The Best Website Builders (In-Depth Review)

Here are the best things about Wix:

Powerful app market –

Wix has an enormous amount of add-on features that you can access through their app market.

Want to book meetings directly on your site?

They have got you covered.

Want a live chat pop-up box?

Simply click and install it on your site.

Covers every need –

Wix covers most of the needs of people looking to set up a website.

This includes setting up an ecommerce store, blog, or even just a simple information website.

Lots of templates –

Wix has a wide variety of templates that you can choose from to get your website up and running quickly.

Their templates are well designed and take the user experience into consideration.

Here are the best things about Weebly:

• Simple and easy to use – Weebly has a simple interface with drag and drop mechanics that just work. Everything feels natural and intuitive. It also helps that they have an onboarding mechanic with email and popup explanations when you get started.
• Migration – If you decide you want to host your own website, Weebly makes it easy for you to take your site off their platform.
• Affordable – Compared to other generalist website builders, Weebly has one of the most affordable pricing structures.
• Great customer support – Weebly has a powerful customer support team who are active every day of the week. They typically reply within 1 day by email or even quicker via their live chat or phone lines.
• Online store capability – While limited on its free and lower-tier plans, Weebly allows you to set up a web store powered by Square. If you’re already using Square as a payment processor, Weebly allows a cheap and easy way to start selling products online.

• Email accounts – Web.com gives you five email accounts to match your domain. That’s a boon for folks building landing pages with Web.com—not only can you get multiple sites up in a flash, but each can have separate associated email addresses for doing split testing or for collecting contest entries in a place where they won’t overwhelm someone else’s inbox.
• Free domain for one year – Web.com will throw in one year of an available domain for free when your purchase one of their website builder plans.
• Very affordable – Everything I mentioned above is in the Starter plan, which starts at $1.95 for your first month and then is $10 per month after that. You can save big, though, if just go for a full year at checkout—that’s just $50 for the whole 12 months, a savings of over $60.

Here are the best things about Shopify:

• Ecommerce specialty – The main draw of Shopify is that it is a niche website builder focused on setting up an ecommerce store. This means that all their features and processes are geared toward that end, resulting in a powerful platform that can help maximize sales.
• Security – If you are going to be handling transactions, you need ways to keep your site safe and customer data secure. Shopify stores have strong cybersecurity measures in place which a self-hosted website would typically lack.
• Integrated sales channels – Shopify has strong integrations with other platforms, such as Facebook and Amazon. This allows you to streamline your sales by managing your catalog on each platform under one roof.

Here are the best things about WordPress:

• You have full control – Unlike other website builders, WordPress is fully customizable as the site is developed directly with code, as opposed to drag and drop interfaces. This means that you have much more flexibility in terms of design and function.
• Robust blogging and CMS – WordPress is built front the ground up with content in mind. It has some of the best tools for publishing and managing content including team management, advanced scheduling, and categorizations.
• Lots of plugins – There are over 52,000 plugins available for WordPress. You can measure and boost your SEO with plugins such as YoastSEO, or you could even add a new function such as a shopping cart.

Things to consider:

• Intuitiveness – Some website builders are easy to use and have simple interfaces with drag and drop functionality. This is useful as you won’t have to Google the change you want to make with the tool.
• Learning curve – If you are not great with technology, it is unlikely you will want to spend hours learning how to set up a website. Some website builders are much easier than others.
• Setup time – Similarly, you may want to get your site up and running immediately, particularly if it is an event you want to promote.
• Ongoing management – Needing external help to manage your site defeats the purpose of a website builder. It must be easy to manage in terms of updates.

If you are new to setting up online or are time-constrained, how easy it is to get started will likely be your primary concern.

Things to consider:

• Custom code – Website builders use standardized code, which is the building block of a website. These allow you to easily create a site with various features. In some cases, however, you may need your own custom features and the ability to write your own code.
• Migration – At some point, you may want to host your website yourself. However, not all website builders allow you to easily make this move. In some cases, you may have to redevelop your site from scratch.
• Integrations – You will probably create new goals as your website grows, such as running ads or embedding social feeds. Some website builders are more compatible with other platforms and are easier to integrate.

You should think strongly about scalability if you are already an established business looking to create an online presence. This is particularly true if you are already selling products at scale in the real world.

Startups in the fundraising process and are looking to scale fast or even change the core features of their product should also take caution here.

Things to consider:

• Support channels – You will need to consider the different ways you can get in touch with support teams such as live chat, email, and phone. In-depth FAQs (frequently asked questions) are also important.
• Responsiveness – If your site breaks at 5 PM eastern time, but their support only works European hours, then you are in trouble. Some teams may also respond much quicker than others.
• Engagement – Unfortunately, some support teams are useless. Maybe they are being paid very little so they do not care, or they are overworked. Either way, you need support that can actually solve your problems.

If you plan on running a site with a lot of visitors and it happens to go down, the last thing you want is an unresponsive support team. This is especially true if you plan on driving a lot of traffic at a given time.

A website builder with a strong support team is also useful if you are just getting started online, considering you may still get stuck, even with simple interfaces.

Things to consider:

• Cost – Some website builders can be more costly, with some reaching upwards of $299 a month (for landing pages, for instance). Others are permanently free with the option to upgrade for a small monthly fee.
• Trial – Before you commit, it can be useful to take advantage of a trial offer to play around with the tools. You will likely find that some are a better fit than others.
• Hosting & domain – Most website builders will host your website on the web, which is typically included in the price. Some may also offer a domain as part of the package. Otherwise, you would have to purchase these yourself.

If you plan on making money from your website, either by selling products directly or capturing leads, then price should not be a key consideration for you. Make an investment in the best service for your needs.

However, if you just want to set up a small information site, then you could do with the cheapest options.

Generally, website builders that have feature depth are typically more expensive as they solve more specific problems.

Things to consider:

• Ecommerce shop – If you plan to sell things online, you need a website builder that allows you to do so. Consider sub-features such as payment processing and product catalogs.
• SEO – Some website builders have tools that allow you to rank better in Google searches.
• Marketing tools – You may also need other marketing tools, such as forms, pop-ups, and chat boxes.
• Community – In some cases, you may want to expand your website into a community where people can communicate and network (otherwise known as a forum).
• Analytic tools – Website builders may also offer analytic tools that help track traffic on your website or at least integrate with other tools that do.
• Niche features – Perhaps there are some special features you are looking for such as the ability to set up a crowdfunding campaign in addition to having a standard website.

The features of a website builder are the main thing to consider when deciding which route to follow.

This is because they will have the most impact on your specific goals.

For instance, if you want to set up a landing page for a specific product, trying to optimize with a generic site builder will be a pain.

It will probably lack the in-depth analytic tools that a dedicated landing page builder would have.

Also keep in mind that there are some features that you may not need now, but you could need in the future, such as if you plan on running paid ads to your blog posts.

Things to consider:

• Themes and templates – Website builders allow you to start with a predesigned website that is customizable to various extents. Some themes serve different purposes in terms of branding and utility.
• Mobile-friendliness – You will need to ensure that your website builder automatically makes your website easy for mobile users, typically with responsive design.
• Customization – It is likely you will want to make some changes to your template. You will need to consider the various customization tools available.

Regardless of your goal, you should always be concerned with providing a great user experience to the people who are visiting your site.

It simply makes logical sense – if your site is hard to navigate, people won’t get the most out of it.

The actual design and branding are important too.

For instance, some designs are more corporate while others are more welcoming.

There may be a design template that really suits your particular brand.

And if you are selling something, you need to ensure that the design is optimized to increase conversions.

Now that you have a good understanding of the types of website builders and the features to look out for, it is time to take a look at some of the best website builders on the market.