Website Building Platform Options
Web builder web-based software such as Wix, Squarespace, Weebly or Jimdo are built to make website building possible for anyone.
When it comes to building a website yourself, understanding what is a good website builder software (or platform) and how to pick one for you will help you move forward in creating your own website.
Here’s Wikipedia’s definition:
“Website builders are tools that allow the construction of websites without manual code editing.”
For this article I am referring to the above website builder tools and I'm not discussing designing and developing a website from scratch. There are many cases when an individual or company positively needs to build a completely customized site using HTML, CSS, PHP and/or framework like WordPress, Joomla, etc. But we'll save that for another post.
What I'm talking about are individuals and companies that need a new website, or a redesigned site to build an Internet presence while leveraging some basic technological efficiencies. It's hard to believe in the year 2018 the size of this market is still incredibly large, but it is understandable. Because up until the last couple of years, building a website has been a complicated, expensive and time-consuming task. Plus the technology and knowledge required can be daunting.
When I first started designing websites back in the late 1990s, I could design/create the art and also write the basic HTML and CSS needed. The coding and server-side stuff was not great fun for me, but I could do it. Honestly, today some of the basic technology used to build sites has not changed, but other things have changed. For instance, back in the day we did not have website builders like Squarespace.
Today there are many website builder options available to help you create your own website, even if you don’t have any technical knowledge. If you have a bit of coding knowledge, you can take your website design and functionality a lot further – but this is not an absolute necessity when it comes to building websites with some of today's solutions.
Web builder web-based software such as Wix, Squarespace, Shopify, Weebly, Site123 or Jimdo are built to make website building possible for almost anyone. Specifically, I can recommend Squarespace, Wix or Shopify and have experience with each platform. Some of the platforms like Wix, Weebly, and Jimdo offer free website builder software, while others offer 15 or 30 day free trials. After the trial period on pay services be prepared to pay $10 to $30 per month and you can cancel anytime. You can save money by limiting yourself to some premium services and/or by paying yearly. But given the control website builders offer, the technology and the hosting services it’s worth the expense.
If you have a pressing need to build a website or if you are remotely interested in learning, there’s no reason not to pick one of these solutions and start playing with it. Each offers templates for a variety of businesses and design tastes. Each solution is a fairly wide and deep program, so you might want to limit your scope in the beginning. And even if the interface and all the moving parts are overwhelming or too time-consuming, someone can likely help you. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised how things will go.
Furthermore, these services provide sites that are automatically coded to best practices of web development including responsiveness that enables your finished site to function well on an array of devices to include smartphones and large monitors.
Here’s a quick snapshot of some of the website building software that I can recommend.
Squarespace
Squarespace says: “From websites and online stores, to marketing tools and analytics, Squarespace is the all-in-one platform to build a beautiful online presence.” Go to Squarespace.com >
I built this very site (patrickfeld.com) and two others using Squarespace. In every case I started with a Squarespace-provided template and then altered the design significantly. By using a template as a base I really didn't feel too restricted. There were a few things I had to change with custom code, but it was an easy process. I have been farting around with Squarespace for a couple of years and the interface as well as the feature set have steadily improved. Sometimes I am frustrated with small things, but for the most part I really like it. You can build a simple 1-5 page site, or an online store with thousands of products. Squarespace commerce, business and marketing features are coming along nicely. And starting at $12 to $26 per month, I think it's an affordable solution.
Shopify
They say: “Whether you sell online, on social media, in store, or out of the trunk of your car, Shopify offers a solid ecommerce solutions. Shopify handles everything from marketing and payments, to secure checkout and shipping.” Go to Shopify.com >
Wix
They say: “With Wix you can manage your website and business all in one place. Wix offers 200 apps and services to make it easier for you to grow your business or brand online. Easily send beautiful emails, start your own blog, get booked online, open your own online store and more.” Go to Wix.com >
Although website building services make it easier than ever, things can still be a little complicated. If you have any questions or if you need help, please do not hesitate contacting me.