7 best free website builders for small businesses & creators |
You don't need to be tech-savvy or have an unlimited budget to create stunning websites. Find out how seven of the top free website builders compare.
If you're planning to launch an individual brand or an enterprise it is essential to have a website. Your website is the home you have on the internet. But building a website completely from scratch for the very first time is a daunting task as well as costly.
Luckily, you don't need to learn how to code or possess a keen eye for web style, or pay the money for a professional website. Free website builders make assembling your website simple, quick, and affordable.
In this article, we're providing seven of the most effective free website builders for small businesses and creators who want to create a website that looks good without a lot of effort or the cost of a costly website.
1.
With the intuitive web builder that you do not need to master the smallest bit of code to make your website appear stunning. Create your own website with custom colours, styles for brands as well as logos, fonts, fonts images from stock, and a variety of content blocks to choose from.
Within each content block it is possible to customize the layout and contents for a website that's true to you and your business. It's possible to embed podcasts, videos and widgets of hundreds of other apps on your site.
All sites have the SSL certificate and are automatically optimised for mobile. Plus, makes it easy to include Google Analytics to your site to monitor visitors and sales.
This means that you can create a successful and profitable web presence with no investment -- which helps score a 90.91 on the Creator Friendly Index .
The Creator Friendliness Index uses 20 rankings factors to assess how welcoming a firm's policies are to creators. It is highly rated across all aspects of friendliness and offers a no-cost plan, ways to remove charges for transactions, as well as multiple currency options and integrations.
2. Wix
Wix is a web-based builder which lets users build simple free websites. With Wix it is possible to build a storefront or blog, or business website by using drag-and-drop editors and many modern designs.
Wix's website builder is easy to use even for those who don't have design chops. It is also possible to get assistance with Wix's exclusive Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) toolthat uses artificial intelligence in order to build a custom site to promote your business. Your Wix website also has integrated SEO or search engines optimization (SEO) tools.
The main drawback of Wix's free plan is the Wix banner ad on every page. It's hard to make your website look professional when it's the first thing that visitors will see. In order to remove the Wix banner ad, you'll need to be on the Combo plan ($16/month) or higher.
Wix gets 79.22 on the Creator Friendliness Index . The company earns points due to its free plan and the affordable cost of its paid plans. The plan loses points by artificially limit the quantity of items the creator is able to sell per the plan tier, and for having limited support documentation.
3. WordPress
WordPress is a free and open source content management system (CMS) software, which is popular as a blog platform and website builder.
Two ways can use WordPress to build your website Managed and self-hosted hosting.
The use of WordPress to host your own website is completely free. But you must consider domain registration, web hosting premium themes, expensive plugins and the costs rapidly add in.
The other choice is to design your site using WordPress.com managed hosting. WordPress.com provides a no-cost plan as well as a variety of paid plans.
For free on WordPress.com it is possible to create a basic website with 1GB of storage as well as pre-installed themes and built-in SEO tools -- but that's all you get.
WordPress is rated 68.33 according to the Creator Friendliness Index . WordPress earns points thanks to free plans, integrationsand support for languages but loses points for its absence of customer support.
4. Weebly
Weebly is an online e-commerce platform and website builder owned by Square.
The Weebly website builder is easy to use and has templates you can customize. You can add custom CSS and HTML. Also, the App Center allows you to connect extensions and integrations for added capabilities.
Web hosting is offered with all plans. Additionally, you can buy the domain directly via Weebly. If you aren't ready to buy a domain name, you can use a free subdomain, like yournamehere.weebly.com.
Weebly provides blogs that allow you to share information, as well as and an App Center to add additional features, as well as analytics that allow you to track how your site is performing.
Because Square is the owner of Weebly It's been designed with ecommerce sites in mind. The plans that are available, even the free plan, come with the ability to create an online shop and also offer physical items.
Weebly's free option does have its downsides. There are storage limitations and it's not possible to offer digital goods. Weebly is also able to display Square advertisements on Free and Personal plans. You'll need change to the premium account to remove them.
Overall, Weebly is a solid alternative for people who aren't seasoned with website design particularly if you intend to market physical goods on the internet.
5. SITE123
Site123 is an easy-to-use web-based site builder free to anyone looking to establish an online presence. The name says it all, SITE123 makes building a website as easy as one three, two or three steps:
Select your website type. Pick from templates to create a website for a blog, event page, service provider, and much more.
Add your business name, information, and images.
Publish your website.
The templates available that are available on SITE123 are adaptable and include free web hosting, 500MB of storage space, and 1GB of bandwidth.
A major drawback: The basic plan does not allow you to change color, fonts, and other elements of design. Upgrade to a premium plan in order for access to apps, plugins, and full template option for customization. There are also no tools that are free for online sales.
In addition, you cannot change the template of your website after you've begun building your website. If you do that, you'll have to delete all of your website's material. This could be a huge problem.
Bottom line: SITE123 doesn't offer much control over your creativity on your site. If you're looking for just a basic, simple web page to promote your business, the free plan offers the basics to make it work.
6. GoDaddy
GoDaddy is widely known as a web hosting company as well as a domain name registrar but it also offers an online website builder for free, that comes with a limited set of e-commerce tools. Pick a template and add your content and business details, and you'll be able to get your website up and running to launch in just a few steps.
Your free site includes email marketing tools as well as one-time appointment settings Analytics, ad-hoc tools, and SSL certificates. Another aspect that helps GoDaddy distinguish itself from other free platforms is the 24/7 support for customers and forums for community members, which means you'll have plenty of support should you need help.
The basic plan has some limitations. You'll need to use a godaddysites.com subdomain, and GoDaddy will show an advertisement at the top of all pages on your website. Such tools as SEO, regular appointments, full online store options, and custom domains are only available with paid-for plans.
All things considered the GoDaddy free plan is a solid option for personal websites, however the heavy branding at the top of each page can make a business website appear to be unprofessional.
7. Jimdo
Jimdo is a free web builder tool that allows you to create your business's website in only two steps:
Answer a few questions about your website.
Incorporate business information via your social media profiles.
Choose a design.
Publish your site!
The Jimdo image library gives you access to an array of professional stock photos. It is also possible to add contact forms for customers to reach out to.
Jimdo's website creation wizard lets you easily build websites. However, the trade-off is a lack of personalization. You can pick from several pre-designed layouts as well as different color combinations.
With the basic plan you must use the jimdo.com subdomain. There's an Jimdo advertisement on each page. You get 2GB bandwidth and 500MB of storage . You could be able to host up to five pages of your site. Additionally, you do not have access to any client support, meaning you're entirely on your own should you need help creating your website.
If you're in need of a straightforward single-page website and are confident that you won't need customer support, Jimdo could be an acceptable option, however, the cost-free version is one of the most limiting options on this list.
Choose a website builder designed to grow with you in mind
Not all free website builders are made equal. When you are evaluating different choices take note for sneaky ways that tools add fees to an "free" software: Hidden upsells, charges, restrictions to the number of internet pages you can build, customization options or ads that are not removed. It isn't a good idea to find you facing unexpected costs as you are preparing to launch your site.
You can build stunning websites for your company in only two steps. It's the ideal site builder tool for entrepreneurs who want to build an online base for their company -- with no technical hassle or steep price tag.