It’s no secret: these days having a stylish website is no longer optional for businesses and individuals to stand out amongst the crowd. From personal blogs to online malls to your company’s one-stop-shop, your website is your most important and versatile tool to garner the attention of your target audience.
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Website builders are a perfect solution for individuals and small businesses to start a website without hiring a developer. The problem is finding the best website builder can be tricky for beginners. With so many website builders out there, how do you know which is the right solution for you?
[BUTTONS2]Fortunately there are many user-friendly online site builders that anyone can use to build their own website, regardless of your skill level or eye for design. Here are a few you should check out.
Squarespace
Squarespace is the website building platform that offers maybe the broadest range of options to its users. You can integrate your site with other platforms you rely on to keep your business on track, like your accounting platforms, inventory tools and hardware like printers. Online malls get the benefit of the platform’s lack of transaction fees, and discounts are available to those who select the annual payment option.
Millions of individuals and businesses alike host their websites via Squarespace, but it comes at a price. Squarespace offers a free trial to get started, but full site customization is only available to those who purchase their premium packages. It’s a great platform if you have the funding for it, but maybe not a good start for startups just getting on their feet.
Squarespace comes with enterprise grade infrastructure for hosting your website. This secure and robust platform allows you to focus on growing your business without worrying about hosting.
Squarespace includes tons of website designs to get started. All of these designs are fully ready for all types of content. They are fully editable, and Squarespace even allows you to use multiple templates for the same website at once.
Wix
Wix is another popular cloud based website builder. It offers ease of use combined with a powerful set of features to easily build your website. Wix is a fully hosted platform, so you will not have to pay for hosting. You get access to hundreds of templates to choose for your website’s design. Each template is fully editable with their intuitive drag and drop site builder.
It also comes with dozens of free and paid apps that you can install on your website. These apps allow you to add new features and functionality to your website. Some of them are created by Wix, and others are created by third-party developers. Wix offers a free plan with limited bandwidth and storage. However, you can use this plan to test drive their drag and drop website builder. It does not include a domain name, so if you decide to keep your website, then you may want to upgrade to a premium plan. You also get a free SSL with all Wix plans, but you will need to turn it on for your website.
Maybe the most user-friendly website building platform out there, Wix boasts a platform that makes it easy for anyone to build their website with its simple and customizable interface. If you have a deeper knowledge of web design and code, you can access and customize your source code on the Wix platform as well.
Wix employs a freemium model, meaning that you can get started for free, but may have to pay fees for advanced features. But bear in mind that the free website builder has some limitations. This is a great option for those who need their websites to perform simple functions, and those just getting started out.
WordPress
WordPress.org (also known as self-hosted WordPress) is the world’s most popular website building platform. Over 28% of all websites on the internet are powered by WordPress.
Note: There are two versions of WordPress available. There is self-hosted WordPress.org and WordPress.com. We will talk about WordPress.com later in this article. You can also read our WordPress.org vs WordPress.com comparison for more details.
The self-hosted WordPress tops our list of best website builder due to its popularity, powerful features, scalability, and ease of use. WordPress is a free and open source website builder. This means that you have maximum control over your website compared to any other builder in this list. Unlike other website builders, you will need a WordPress hosting account and host your own website (this is a lot easier than it sounds).
WordPress has long been the most popular website building platform, and for good reasons. WordPress has expanded its functionality and uses to keep up with the sharp increase of competitors, and now provides myriad tools to customize your website for any purpose.
The cost of WordPress is entirely contingent upon what you need your website to do. But WordPress also often requires regular updates that can be challenging to those who are less tech-savvy. WordPress may be the best option for anyone with at least some technical skill and web design experience.