus on website builder (WordPress.com) rather than CMS (WordPress.org).
If you have little or no knowledge of WordPress, you can easily learn WordPress online including Udemy courses.
WordPress Pros
- Easy to transfer the free WordPress website to a self-hosted WordPress website
- There is a vast selection of free templates available to make your website look attractive
- It’s possible to manage the multiple websites from the single dashboard
WordPress Cons
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- Even though there’s an array of templates available, the design customization is very limited
- It requires you to install various plugins
2. Wix
If you are someone who wishes a hassle-free way of creating the website, then Wix is the website builder that can help you quickly create a stunning website. Wix is one of the most popular website builders that provides you more than 500 templates that comprises of multiple categories like business, photography, food, blogging, online shop, and so much more.
Wix Pros
- Most popular website builder on the web. Well-established.
- It’s entirely upon you how to design the website. You can use an existing template or use a blank one and design it with the help of Wix editor.
- All the websites made from the Wix are mobile-friendly, optimizing, and runs on all the search engines and mobile phones.
- Wix has the most number of templates for various industries.
- Fast speed
- Easy to use and change and user-friendly
- Phone help and support tickets available
Wix Cons
- The worst part is that ads keep on displaying on the free version, two premium versions. Hence, to remove the ads you have to opt for the third costliest premium version.
- Wix has no live chat support.
- Isn’t the cheapest
- Yearly plans offer a free domain
3. Weebly
Weebly is an excellent website builder similar to Wix. The slight difference to notice is the e-commerce features that it offers you in creating the website. Weebly provides you host of features that enable you in running an online store easily. There’s an option to build a normal blogging website as well.
Weebly Pros
- Before starting the designing of the website, there’s an entire questionnaire to answer just to make it easier for Weebly in setting up a website for you.
Weebly Cons
- To repeat again, there are ads displaying on the free version. Kindly upgrade to the premium plan of $10 monthly to remove them.
- Therefore, that was all about the best website builders of 2019. Each one of them is filled with numerous features that enhances and improves your website. It also helps you in designing the extraordinary website. Try them out and do let us know about your thoughts in the comment section!
4. Squarespace
Squarespace is a reliable website builder; but often can be slow. It’s focused on great looking websites and many templates are well designed. They do have the best quality designs but the editor might take time to get used to.
Squarespace Pros
- Has a better blogging tool and better support than other builders
- They allow you to switch templates without losing content.
- Live chat support
- Each yearly plan contains a custom domain name
Squarespace Cons
- Template use lots of images. If you replace the images, the website will look much different than the original templates.
- Relatively expensive price plans
- Not beginner-friendly
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5. WebStarts
WebStarts is top best free website builder from its homepage. The platform offers you a plethora of selection and rich features offering you the attractive templates for the website making.
WebStarts Pros
- It is a great website builder for the beginners if they are not much skilled with the coding. Hence, to not feel overwhelmed, WebStarts is an excellent option.
- The website builder offers you free and unlimited web pages and 1 GB storage for free users.
Webstarts Cons
- If you are someone, who wishes to build an online store website, then you’ll have to upgrade at the Pro Plus plan that is around $7 month.
- WebStarts also displays ads frequently. Hence, to remove it you can upgrade to the $5 plan monthly.
6. Site123
Site123 offers a nice balance for both novice and expert users. It’s easy to use. They offer 3 step webs design creation process. Changes are done using sidebar rather than the visual editor which can cut down on development time. If you don’t want to spend too much time learning how to use a website builder, free site 123 is the best option.
Beginners will appreciate the ease of use and how easy it is to manage pages and elements on the pages using the sidebar.
Site123 Pros
- Free option available
- Excellent uptime, decent speed,
- Great customer support
- One of the least expensive
- All paid plans offer 1 domain registration for a year
Site123 Cons
- Harder to create a pixel-perfect layout.
- Doesn’t offer advanced features for websites
- No way to insert or tweak the HTML code
As you can see you have many options when it comes to building a website using some of the popular website builders available today. It’s easy to test them and many offer free trials so you can do a test drive. Not knowing how to code or lack of funds can no longer be used as an excuse not to build a website.
At the same time, you can no longer rely on Social media to promote your brand or your website business. Social media is becoming “pay to play” where you have to by ads if you want others to see your message.
By building a personal website either using one of these website builders or one of the popular CMS like WordPress you will ensure you take charge of your website presence. Having your own business website and building your email list will guarantee you will always be on top of your brand and how others can access it online.
Additional Resources:
Looking for more Guides on Finding the Best Website Builder? Check out the website builder resources below:
- Best Website Builders – Website Planet
- Website Builder Reviews> – Merchant Maverick
- Best Website Builders in 2019 – Website Builder Expert
What is your favorite online website builder? Have you used any of the website builders on this list? Please share your experience.
