The Best Website Builders for Small Business (and not only)

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In this review, I will discuss choosing the best website builder for small businesses. You will learn how to select a website builder, which factors are most important to consider first, and which are less critical. I will also share my observations and conclusions from testing over a hundred different website builders.

Before diving into the review, I’d like to explain why, when we talk about a website for a small business, using website builders is a more rational and generally more successful solution than offline CMS or any custom solutions.

The key reason is that most modern business website builders are not just limited to website creation software. They are genuine online business platforms. By using them, you not only create a website but also populate it with content, edit the design, upgrade its functionality, and enhance it with additional apps.

But the main thing is the system – an online system for managing your business where you track visitors, analyze which of them convert to customers and which do not, what products they buy, and much more.

You might argue that many CMS and custom solutions can do this too.

Absolutely true. However, modern business website builders can do this much more affordably than if you were to seek web development from a design agency or freelancers.

Moreover, using website builders, you can manage all these processes yourself because modern website builders are user-friendly, unlike many programming engines.

So, let’s get started.

NOTE: To write this piece, I’ve spent tens of hours on research and personally tried more than 30 website builders. As a result, I was able to come down to the 7 best website builders, which are ideal for small businesses. You won’t have to settle with or even try out mediocre solutions thanks to this review. In the final part of this listicle, I have also given my recommendations for choosing a website builder and pointed out the common mistakes made by business owners when selecting a website builder. So do read on till the end.

What is a website builder?

Website builder is software that allows you to design, edit and subsequently fill websites with content. Most modern website builders are online platforms that include a visual website design editor, hosting and domain name. The best ones have drag and drop editors, which makes it much easier to create website pages without having to react HTML/CSS code. Thus, a modern website builder is the easiest and most affordable way to create a website.

Top 10 Best Website Builders

Below I have collected and described the most powerful, convenient and functional website builders. Each of them has its own specialization – some are good for small business websites, others are only for ecommerce, others for doctors, etc.

WIX – Ideal for Small Business

Wix is probably the best universal website builder. And more than 62 million websites all over the world have been created using it, that’s more than 200M users (according to official data for 2021). And that is the highest record for all online website builders, both in the free and premium segments. Despite its versatility, Wix’s capabilities are fully revealed in the development of small business websites. For this, Wix has hundreds of all kinds of templates – for a wide variety of business categories. Thanks to this, Wix can be used to build great restaurants websites, websites for real estate agencies, travel businesses, hotels, beauty salons, law firms and many other small businesses. Well, why is it that people like Wix and use it? Let’s find out.

Very Simple

Wix is easier and more user-friendly when compared to most other website builders. Very few website builders have the same intuitive interface as Wix does. Even without any knowledge of web development, you can successfully create a website using Wix. You don’t need to know anything about web design, HTML layout, or programming.

Wix drag&drop editor

Universal

Wix can be used to create many different kinds of websites. From simple blogs to comprehensive websites with forums, membership options, online stores, etc. – everything is possible with Wix.

Wix website templates categories

Moreover, it has more template categories than other website builders. This means you can find the website templates for even some rare niches like driving schools, yoga instructors, farm produce delivery, and many others.

More than 700 Quality Templates Available

Wix is one of the leaders among website builders. And the claim is further substantiated by the fact that it has more than 700 template options. And these options cater to a wide range of color preferences and design tastes. Also, the template options that you get with Wix don’t compromise on quality. All the templates are fully responsive and created by professional website designers.

NOTE: Having great, up-to-date business templates is one of the most important things to look for when choosing a business website builder. To make it easier to choose the right business templates, check out this collection: 50 Best Free Business Website Templates and WP Themes. Here are the best free business templates that are currently available on the web.

Free

Wix’s free plan comes with better functional capacities as compared to other platforms. Most builders limit their free plans to nominal features so that you can just try out the builder. But Wix offers a full-fledged, feature-loaded plan for free. Of course, the premium plans offer several more features. But for simple blogs and personal websites, Wix’s free plan usually suffices.

AI Availability

Wix has recently started to use AI. And the use of AI makes website development even easier. If you choose the Wix Artificial Design Interface (ADI) mode, you can create a website by just answering simple questions about your site’s purpose and your preferences (color scheme, style, font, and the like). AI will do the heavy-lifting for you. And your website will be ready within 10 to 20 minutes. This is a perfect option for beginners.

Wix ADI

More than 300 additional Apps

In addition to built-in functional capacities, Wix offers access to more than 300 different apps through the Wix App Market. These specialized apps allow you to perform even more detailed website customization and open up new functional avenues. And the best part is that all these apps are available for free.

Embedding Codes and Custom Elements

For more experienced users, Wix allows embedding custom code, widgets, and custom elements to the websites. You can use the Velo by Wix option for this. And this is what significantly improves the standard Wix editor experience. While it doesn’t give you the freedom to change the existing HTML code of the website, you can certainly add some more elements that you may need.

Wix Embedding Codes and Custom Elements

If you’re a beginner webmaster, this feature won’t matter much to you. But, for advanced users, it is a huge plus.

Security

All the websites created with Wix have SSL security certificates. It also applies to free Wix websites. Most free website builders don’t offer an SSL certificate with the free plan. As opposed to WordPress and other CMS with open code, your Wix website won’t need frequent system updates. That’s why you needn’t worry about security. Hackers won’t get access to your website because you forgot to update it. No upgrades – no problems with website cracks.

Automatic Backups

In my opinion, Wix’s automatic backup point creation is a perfect feature. It gives you an option to return to your website’s previous version, that is, the one before your latest changes. It reminds me a bit of the “History” feature in Adobe Photoshop – just click on the latest save and go back.

Wix revisions history

For whom will Wix be the best solution?

Those who have minimum knowledge of website development;

Those who want to develop a small website (up to 30 pages);

Those who want to create a free website;

Those who want to build a website for unusual and rare activity;

Those who want to set up small online stores;

Those who need a website for selling “virtual” products (photos, graphics, music, and so on).

How much does Wix cost?

Wix is a free website builder without any time restrictions on use. This means you can use a free Wix website for as long as you need. For more advanced functionalities, there are several paid plans that you can consider.

Create a site

Shopify – Best for Online Stores

Shopify is the absolute leader among ecommerce website builders. A lot of website builders allow you to run online stores, but no one does it as professionally and thoughtfully as Shopify. And you’ll soon realize why. Unlike most business website builders, Shopify doesn’t try to be a universal solution. Instead, it specializes in helping users set up online stores.

Sell with Shopify

And in time, Shopify has developed many functional options and extra capacities for online sales and drop shipping that it has left all its competitors way behind. However, in this process, it turned out to be more complicated to use. And, of course, more expensive. Although, this is not an issue given the sheer amount of capabilities it has. So, why is Shopify the leader among ecommerce platforms?

NOTE: Perhaps for small businesses, this website builder may seem too expensive, and some of its options are superfluous. But when you gradually develop your small business and start introducing more and more new additions to the website, you will understand how good Shopify is. No other business website builder has as many ecommerce features as Shopify. You just find what you need and turn it on in your website.

Highly specialized platform

Shopify isn’t trying to please everyone. It just aims to become the best online sales and drop shipping solution. And this specialized focus resulted in lots of functional options and extra ecommerce apps. Plus, there are all sorts of free and premium ecommerce themes. All these were created with a great understanding of how ecommerce businesses operate.

More than 100 free themes and thousands of premium options

Shopify has both free and premium themes from third-party developers. For example, there are more than 1200 premium themes for Shopify sold on ThemeForest alone. Premium themes allow making your online store’s design more unique. Thanks to so many options, you’ll able to find appropriate themes even for selling products in rare niches.

Shopify templates

Hundreds of useful apps and plugins

Shopify has lots of free and premium apps and plugins. These were created to significantly improve the functionality of Shopify online stores. I’ve highlighted this in red for a reason. And it is that these apps can provide an important competitive edge for your ecommerce business.

Shopify app store

Here are some examples of Shopify apps and plugins and what they do:

Judge.me – You get automatic client mailing that requests to leave a comment about a purchased product. You can either send the request via email, push notifications, or SMS. You can quickly collect real client reviews on your e-store and increase conversion through this.

Oberlo – It a great pick for drop shipping. This app interacts with your suppliers, and orders are serviced semi-automatically. Shipping tracks are automatically entered. And the shipment of the order by the supplier is automatically confirmed.

ROI Hunter – It integrates with your Shopify site and sets up dynamic Google and Facebook ads. For Google ads, this plugin independently creates a product feed and remarketing tag. And for Facebook ads, the plugin creates a product catalog and Facebook remarketing pixel. Moreover, ROI Hunter can configure dynamic remarketing ads. It shows ads to visitors who expressed interest in your store but left without making a purchase.

Ali Hunter– it automates the analysis of drop shipping products and stores on AliExpress. It aids in finding new products and also analyzing and tracking competitors’ stores. This plugin can save you several hours.

Shopify Shipping

Shopify Shipping is a unique offer that helps save money on goods delivery within the USA. You can buy and print discounted shipping labels when filling an order. At the expense of Shopify and DHL’s partnership arrangements, UPS and USPS, you can extend delivery discounts to your clients up to 75%.

Shopify Payments

With Shopify, you can use PayPal, Stripe, Square, and other payment intake solutions. But there is also a built-in solution – Shopify Payment with several advantages:

Financially beneficial: With Shopify Payments, there are no extra Shopify fees.

User-friendly: All the tools are accessible in a single Shopify account. You don’t need to shift from the payment system account to your Shopify store account.

Shopify Fulfillment Network: a possibility to use Shopify warehouses for goods storage and delivery to clients. It is similar to the Amazon Fulfillment service.

Shopify dashboard

Integration with trading platforms

Shopify has several options for integration with some popular marketplaces and trading platforms like Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Google Shopping, Instagram, and more. This allows store owners to sell goods on their site as well as on other popular trading platforms at the same time. This is a convenient feature and helps save a lot of time.

For whom will Shopify be the best solution?

For drop shipping salesmen who already sell their goods through Amazon, Instagram, and Facebook and now want to broaden their market by setting up their online store.

For those who wish to set up medium-sized or large online stores.

For quick ecommerce business startups within the USA.

Shopify drop shipping

How much does Shopify cost?

Shopify doesn’t have a free plan. But it offers a 14-day free trial (no card required). After this period, you’ll get the option to switch to one of the premium plans. The plans are Basic Shopify ($29 per month), Shopify ($79 per month), and Advanced Shopify ($229 per month). More details about Shopify plans.

Create a site

Squarespace – Perfect Website Builder for Photographers

Being a professional website designer, I personally like Squarespace. It is one of the few website builders that help you make beautiful and aesthetically flawless websites in a minimalist style.

Squarespace

Squarespace was initially created as a website builder for photographers and artists to create great portfolio websites. This platform is for people and web developers with artistic taste, to summarize it briefly. The latest Squarespace 7.1 version comes with more functional capacities than ever before. But truth be told, most of them are far from perfect. Now let us understand Squarespace’s peculiarities in detail.

Dreams Come True for Photographers and Artists

Betting on visual content demonstration, Squarespace can satisfy the tastes of even the most demanding photographers, designers, artists, and other creatives. Website visitors need to be shown photos, graphics, and videos from the best perspectives. And Squarespace is one of the best website builders for such purposes.

Squarespace editor

Moreover, you’re can easily get sales with the help of visual content. For this, you’ll need the Business tariff plan, though. (Check its price here.)

Excellent Template Design

Squarespace has the most beautiful website templates in the market. Of course, there aren’t too many options (about 100 templates are available). And not all categories are available either. But the templates that are available are beautiful, of high quality, and fully responsive.

Squarespace website templates

NOTE: Squarespace templates often use a minimalist style, complemented with large beautiful images and big yet simple design elements. It’s well-suited for small sites that aim at showcasing their photos or their products’ photos in the best light. However, don’t expect your Squarespace website to look spectacular if you, for example, are a lawyer and your site is focused on legal services.

Greater Opportunities for Blogging

Squarespace is perfect for creating a blog. It has a lot of valuable functions that include a simple way to edit posts, deferred publication planning, rich customization of the comments system, AMP support, RSS, tag adding, the possibility to add several authors for one post at a time, iTunes podcasting integration possibility and many more.

Squarespace blog option

Drag-and-Drop Editor

Squarespace has a built-in drag-and-drop editor for easy customization of your website. It allows you to change the design by simply dragging and dropping the required elements at the required place on a page.

NOTE: Squarespace’s drag-and-drop editor isn’t bad. But my personal experience suggested that it is not so intuitive and requires some getting used to. Unlike other top website builders, Squarespace’s drag-and-drop editor comes without a traditional dashboard on the left side of the screen. Instead, all the options appear after clicking on template design elements. That’s why if you have already used technically advanced website builders like Wix or Weebly, then you’ll need some extra time getting used to Squarespace’s drag-and-drop editor.

Free SSL Certificate

There is no free plan in Squarespace, but the monthly plan charges that you pay include the cost of an SSL certificate, which is a great thing.

Squarespace Analytics Tools

Squarespace offers its own solutions for website visitor analytics through the built-in Squarespace Analytics App. Integration with Google Analytics is also possible in case you need more data.

Squarespace analytics tools

Unlimited Bandwidth and Storage Space

Squarespace offers unlimited bandwidth and storage space for all plans starting from the most basic one. There is also no limit on the number of web pages your website can have.

For whom will Squarespace be the best solution?

For photographers, designers, artists, and anyone else who needs a stylish portfolio website;

For bloggers who are looking for an alternative to a WordPress blog;

For those who wish to build a small ecommerce website that sells designer things, handmade goods, posters, photos, or graphics;

For those looking forward to developing a personal website, like public figures, musicians, sports persons, and show-biz stars.

How much does Squarespace cost?

Squarespace doesn’t have a free plan (but there is aa 14-day trial) and it can hardly be called affordable. The lowest-prices Squarespace plan starts at $12 per month (paid annually) and is commensurate with the top competitors’ plans.

A more functional Business plan costs $18 per month. The Basic Commerce plan allows online sales without any transaction fees and will cost you $26 per month. Advanced Commerce, the most powerful plan, requires you to shell out $40 per month. It includes all the capacities that Squarespace has on offer for its clients. Check out a more detailed view of Squarespace plans.

Create a site

Webnode – Best for Multilingual Websites

Webnode is one of the oldest website builders (created in 2008) that is constantly developing and making its clients happy. And today, there are over 40 million websites all over the world that are powered by Webnode. Now I’ll tell you exactly why people trust Webnode and what it’s got better than its competitors. Though it has some cons, too, the strong pros make Webnode a value offering.

Beautiful and Responsive Templates

In 2016, Webnode rolled out an important update with its drag-and-drop editor and website templates. At the moment, it’s got a collection of more than 200 beautiful and responsive templates. All of which are available for free.

Webnode website templates

Easy-to-Use

Webnode is far from being a leader in functional capacities since it falls behind Wix and Weebly. Nevertheless, it is intuitive and user-friendly. Webnode is convenient even for beginner users.

Ideal for Multi-Language Websites

Webnode allows for multi-language website development as it supports 20 languages. That figure is higher than what any other website builder supports. And that’s what makes Webnode the best website builder for launching multi-language websites.

Option to choose any language

NOTE: To create a multi-language website with unlimited language support, you need the Profi plan ($22.90 per month). With the Standard plan ($12.90 per month), your website would support only two languages.

No Limit On The Number Of Pages In The Free plan

Webnode is a free website builder. With the free plan, you can develop a fully functional website, get free hosting (100MB storage and 1GB bandwidth), and a free third-level domain name. Also, there is no limit on the number of pages that your website can have.

Free SSL Certificate for All Plans

Webnode takes responsibility for your website’s security and offers free SSL certificates for all websites built using it. (Including those that have been developed for free.)

Website Backup and Recovery

Webnode allows creating backups and recovering previous versions of your website. This function will especially please beginner webmasters who can easily correct mistakes using this feature. Backup creation is possible in two ways – online and offline. With the offline option, you can save your website’s backup directly on your computer. Find out how to do that here.

Adding HTML/CSS Code

Webnode makes it possible to easily add HTML/CSS code and extra widgets. You can add your HTML code to the header, footer, or anywhere else on your website.

Option to add HTML/CSS code

Visit here to know how it can be done.

Affordable prices

Another great advantage of Webnode is its affordable premium plans. As compared to other top website builders, Webnode has the lowest prices. Like Wix, Webnode also has a simple Connect Domain plan that costs $3.90 per month (against $5 for the Wix plan). The most basic premium plan, Mini, costs $7.50 per month. A similar plan with Squarespace costs $12, and as for Wix, it’s $14.

However, note that, unlike competitors, Webnode’s Mini plan doesn’t remove Webnode ads from your website. The basic eCommerce plan (Standard) is available for only $12.90 per month. Wix’s minimum ecommerce plan costs $23, and for the basic Squarespace eCommerce plan, you’d have to pay $26. Shopify’s basic plan costs $29. The price advantage is obvious – you’ll have to pay much less with Webnode.

For whom will Webnode be the best solution?

NOTE: Despite the available free plan, I don’t recommend Webnode for creating a free website. Webnode free plan possibilities are considerably limited compared to Wix or Weebly. You can try other builders if your aim is to develop a free website.

But I recommend using Webnode in the following cases:

For multi-language website creation. Webnode is the best solution in the market;

For beginner webmasters who want to develop a personal website;

For making small online stores, since the cost of starting up an online store is low with Webnode;

For creating small business sites (using the Mini or Standard plans).

How much does Webnode cost?

Webnode offers a free plan without any limits on use and four affordable premium plans. The most basic Limited plan costs $3.90 per month. It is the same as the free plan but with the possibility to use your domain name. Mini plan ($7.50) has got broader capacities but doesn’t remove Webnode ads. Standard Plan costs $12.90 and has got even more options, not to mention the possibility to make online sales. The top Profi plan costs $22.90. It’s got maximum capabilities and supports all 20 languages for multi-language website creation. Here are more details about Webnode’s plans.

Create a site

Pixpa – Good for Portfolios and Selling Art Works

At first glance, Pixpa doesn’t look like a small business website builder. It’s somewhat reminiscent of Squarespace – just like Squarespace, it’s designed to develop portfolio websites. But it has its own advantages that Squarespace doesn’t have. And it’s not just more affordable prices.

Pixpa website builder

Pixpa is betting on the development of three types of sites – portfolio websites for photographers, artists and illustrators, blogs and an online store. Of course, all this can be packaged in one website.

Easy Portfolio Website Creation

Simplicity and convenience are the distinguishing features of Pixpa. Pixpa has a simple yet functional drag and drop editor with an intuitive interface. You should not expect super-wide features from it (like Wix, for example), but they are quite enough to customize the template you like the way you need.

Minimalist and Responsive Templates

Pixpa has about 40 website templates on topics: Photography, Design, Art & Illustration, Graphic and Web, Architecture, Music and Performing Arts, Fashion, Models & Actors, Beauty & Style, Health & Wellness, Personal & Lifestyle, Wedding, Health & Wellness, Blog, Business & Services, Consulting & Coaching, Food & Restaurants, Real Estate & Properties.

I specifically listed them all so that you can be convinced of their diversity. In terms of category selection, Pixpa outperforms most other portfolio website builders. Because Pixpa is more about business than just building a portfolio website.

Pixpa templates

All Pixpa templates are responsive and automatically adjust to any screen resolution. Without additional actions on your part, which of course will greatly simplify the life of beginners.

NOTE: What I personally like about Pixpa as a web designer is the easy change of website template. Most website builders don’t allow you to easily change the template of a live website (Wix – hello!). With Pixpa, this is possible with just one click – you simply select a new template and Pixpa will automatically adapt the content to fit it. Very simple and fast. And that’s pretty cool for me!

Advanced SEO Features already in basic plan

Pixpa has built-in SEO tools for advanced website SEO customization. Remarkably, this option is already available in the Basic plan, unlike most website builders.

NOTE: Pixpa has fast loading pages due to progressive loaded images on the pages. This works similar to lazy loading in WordPress. Images are loaded on the page not all at once when it is opened, but as the page is scrolled. The benefit is especially noticeable for websites with long pages with lots of images, such as photo galleries or blogs.

Adding and editing CSS, HTML, Javascript already in the basic plan

Adding your own CSS code and manually editing the HTML code of pages is a feature of many advanced website builders. But not many builders offer this opportunity in the basic plan. Pixpa is one of them. This, no doubt, will be appreciated by more experienced web masters with the appropriate skills.

Sell without a transaction fee

Pixpa allows you to not only create various image galleries on your website, but also sell them. And at the same time with zero commission, which favorably distinguishes Pixpa from many other online stores (Squarespace and Shopify, hello to you!).

In fact, on Pixpa, you can create not the usual portfolio website, but a fully functional online store. For example, selling paintings or posters. Or even printed T-shirts. In short, any product where the visual component is of primary importance. In this case, the benefits of Pixpa will be fully revealed.

Pixpa has many more features than I have listed here. Check them all on the official website.

For whom will Pixpa be the best solution?

For photographers, illustrators, graphic and web designers who want a minimalist portfolio website at an affordable cost.

For those who would like to create an online store without transaction fees to sell photos, art works, posters, paintings and any other creative products and more.

Anyone who needs a small website with good functionality at a cheap price.

NOTE: want to see what websites built with Pixpa look like? Check out these 20+ Pixpa website examples to see what your website might look like with this website builder.

How much does Pixpa cost?

Cheap prices is another Pixpa plus. Pixpa has a 15 day trial period, after which you will be prompted to choose one of four plans as standard: Basic, Creator, Professional, Advanced. Pixpa allows you to have additional discounts when paying yearly (50% Off!) and 2 yearly (63% Off!). Thus, the already affordable prices have become even more profitable.

Judge for yourself:

	Basic	Creator	Professional	Advanced
Pay monthly	$5/mo	$10/mo	$15/mo	$25/mo
Pay yearly	$2.50/mo	$5/mo	$7.50/mo	$12.50/mo
Pay 2 yearly	$1.88/mo	$3.75/mo	$5.63/mo	$9.38/mo

NOTE: you can get an additional 50% off any Pixpa plan if you use our 50% Off Pixpa coupon code.

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Weebly – Best Free Website Builder

Weebly was the first website builder I ever used. It’s one of the oldest online website builders that began operation in 2007.

Weebly website builder

Being one of the best free website builders, Weebly has lots of advantages, some of which you’re unlikely to get with other website builders. What I like about this builder is that it’s got a good balance (between functional capacities and simplicity of use) and has ample opportunities for creating larger sites. With regards to the latter, Weebly is second to none.

Easy To Use

Weebly is really easy to use. You’ll have to spend the least possible amount of time and effort to master its interface. Weebly’s drag-and-drop editor is extremely easy and intuitive, but I must say that it appeared to me not that flexible when compared to Wix.

Weebly editor

I would have liked more capacities for changing templates and editing them. However, the ease and user-friendliness of this builder are still worth appreciating.

Perfect for Larger Websites

Most of the good website builders are aimed at small website development. They are limited in terms of pages, sections, categories, and subcategories. Moreover, managing larger projects using such platforms isn’t as easy as you’d like. But all this isn’t true for Weebly. Weebly, perhaps, is the best online website builder if you want to build a sizable informational website. It has a well-considered website architecture that is great for multi-page websites with a big enclosure of sections and subsections.

Website made on Weebly

Also, it is as easy to handle a larger website with Weebly as it is to handle a smaller one.

Unlimited Depth of Navigation

Weebly allows creating an unlimited enclosure of categories, sections, and navigation menus. That’s what I felt lacking in Squarespace, where you can create categories for only first-level enclosures. Weebly automatically creates a drop-down menu for you in accordance with your multilevel website structure. It’s really wonderful!

Membership Site Creation

Using Weebly, you can build membership sites with the possibility of showing certain content to only a certain group of users. It’s possible to give them personal access passwords or let them independently register on the website to gain entry to the membership area.

Weebly membership options

Learn more about Weebly membership features here.

NOTE: Creating a membership website is possible with the Pro plan and plans above it. With the Pro plan, you can have up to 100 members. With the most expensive plans, the limit on the number of members gets lifted.

Adding and Editing The Website Code

It’s been my long-held observation that experienced webmasters (especially web developers) consider Weebly to be the absolute leader among all online website builders. And that’s not for nothing. The point is that Weebly, unlike most of its competitors, allows editing the HTML/CSS code of your website. It can be via the Embed Code element. And it is really comfortable to work with. You can edit the CSS code and see how your website has changed in the preview section. (Select the Auto Preview option in the settings.)

Weebly HTML/CSS editor

As a result, you can perform more accurate customization of your website as per your needs.

NOTE: Be very careful while manually editing the HTML website code. Ensure that you don’t accidentally make changes that may hurt your entire website’s operation. Given that Weebly hasn’t got an automatic website backup creation option (like Wix and Webnode), wrongly editing the code can create major problems for you. You’ll have to contact Weebly support in order to restore your website. That’s why you should edit the code only if you have the required skills and experience.

Apps and Widgets

Weebly has the Weebly App Center, where you’ll find a great collection of apps, widgets, and tools to integrate with your Weebly websites. Judged based on the number of additional apps available, Weebly is the third-best platform (after Shopify and Wix).

Weebly editor

Using apps and widgets allows making your website even better. For example, you can add complicated tables or text animations to attract your users’ attention. What’s remarkable about this is that the Weebly App Center can be accessed on all plans, including the free version.

For whom will Weebly be the best solution?

For creating bigger sites with a large number of pages and sections;

For creating free websites;

For beginner webmasters without any experience in site building;

For making business websites;

For webmasters with HTML layout and programming skills;

For making eCommerce stores.

How much does Weebly cost?

Weebly has one free and several premium plans. Note that Weebly has different plans for users from the USA and Europe. There are 3 premium plans for the USA: The Personal plan, available for $6 per month, allows adding your custom domain name. There is also a plan for $12 per month and the Performance plan for $26 per month. For European countries, there are 4 premium plans:

Connect (Similar to the personal plan, available for €6 per month);

Pro (Positioned as a plan for groups and organizations, available for €10 per month);

Business (For small businesses and online stores, available for €20 per month);

Business Plus (For larger eCommerce sellers, available for €30 per month).

Find out more details about Weebly’s plans.

Create a site

Jimdo – Good for Simple Small Business Sites

Jimdo belongs to the category of older website builders (it exists since 2007) that keep on evolving and getting better.

Jimdo website builder

In 2017, Jimdo released an artificial intelligence-powered version of its website builder – Jimdo Dolphin. Jimdo Dolphin is now one of the best AI website builders at a very affordable price. For the most part, it was Jimdo Dolphin’s existence that made me put it on the best website builders list. Jimdo Creator, a version for more experienced users, appeared to me not functional enough. It contains more advanced settings than Jimdo Dolphin, but it’s obviously a weaker variant than Wix, Weebly, and Squarespace. That’s why when I’m talking about Jimdo, I mean Jimdo Dolphin.

Very Fast

Jimdo Dolphin is the fastest website builder among the ones that I have used. You can develop a simple but high-quality website in only 3 minutes. Literally, in just 3 minutes! If you spend about an hour on its final customization, you’ll get a perfect simple website.

Very Simple

Jimdo’s simplicity and user-friendliness are commendable. It was more comfortable and easier for me to edit a website using Jimdo Dolphin than using Wix ADI. The reason was that Jimdo allows editing websites in real-time. This means you can immediately see the results of your actions.

Jimdo editor

Free

Jimdo has a free plan – it’s an undeniable pro, but in my opinion, its possibilities are very restricted. It’s fair to say that there are some free website builders that have fewer restrictions and more functional options in their free plans.

Quality Website Templates

Jimdo offers beautiful and quality website templates. They look equally good on different devices like smartphones, older mobile phones, tablets, or PCs.

Jimdo website templates

NOTE: Keep in mind that if you choose Jimdo Dolphin, you cannot switch to Jimdo Creator and vice versa. What is more, you should know that Jimdo doesn’t support the possibility of HTML website code editing. Website editing is limited to what you can do using the visual Jimdo drag-and-drop editor.

For whom will Jimdo be the best solution?

For beginner webmasters with minimum skills;

For immediate website creation (when you need a website right now);

For developing simple websites for small businesses.

How much does Jimdo cost?

Jimdo offers 2 kinds of plans – for creating standard websites and for online stores. For standard websites:

Play – A free plan that is good for nothing but testing Jimdo;

Start – A basic premium plan without ads and with your custom domain for $6 per month;

Grow – Recommended for business websites (for $15 per month);

Unlimited – As obvious from the self-explanatory name, the plan has no restrictions. The cost of this plan isn’t stated on the website.

For online stores:

Basic – Similar to the Start plan, but aimed at ecommerce (for $15 per month);

Business – For more advanced online stores (for $19 per month);

VIP – The top ecommerce plan, the price for which isn’t mentioned on the website.

More details about Jimdo plans.

Create a site

My expert tips for choosing website builders for businesses

Finding a good website builder is a challenging task. Not because there aren’t enough of them. But rather because there are too many different website building platforms, and the choice gets overwhelming.

Now even though website builders are great, choosing an unsuitable website builder can be extremely detrimental to your business.

You cannot put off or avoid the choice either because an effective website is essential for any business in the modern world.

In this section, I’m going to clearly explain how to choose a website builder for small businesses and what criteria should be taken into consideration.

Where to start choosing from?

To begin with, you should decide on the challenges that your website is going to solve for your business and what is going to be the goal of the website.

There are usually three main kinds of business websites.

eCommerce

These types of websites are online stores that sell different products and services. Their main purpose is to sell physical or digital products and directly receive payment.

If you want to find an eCommerce website builder with all the relevant features for ensuring and facilitating online sales, check out my article on the best eCommerce website builders.

Business Representation

These are the websites that are a company’s official address on the Internet. They are not directly linked to making sales or earning revenue. The purpose of these websites is to inform the audience about a company’s activities and the goods and services it offers.

Specialized business websites

These are the websites, which have certain (often peculiar) functionalities specific to a certain type of business. For example, a website for a hotel with the possibility of booking rooms online. Or a restaurant’s website with the ability to look through the menu and book a table.

In this guide, I’ll be focusing on choosing website builders for developing the second and third types of business websites.

Now let’s move on.

The first question that beginners struggle to find answers to is…

NOTE: For a better understanding of what high-quality and modern business websites can look like, check out this review: 30 Modern Small Business Websites Examples for 2024. All of the presented websites are related to different business niches and are made on different website builders and CMS.

Free or premium?

To be honest, you can build a business website at no cost using free website builders. But you should be ready for certain restrictions.

Usually, it is in the form of having the website builder’s banner ad (or a button). All free website builders place their advertisements on the sites built using the free versions.

The second thing is that you don’t get the option to use the domain name of your choice. There are only 2 website builders, which allow using a custom domain name in the free plan.

The third restriction of free website builders is the limitation related to bandwidth, storage space, and sometimes even the number of web pages that can be created. Yes, you read it right – your website can have only as many pages as allowed by the chosen plan.

In my opinion, thus, if we are talking about business, small businesses specifically, a free plan’s capabilities will never be enough. Even if the chosen website builder is the best in the market.

Thus, it is always better to choose a low-cost premium plan and create a professional website using your own domain name and without ads or hard limits.

Which website builders are reliable?

It’s a reasonable question to ask, considering the fact that a website builder is a visual editor, web hosting, domain name registrar, and email sender all rolled into one. All these things together are packed in the integrated SaaS service with unified technical support.

Now, how reliable these services are going to be and how well they’ll function together depends on both the technical support and the coherence of the work of the entire website builder team.

It is especially important to emphasize the age of the website builder though. Website builders that have been constantly offering their services for 10+ years, improving their drag-and-drop editors, creating more contemporary templates, and adding new options are, of course, more reliable. Such companies have served hundreds and thousands of clients. And thus, it won’t be a ‘worth considering’ option for them to stop their business or not offer proper services.

Meanwhile, a lot of newly launched website builders don’t have the hassle of preserving their reputation. Further, many of them go bankrupt shortly after the launch, leaving those who chose the builder in a major fix.

Here are the most reliable website builders for businesses (and even individuals):

There are also Shopify and BigCommerce, specifically suitable for building online stores.

All these website builders have been operating successfully for several years and aren’t going to curtail their activities.

What points should be first taken into consideration?

The key point to be considered while selecting website builders is whether it has quality templates relevant to your business. The more such templates will be, the greater choice you’ll have.

Why is this important?

Well, some website builders offer universal templates suitable for any industry/niche.

And let me be clear here – it’s not the best solution.

It’s always better to find a specialized template that is designed to your industry-specific requirements.

By “quality templates” I mean not only stylish and contemporary designs but also responsiveness. And not all website templates are inherently responsive. This means that most of them will face problems while displaying on mobile phones or other devices.

Is having a drag-and-drop editor mandatory?

Yes. Your website builder must definitely have a drag-and-drop editor. It allows building a website without having HTML and programming skills. You just drag the website elements using your computer mouse and drop them where you want them to be. Easy!

Even if you know how to edit the CSS code manually, the absence of a built-in drag-and-drop editor should be a red flag.

All (without exception) leading contemporary website builders have a drag-and-drop editor.

NOTE: Not all drag-and-drop editors are alike. Some website builders have outdated drag-and-drop editors, which allow only slight edits in the template. The other, more contemporary ones are much more flexible. For example, Wix’s drag-and-drop editor allows dragging content blocks and design elements with 1-pixel precision. What is more, it contains options for setting up the website color scheme too.

What other parameters are important when choosing a website builder?

Every website builder has several plans. There are normally 3 to 5 plans that you can choose from. They vary in terms of the prices and the features that you’ll get.

Always make sure that your chosen plan does not have restrictions on the number of pages that your website can have.

Alert: Also, be sure to verify that you’ll be able to use a custom domain name instead of being confined to the one offered by the website builder. Not all premium plans allow this!

Pay attention to the storage space and bandwidth too.

And it isn’t necessary for website builders to have unlimited storage space and bandwidth. For starting small business websites it will be enough to have 1GB Storage space and 2GB Bandwidth.

The Best Membership Website Builders: Free and Paid Tolls

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If you have ever visited an e-learning site like Udemy or an online community like Facebook, you know what a membership website is. In its simplest form, it is a portal with restricted access to its content, available to members only, although access can be paid, free, or a mix of both. Popular models include:

E-learning sites

E-commerce portals

Blogs/vlogs

Podcasts

News websites

Associations

Non-profits, etc.

Of, course you can use one of the best all-around website builder, bu specialized membership site platforms are the best way for thought-leaders to build their brand, develop an online community, and get paid for the knowledge transfer. This allows businesses with specialized information to set up a consistent revenue stream.

82% of the businesses adopting the “subscription economy” model claim it helped them become industry disruptors. But for every success story, there are dozens of others who have failed. One of the probable causes: choosing the wrong platform to build their portal.

The Top 8 Membership Website Builder

Wild Apricot

Wild Apricot is a fast-growing cloud-based software with a website builder platform to create membership sites. The standout feature? You get your own mobile app designed separately for customers and admins. You can also embed the Wild Apricot widget in other websites to promote an event you are managing on the Wild Apricot site.

Wild Apricot

For example, you can embed a calendar widget to a WordPress site for cross-platform publicity. Wild Apricot also offers a free version that can be used by organizations with 50 members or less. All plans include a 30-day trial period with full access to all features within the trial period.

Pros of Using Wild Apricot

Excellent database and event management tool.

Event coordination feature that lets you send promotions, discounts, and reminders to attendees.

Unlimited email campaigns.

Native mobile app for both Android and iOS that accepts payments and registrations.

Cons of Using Wild Apricot

The blogging platform is outdated and lacks basic features such as content moderation.

You can’t allot a membership ID within the software.

Create a site

Wix

Although not the most intuitive membership free website builder in the market, Wix is a strong contender because of the scalability it offers, along with an affordable pricing plan. The platform allows you to create a members-only area, add pages with restricted content, and process subscription payments.

Wix Member’s Area

You can integrate multiple Wix plugins to enhance the experience, including the Pricing-plan app, Wix bookings, Wix Events, Wix Forum, Wix chat, etc.

Pros of Using Wix

Membership areas can be created for free, although you can’t process payments with them.

Contacts are automatically synced in the back-end with the Wix email marketing tool.

Supports multi-platform registrations like Google, Facebook, or email.

Allows recurring payments.

The Pricing-plan app allows setting up a Paywall to grant restricted access to paid members.

Member roles restrict access to specific users on your site.

Cons of Using Wix

Has a steep learning curve, not suitable for novices.

New registrations have to be manually approved to send confirmation emails to users.

Doesn’t have a Learning Management System, so you can’t create online courses.

Doesn’t support content dripping and content locking.

Create a site

Memberpress

An easy-to-use WordPress membership plugin that allows you to create multi-tiered memberships, online courses, content-dripping, and integrating 3rd-party plugins to build communities.

Memberpress

One of the standout features of Memberpress is Paywall – a tool that allows non-members to access certain bits of content for free, a great bonus to attract initial users. With three different pricing options, you can choose to install it on a single website or across 5 different websites.

Pros of Using Memberpress

Integrates with existing WordPress sites.

Creates unlimited multi-level membership across all plans.

Users can have more than one membership at a time.

Good technical support.

Multiple access rules, including posts, pages, categories, tags, files, etc.

You can set content start and expiration dates.

Wide range of pricing options for subscriptions – recurring payments, monthly/yearly payments, free/paid trials, etc.

Customizable coupons and email marketing tools.

Analytics reporting dashboard.

Cons of Using Memberpress

Doesn’t support other CMS platforms.

Doesn’t offer a lifetime purchase plan.

Doesn’t have a built-in forum tool; you need to install an additional WordPress forum plugin.

You cannot customize registrations and login forms.

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Squarespace

Squarespace’s new Member Areas feature has remedied the one big issue that marred its utility as world class membership website builder – the software’s lack of integrated membership features necessary for creating members-only content. You can now create a membership website with Squarespace in two ways – use Member Areas, its very own membership software, or use MemberSpace, a third-party plug-in available with a business or higher plan.

Squarespace

The builder offers virtually every tool you can think of for creating, sharing and managing exclusive content.

Pros of Using Squarespace

It allows access to a wide range of high-quality, royalty free stock images, including the entirety of image gallery from Unsplash.

It includes a vast line-up of web fonts, including more than 600 fonts from Google and approximately 1000 fonts from Adobe.

Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) enabled web pages that allow for accelerated content delivery on mobile devices.

Cons of Using Squarespace

Squarespace blogs lack the Autosave feature, so you can lose your content in the event of a server crash or accidental post deletion. This makes the platform unsuitable for professional bloggers.

Limitations on organizing the static pages and blog posts make Squarespace ill suited for creating large, more complex websites

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Yourmembership

Here’s a premium paid membership website builder that strikes the perfect balance of design and functionality. Yourmembership is a comprehensive platform with excellent content, event and membership management tools. It offers efficient blogging and email marketing solutions, along with the ability to manage both members and events through a single, advanced dashboard.

Yourmembership dashboard

Yourmembership excels at creating engaging, mobile responsive websites with futuristic features such as Microsites and expert website design assistance.

Pros of Using Yourmembership

Highly intuitive backend that makes updating and editing content a breeze.

It allows for seamless integration of the members’ registration pages and the events section.

It offers excellent accounting tools to help with invoice generation and delivery, tracking financial information such as the members’ donations and dues.

Cons of Using Yourmembership

The content editing and customization options are limited in comparison to other top membership website builders.

Yourmembership is one of the pricier software for building membership websites which makes it unaffordable for businesses with a limited budget

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Weebly

Weebly is one of the easiest to use website builders with membership features such as single click members’ login, different membership tiers, email newsletters and online store.

Weebly membership area

With Weebly, you don’t need to traverse a learning curve to create your membership website. Simple, drag-and-drop mechanism allows you to select the desired elements and click on them to edit or include additional features. It’s an excellent choice for businesses who aim to quickly build a community and offer online courses.

Pros of Using Weebly

Websites built with Weebly are practically ad-free. Weebly’s personal and free membership website builder plans include a Weebly logo at the screen’s bottom. Even the logo is absent in Weebly’s paid plans.

Unlimited navigation levels which support the creation of large, complex website structures.

Cons of Using Weebly

Doesn’t support multilingual sites. Character sets for languages such as Arabic, Chinese and Russian aren’t fully supported.

Certain features are too pricey compared to other top membership site builders. Attaching an email address to your website’s domain, for instance, entails a monthly cost of $6.

Create a site

Thinkific

Thinkific is one of the most popular and powerful platforms for creating, promoting and selling online educational courses.

Thinkific

You can include high resolution videos, images and rich text in your courseware. In addition, you can offer downloadable content such as quizzes, tables and certificates. The free plan includes excellent customization options and is great for new instructors who’re just starting out selling online courses. The premium plans allow you to create unlimited courses.

Pros of Using Thinkific

Thinkific allows you to extend a monthly payment option for the pricier courses.

The excellent voice-over tool for creating PowerPoint presentations allows even beginners to create quality video content.

Cons of Using Thinkific

Thinkific lacks integrated features for email marketing, so you’ll have to rely on third-party email providers.

Doesn’t offer chat support.

Create a site

Kajabi

Kajabi enables you to create and market membership websites, online coaching programs and courses using single-click templates.

Kajabi dashboard

Kajabi Pipelines offers custom automations for optimizing and scaling your website and online courses which reduces your team’s workload. The platform specializes in building large scale, close-knit online communities based on your business’ terms and conditions.

Pros of Using Kajabi

It has an excellent mobile app that facilitates better connectivity and uninterrupted learning. The app is included in all of Kajabi’s plans.

The visual email builder features allows for creation of beautifully personalized messages integrated with countdown timers, videos and animations.

Cons of Using Kajabi

It has a limited library of landing page templates.

Doesn’t support key quiz elements such as randomization and question banks.

Create a site

What Is a Membership Website Builder?

Membership website builders allow you to create gated or members-only websites having features such as paid membership, discussion forums, knowledge-based webinars, courses or classes, ebooks, and newsletters, along with exclusive perks such as free or expedited shipping, early access, discount offers and more. These membership websites can be paid, free, or include a tier-based monetary system for their members.

If your goal is to create a membership website, even the most popular or highest rated regular website builders can turn out to be inadequate. While many top-rated generic website builders do include premium membership features, you can only access them via additional plugins. The act of adding membership features by scouring through dozens of plugins can be both time-consuming and ill-suited to individuals that lack prior coding experience and technical skills.

What Is a Membership Website Builder?

A good membership website builder offers powerful, built-in membership tools such as recurring membership payment, discussion boards, Q&As, and drip campaign management – definitely the best choice for building your online membership platform.

What can you do with a Membership Website Builder?

In addition to the necessary website building tools such as customizable templates, the ability to add and modify pages, graphics, and media, the best membership website builder will also help you accomplish these tasks:

Create an Intranet portal for your members

With a good membership website builder, you can set up a password-protected intranet portal and create secure pages where members can sign up for exclusive programs and courses, share their personal details and engage other members in the discussion.

Create and manage dedicated member directories

A members’ directory is a handy means of listing and categorizing members who’ve signed up for exclusive products or services. It’s also a much-sought feature among the members for searching and connecting with other members. A good membership website builder allows you to create and manage the members’ directories in an easy, efficient manner.

Create and manage dedicated member directories

Plan and run effective marketing campaigns

A good membership website builder can help you market your products and services by using efficient marketing tools that aid in creating and customizing microsites and promotional campaigns that target email addresses and the members’ individual profile pages.

In addition to these benefits, the right membership website builder can also help you manage the events calendar, allow for a mobile check-in facility and e-ticketing. The best builders offer extensive learning material and expert, round-the-clock customer support, so you can get quick responses and resolutions to your queries and complaints.

Criteria To Select a Membership Website Builder

How to build a website with user accounts? You have two options – either to opt for a hosted solution or to install a plugin to your existing CMS platform. Both options can work equally well so don’t get into the analysis-paralysis mode.

Choose a platform that offers multiple pricing options and fits into your budget constraints. Look for hidden costs that come in the guise of set-up, support, or additional features.

Your chosen platform should be easy to learn, with minimal steps for adding new users. Check if you can test the platform from the user’s perspective to better understand its intuitiveness and simplicity.

Most providers offer a basic security level to all businesses. If you are considering additional security levels in your website, for example adding a captcha or two-factor authentication, check your options with the service provider.

Know what are the learning and engagement tools provided by the platform. If you are an educator, you would probably want learning management software integrated into your website.

What are the options to create a forum or community? Does the platform have built-in forum features or do you need to add third-party tools?

Opt for platforms that have tiered membership levels so you can segregate members according to services offered.

You would probably have events that users can sign up for. Look for platforms that include tools like event calendars and online registrations.

The Best Membership Website Builder for You Is…

Different businesses have different needs, but a common thread across all membership sites is the membership base. Your membership base is dictated by the niche you have created for yourself in the industry. Hence, it would be wise to choose a website builder according to your business goals and the structure of your membership plans.

The Best Membership Website Builder for You Is...

For example, an e-learning site will need a website builder that has LMS software support. On the other hand, an e-commerce site will have to go for a platform that allows an online store. Some of your subscription models may need drip content to ensure recurring revenue. If your chosen website builder fails to provide any of the necessary integrations, your business model falls apart even before you begin.

It is also a good idea to keep the pricing constraints in mind while choosing a website builder with membership feature. What may fit an enterprise-level company may not be feasible for small businesses. Ideally, you should look for a platform that offers your users a rich set of features with a comprehensive and integrated experience, all under one roof.

What do you need to create a Membership Website?

Membership website builders such as MemberSpace have made the act of creating gated pages and websites easier than ever. The real challenge lies in converting your existing customer base into paying members and creating content that will invite new members to sign up. Creating the best membership platform for your business requires you to focus on these key factors:

Identify and target your audience

If you’re creating members-only pages for an established ecommerce business, you already have a customer base and need to focus on designing/presenting your products or services for a paid model. When creating a new members-only business from scratch, put some time into researching the current and recent trends, the competition, as well as the customers’ needs and unmet demands. Your members-only content needs to be tailored to the age, spending ability, and requirements of the target customer segment.

High-value content and services

Your membership website’s products or services need to be of high value in order to warrant paid member subscriptions. If, for instance, your product is online courses, you should look to ensure the course material is up-to-date, the curriculum description is accurate, and that the course has good accreditations. It’s best to incorporate popular content delivery methods such as video, email, and downloadable PDFs so you can target customers that favor different learning styles.

Decide on the type of membership and charges

One of the biggest decisions to make when creating a membership website is the cost and duration of the membership. If you’re offering a wide range of services, you may categorize them into different membership plans. If you stand to make money through sources such as displaying ads, affiliate marketing, Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising, you can also consider offering a free membership plan.

What features should a Membership Website Builder include?

When you’re looking for the right membership website builder for creating your membership platform, make sure to look for these features:

What features should a Membership Website Builder include?

Efficient forum software

Make sure the forum software of your membership website builder enables the members to customize their profiles. The ability to customize aspects such as profile pictures and watch or reading lists empowers the members, enhancing their engagement and overall service experience.

The forum software should have a good text editor and allow private messaging between the members. Customizable comment signatures and achievement-based rewards are some of the most vaunted forum features of the day. Make sure your chosen membership website builder includes these.

Easy, secure membership payments

The website builder you choose should allow for seamless, secure recurring payment for the membership fee. It should allow the members to set up membership renewal via both manual and automatic means. If you’re interested in offering a time-based trial membership, the website builder should allow the member to cancel or pay for his/her membership at the end of the trial period.

Your membership website builder should be able to work with multiple payment gateways, including all the popular payment channels such as credit card, debit card, net banking, PayPal, and digital wallets.

High-end membership features

Your pick of membership website builders should ideally allow for adding unlimited members as well as creating a large number of membership levels. A membership level determines the range of content or services included within a certain membership plan. If you offer a wide range of paid services or have plans for future expansion, look for a website builder that offers a large number of, or unlimited membership levels.

A dedicated members’ welcome page, the ability to hide selected content, and automatic integration with your email list are some other essential features you should look for in a membership website builder.

Do Membership Sites make money?

Recent research has revealed that 70 percent of the world’s business leaders consider membership or subscription business models to be the path to future business expansion and commercial success. In addition, a staggering 82 percent of the world’s businesses are looking to adopt the membership model and utilize private websites to achieve greater financial output.

A membership website is a reliable means of creating a steady stream of revenue, typically with little start-up expenditure. It also involves a high margin of profit – if you launch your membership website with a monthly membership fee of $20, you can generate a monthly income of $1000 with just 50 members.

It’s obvious that now is the most opportune time ever to start or switch to the membership-based business model. If you’re an existing business, it’s best to transition slowly, with the goal of converting no more than 50 percent of your existing customers into paid members over a reasonable time frame. You can begin by offering newer products and services to the paying members while maintaining the traditional setup for the existing customer base, let the growth of your paid membership numbers and the quality of service attract the rest to sign up in near future.

Best Website Builders and Platforms for SEO

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For a long time, I’ve been eager to highlight the importance of SEO capabilities in website builders through my site. I know from firsthand experience how important it is to choose an appropriate platform for your website from an SEO perspective.

I’ve not just promoted the website for my own web design agency, but also carried out search engine optimization on a lot of my client’s websites too.

And while doing all of that here is what I figured out – Not all website builders and platforms are good for SEO. Websites built on certain platforms are more likely to achieve better SEO results, whereas it is harder to rank higher in Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) with the websites built on some other platforms.

In this review, I’ll tell you which website builders and platforms are ideal for SEO and why.

Best SEO Website Builders for Beginners

All web platforms can be divided into two categories – for beginner users and for experienced users.

Beginner users are those who don’t have any web design, HTML layout, or programming skills. But they can do basic tasks, for example, sign up for Facebook and create their own email.

Here, I have mentioned four website builders aimed at beginner users with different primary focuses but with great opportunities for SEO.

NOTE: The website builders in this list are not arranged in the order of their ratings and show no evidence that one platform is better or worse than another. Each of the website builders listed here has its own particular scope of application.

Wix – Free, simple, and universal

Wix is a leader among online website builders and all that is not for nothing. In view of most independent lists, Wix is a top choice when it comes to drag and drop website builders. And as for SEO, Wix is really good at it too, since it comes with dozens of useful options, tools, and widgets for SEO.

WIX SEO tools

Also, Wix was one of the first website builders to abandon Flash technology and switch to HTML5. Thanks to that, web pages on Wix get easily indexed on all search engines.

NOTE: In the past, Wix has had some problems with search engine optimization on its websites. But then the management reconsidered the importance of SEO for their clients and did a great job in this direction. Now, Wix is one of the most SEO-friendly online website builders. However, you might still see old-school SEOs hating Wix, recalling its past shortcomings.

Wix is suitable for SEO due to its following features:

More than 500 perfectly responsive templates

Wix does not just have the largest template library but all Wix templates are created by professional web designers and have a responsive web design too. This means that the templates display correctly on any device screen, whether it’s a mobile phone, a laptop, or a tablet.

Search engine optimized website infrastructure

Websites created on Wix have a simple search engine optimized infrastructure and thus search engine bots easily index webpages and pass on the links within a Wix website without difficulty.

Wix also has server-side rendering (SSR), which allows rendering website pages on the server and not in the customer’s browser. As a result, website page load speed increases, even if the customers have a slow internet connection.

Free SSL certificates with all plans

All Wix websites have HTTPS as Wix offers a free SSL certificate with all their plans, including the free one.

Automatic structured data creation

Wix automatically adds structured data to its website pages. You don’t have to make an effort to add schema markups. Though you do get the option to manually create schema markups and add them to certain pages and use specific schema types like products, ratings, FAQ, and also statistics.

Automatic robots.txt and sitemap.xml file creation

Wix automatically creates robots.txt and sitemap.xml files. Moreover, it also gives you the option to edit the contents of these files, if necessary.

Automatic canonical tags creation and management

Wix automatically creates canonical tags for all new pages (like WordPress does with installed SEO plugins). In the Advanced SEO tab, you can also delete the canonical tag for a certain page or add one, if it isn’t already there.

Integration with Google Marketing Tools

WIX Marketing Integration

One of the greatest advantages of Wix for SEO is the possibility to integrate every possible marketing tool from Google with your website. Primarily, the integration option with Google Search Console directly from the Wix dashboard makes it simple, quick, and convenient.

You can also integrate Google Analytics for getting expanded statistics, and add Google Tag Manager for launching your advertising campaign.

NOTE: In the near future Wix is looking forward to taking a decision on launching Wix managed solution to offer integration with Google Optimize. This will allow analyzing the efficiency of a Wix website SEO’s status with the help of A/B testing. Also, it is possible to integrate Google Optimize using Google Tag Manager. Here’s Google’s guidance for such integrations.

Integration with Google My Business

Your WIX website’s integration with Google My Business will be useful for local SEO. Thanks to it, you’ll be able to create and further edit your company’s profile directly through the Wix dashboard. Again, this integration can be performed in a few clicks, which saves time while delivering excellent local SEO results.

Personalized SEO Setup Plan

This is a unique Wix option that makes it much easier for beginners to perform search engine optimization on their websites. Wix takes into account the particularities of your website and business and then gives you a step-by-step SEO Setup Plan. Just implement the given recommendations as per this plan in order to carry out all the basic SEO activities for your website.

NOTE: In order to use Wix SEO Wiz you’ll need to connect the website to Google Search Console. After this, SEO Wiz will create a step-by-step plan for you to perform your website’s search engine optimization. You don’t necessarily need to carry out all the steps right in the order they are stated in the plan, but the steps you miss will be highlighted as incomplete. You just have to finish implementing all the Wix SEO Wiz recommendations in order to make your website SEO-friendly.

SEO apps in the Wix App Market

One of the greatest Wix advantages that makes it one of the best website builders is that it has a large app collection available in the Wix Apps Market.

These additional solutions can be added to a ready-made Wix website, which increases its SEO and other capabilities. This may be comparable to WordPress plugins.

Here are some of the best SEO and marketing apps offered by Wix App Market:

rankingCoach SEO – It analyses your website and the websites of your competitors, and then creates a step-by-step SEO strategy specifically for your website. All SEO guides are in the form of simple how-to videos.

Rabbit SEO – A comprehensive tool for searching the most appropriate keywords, analyzing competitors’ keywords, website page optimization, and many other things.

Site Booster – It will automatically register your website in business directories, review websites, and popular mobile apps and business listings like Google Maps, Yahoo Local, Bing Maps, Business Data Index, FourSquare, SMB Home Online, Yelp, and some others.

Visitor Analytics – This is a multilingual SEO app that shows expanded statistics related to website attendance with a convenient interface. It allows performing user behavior analytics by using heatmaps and conversion funnels.

How much will Wix website builder with expanded SEO options cost?

Despite the fact that Wix is a free website builder, as you’d already know, with the free plan you won’t get any of those useful SEO options which were referred to above.

Advanced SEO options are available in the Unlimited plan (it costs $18 monthly) and the plans above it. As a free bonus for your first year, you’ll also get Visitor Analytics App, Site Booster App, and 3 free ads vouchers:

For Google Ads – $100

For Bing Ads – $100

For Local Listings – $100

As a result, by spending $216 yearly on Wix (Unlimited plan), you get free SEO tools and advertising vouchers amounting to $425, which is twice as much as your expenses.

These free bonuses and all those SEO tools and options described above make Wix the best online website platform for SEO for beginner users.

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Squarespace – more automatic SEOs options

Like Wix, Squarespace is another top website builder, with some wonderful SEO capacities. Squarespace is especially good for developing portfolio websites, websites for photographers, and online stores.

Squarespace

Squarespace is a well-designed website builder focused on beautiful website designs, elegant minimalistic templates, and lots of SEO features. Moreover, most Squarespace SEO options are fully automatic, which will especially please beginners by making the tasks simpler for them.

Let’s figure out what Squarespace offers in detail.

Automated Heading Tags

Despite the fact that Squarespace allows editing HTML code (I’m sure web developers have a smile on their face right now!), its webpage structure is designed in such a way that users don’t need to add tags <H1>, <H2> for subtitles in HTML manually. You just choose the headline style you want, and Squarespace will automatically create the correct Heading Tag. It is really user-friendly. Here is how Squarespace describes this.

Automatic creation of <alt> and <title> tags for images

Thousands of articles and instructional SEO guides are written about the importance of correctly stating the <alt> and <title> tags for images from an SEO perspective. And Squarespace automatically adds the <alt> and <title> tags to your images with its image description feature.

Automatic sitemap creation and update

SEO Checklist

It’s difficult to overestimate the importance of having up-to-date sitemaps for SEO. As most SEO-friendly website builders, Squarespace independently creates a sitemap for your website in XML format. But that’s not all. It also keeps automatically editing and updating the sitemap as per the changes in your site’s structure.

For example, if you’ve added a new page to your website, then Squarespace will add it to the sitemap. And vice versa, if you delete a certain page, then it will be deleted from the sitemap. This saves manual efforts.

NOTE: Even though Squarespace automates the process of sitemap creation and updating, the updates to the site map don’t happen instantly. After you have changed something on the site, the update in the sitemap usually happens in about an hour. In some cases, this may require up to 24 hours or even more, especially for larger multi-page websites.

Automated mobile optimization

Like in Wix, all the websites developed on Squarespace have an inherently mobile-optimized design. For this, Squarespace saves text and visual content in a format that can be easily displayed on any type of device. You don’t have to take any action for mobile optimization, Squarespace does that for you.

Automated AMP creation

Squarespace supports Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP). For all the pages on your website, it creates simplified mobile versions called AMP. These pages download faster and thus, positively affect site speed. This will be an undoubted plus point for SEO, especially if the majority of traffic on your website comes from mobile phones.

NOTE: AMP can be a really effective solution, but you should know that using AMP can sometimes lead to the reduction of website conversion. Similar results have been observed for some online stores, where webmasters noticed declining sales after AMP introduction. However, the organic traffic remained the same.

Management of Meta Titles for pages and posts

Squarespace allows assigning and editing the Meta Title both for the website as a whole and individual pages and blog posts. You can also edit Meta Titles manually and get the best SEO results for every single page.

NOTE: A good SEO practice is when the H1 title differs from Meta Title. It’s not necessary to have completely different titles, but it would be better not to have 100% copies. Moreover, it’s important to test Meta Titles. Perfect Meta Titles as per SEO standards may actually have fewer clicks in SERP positions (lower CTR). And prettier, user-friendly titles, are likely to be actively clicked by users but may appear not so effective in search rankings. It’s important to strike the perfect balance for every page – this is one secret of success in SEO.

Squarespace SEO consultations

Squarespace has a special Squarespace Select Plan with additional possibilities, including some SEO advantages too. If you choose this plan, you’ll get a dedicated manager for developing your website and online business.

And you can also get personal consultation about search engine optimization for your website from Squarespace’s SEO specialists. This is a unique offer that isn’t available with any other website builder.

How much will Squarespace with maximum SEO options cost?

All Squarespace plans include SEO features for website visibility. This means that you’ll be offered simple step-by-step instructions using which you can improve the SEO for your Squarespace website.

The most basic Personal plan will cost you only $12 per month if you pay for the entire year at once.

But if you buy the Business plan for $18 per month, you’ll get access to advanced site analytics and the possibility to edit CSS and JavaScript. This may help you with more accurate SEO optimization of the HTML code of your website.

In addition to this, you’ll get a bonus of $100 Google Ads Credits. This is a good start for launching your own PPC campaign with Google Ads.

Squarespace also offers the Basic Commerce plan for $23 per month specifically for online stores. In addition to all the things that you get with the Personal and Business plans, with this plan, you’ll also get access to Powerful E-commerce Analytics.

This is a more profound analytics system specifically built for E-commerce businesses. You’ll be able to monitor lots of additional parameters, for example, sales conversion as a whole or for selected products. Moreover, you can get insights about which products sell better than others, why, and much more.

I must admit that Squarespace has always been good at creating websites for online sales. And the Basic Commerce plan is a perfect solution in terms of the price-quality ratio. Besides that, unlike Shopify, the Basic Commerce plan doesn’t charge a commission for each transaction. Though the Squarespace Business plan charges a 3% commission on every sale. Once again, the Squarespace Basic Commerce plan proves to be a profitable proposition.

As for getting maximum SEO capacities, you’ll have to go with the Squarespace Select plan, which I referred to earlier. Its main feature is that it comes with personal SEO consultation. It’s up to you to decide how important it is for you, but generally speaking, Squarespace Select is the same Advanced Commerce plan but wrapped in an “individual package”.

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Shopify – Ideal for E-commerce

When it comes to E-commerce, the importance of SEO gets multiplied manifold. This is primarily because E-commerce websites often have a more complex semantic core and have not one or two landing pages, but lots of them. In fact, every product’s page is a landing page. The same is true for category pages too as they all are optimized for certain search queries.

Considering such a large quantity of pages, working on off-page SEO optimization for every page is nearly impossible. And in this case, what comes to the forefront is technical SEO website optimization that, in turn, depends directly on the SEO possibilities of a chosen website builder or platform.

Among all E-commerce website builders, Shopify is the best adapted for SEO. Being the absolute leader among online E-commerce platforms, Shopify couldn’t help but give due consideration to SEO and marketing tools.

Let’s take a closer look at Shopify’s SEO advantages:

Lots of search engine optimized themes

Shopify templates

Shopify has a large library of free (about 100) and the largest library of premium themes (thousands). By default, you have access to all the free themes, which is fine for most users. However, if you are interested in a website with a more unique design or you have a specific niche business, then I recommend checking out the premium themes to find suitable options.

The largest collection of premium Shopify themes is available on the ThemeForest platform. Here you can find every kind of Shopify theme for selling various goods, relating to various niches, and designed in different web design styles. The prices of these themes are also quite affordable and range from $20 to $90 per theme.

And of course, these themes have great opportunities for search engine optimization. The features of these themes include SEO-friendly HTML/CSS layouts, accelerated page loading speed, and various SEO tools and plugins.

For example, most premium Shopify themes already include Google’s Rich Product Snippets, and some of them are tentatively checked by the MOZ SEO tool or equivalent SEO tools.

Adding Meta Title and Meta Description for every page

Adding meta title and meta description for every page

Like all SEO-friendly website builders, Shopify allows adding Meta Title and Meta Description for every page, whether it’s a page from the main section, product subcategories, or product cards.

As a result, you get the possibility to attract organic traffic to all pages of your website. The main requirement from your side is to just optimize the content on your website based on popular and relevant search queries.

Advanced features for robots.txt editing

All websites designed using Shopify have automatically-created robots.txt files that already meet SEO requirements. But you can additionally edit it using the special robots.txt.liquid template.

With this, you can prohibit or allow indexing the pages you need, manually add some extra URLs to sitemaps, add crawl-delay rules, and much more.

NOTE: Despite the fact that having robots.txt.liquid template creates considerable SEO advantages, be very attentive while editing it. If you make a mistake, you can lose organic traffic for certain website pages or even the whole website. Meanwhile, the Shopify Support Team is unlikely to help you as editing robots.txt.liquid isn’t included in basic Shopify possibilities, and that’s why it isn’t maintained by the Support Team.

Automatic sitemap.xml creation

Shopify automatically generates a sitemap.xml file. It is a record containing the links to all the pages on your website that must be indexed on search engines. Shopify also automatically sends the XML sitemap file to Google Search Console in order to let the pages of your website get indexed as soon as possible.

NOTE: Basic Shopify plan allows the automatic creation of sitemap files only for primary domain names. But this will be unavailable to international and region or country-specific domain names. In this case, you’ll need more advanced plans like Advanced Shopify. You can learn more about this here.

Numerous other useful SEO functions

Shopify was initially planned in order to save the clients from the problems that arise while getting organic traffic.

Here are some important Shopify SEO features:

SEO-friendly structure of page URLs

Compliance of logical hierarchy of categories for online stores

The absence of iFrames in pages code, which accelerates their loading speed

Possibility to optimize navigation throughout the site

Possibility to optimize blog pages

Possibility to integrate Google Analytics

Indication of canonical webpage addresses

301 redirect configuration

Possibility to use descriptive image names to search engine optimize images

Additional SEO apps in the Shopify app store

Shopify App store

Shopify has a large selection of apps for increasing the possibilities and performance of Shopify websites available in the Shopify App Store.

Wix and Squarespace also have such apps, right? Well, Shopify boasts of an extremely large collection of apps – about 2700 free and 2400 premium ones. And of course, Shopify has got apps for more successful online store SEO promotion too.

Here are the most powerful of them:

Booster SEO & Image Optimizer – A complex SEO solution for automatic online store optimization. It contains lots of built-in tools, and it can scan your website for SEO compliance and fix critical SEO issues. The app comes with a free plan.

Plug In SEO – One of the most popular universal SEO plugins for Shopify, Plug In SEO allows editing lots of Meta Descriptions and Titles at once, implementing Structured Data/JSON-LD Schema, finding and fixing broken, links and a lot more. The plugin allows performing SEO optimization of Non-English language pages as well.

About Bulk Image Edit & Image SEO – A shareware app, offering a full suite of image optimization features – from reducing the size while maintaining the same quality to adding Alt and file names.

SEO Manager – It scans the website to find SEO errors and provides opportunities for their removal. It contains step-by-step SEO instructions and reference materials for independent online store technical optimization.

How much will Shopify with maximum SEO options cost?

Shopify is definitely aware that it is the best E-commerce website builder in the market. That’s why it doesn’t offer a free plan, you have to pay to access their best-in-class services. However, they do offer a 14-days free trial version.

The cheapest Basic Shopify plan will cost you $29 per month. It includes all SEO options and tools except for those relating to International domain name support and International pricing.

As a result, Basic Shopify is likely to be a perfect solution for a small US or UK-based online store. But if your website has several language versions, then you’ll need the higher Shopify plan that comes at a price of $79 per month. It allows performing International SEO and is not limited to only English language webpages.

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What features should an SEO-friendly website builder have?

SEO has always been an important criterion for determining the best website builder. You can check out my previous guides on choosing website builders and you’ll see that SEO has always been a factor in consideration. But today, I’m going to bet on SEO as the fundamental determining factor.

So, then what features should a website builder have to be liked by Google crawlers? Check them out.

Perfect webpage indexing

The HTML code on a page should be easily identifiable by search engines. And as for the website architecture, it must be simple and without complex elements and technologies that are hard to index.

NOTE: About 10 years ago most online website builders used Macromedia Flash technology. The websites built using Flash looked pretty and had spectacular animation. But it was very difficult for search engines to index them, and they were unlikely to rank higher in Google. Due to that, website builders started getting a bad reputation in SEO communities. But since then, a lot has changed. Today, website builders have completely abandoned Flash in favor of HTML5, and the problems with webpage indexing are now long gone. Moreover, website builders began coming equipped with built-in SEO tools, SEO widgets, and SEO tutorials, which radically changed the situation for the better.

Ability to add Meta Descriptions and Headings

Website builders must allow users to add some MetaData, such as Title, Meta Description, and headings (H1, H2, and H3) separately for each page. It should also be possible for users to specify Alt attributes for all the images on the site. All these options allow accurate search engine optimization for every single page.

SEO-friendly URL structure

SEO-friendly URLs are those which have a simple and clear structure that search engines can easily understand. Such URLs contain the basic keyword or webpage title (most often a fragment) and a minimum amount of enclosures.

Some examples of non-optimized URLs:

1) https://www.yoursite.com/news/?p=637
2) https://www.yoursite.com/articles/2022/09/25/sample-post/
3) https://www.yoursite.com/blog/archives/637

Some examples of SEO-friendly URLs:

1) https://www.yoursite.com/best-seo-friendly-platforms/
2) https://www.yoursite.com/seo/best-platforms/
3) https://www.yoursite.com/best-platforms/seo/

Availability of SSL certificate

The best website builders in the market offer SSL certificates with all their plans, even the free ones. They understand that having a website with HTTPS is not only a security issue but also an important factor for SEO. Moreover, the Chrome browser marks all the websites without HTTPS (that is the ones that don’t have SSL encryption) as ‘isn’t secure’ in the URL tab. This may have a negative impact on your website traffic as well as your reputation.

Responsive web design

After Google launched Mobile-First indexing across the web, having a mobile-friendly website design became a crucially important factor. If a website does not display correctly on mobile devices, then it is unlikely that it will rank higher in Google SERPs.

That is why the website builders targeting SEO must ensure that their templates are as responsive as possible so that they are displayed well across all device types and sizes.

Robots.txt and sitemap.xml creation and editing

The robot.txt file gives search engines the information about which pages have to be indexed and which don’t. As for the sitemap.xml file, it is used to specify the URLs of all pages on your website in the order of their priority to be indexed.

The best SEO website builders can automatically create robots.txt and sitemap.xml (like Tilda). You don’t need to take any efforts to get these files, but at the same time, you have the option to edit them if necessary.

Rapid webpage load

Page speed has been an important SEO factor, as officially announced by Google officials. So, the faster your website loads, the better it is for SEO. And a rapid webpage load speed can be achieved in several different ways. The most effective ways include reducing the page size and optimizing the images on the website.

Moreover, the most advanced SEO platforms also use CDN technology, image conversion into WebP format, and delayed image download (Lazy Loading). All these can significantly accelerate the speed of website operation.

Integration with marketing and analytics tools

Most website builders come with their own built-in analytics systems. But almost always their capacities aren’t sufficient. That’s why you need a possibility to add external marketing tools, A/B Tests, and marketing analytics systems.

In most cases, having the option to add Google Analytics and Google Optimize (for A/B Tests), and Google Search Console is enough.

Common SEO Mistakes That Prevent The Growth Of Your Website

Setting up a pretty-looking website is not enough. You need to ensure that the website ranks well on search. This is more easily said than done. The launch of a site is the beginning of the long battle to reach the top of search engine rankings. You need to resort to search engine optimization or SEO techniques.

However, SEO practices evolve constantly as Google and Bing fine-tune their algorithms. Here is a primer about what to avoid.

4 Common SEO Mistakes To Avoid In 2024

1. Not implementing HTTPS

HTTP or HyperText Transfer Protocol comprises a set of rules that govern how data is exchanged between your computer and others on the internet. Think of it as traffic rules for the web that governs the exchange of packets of data.

In recent years it has become obsolete since HTTP is not secure. The data transmitted using the system is not encrypted. This allows others who choose to eavesdrop on a computer to find passwords, user names, phone numbers, and credit card information.

HTTP has been replaced by HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure or HTTPS. Unless you use it, your site will rank lower on Google. In fact, since 2019, the Chrome browser warns users about proceeding to a site that is not HTTPS certified. Chrome has a 70% market share and you do not want to show up as unsafe to such a vast number of users.

2. Posting duplicate or plagiarized content

There are two ways to look at this SEO mistake. The first is information that is plagiarized. Google cannot decide which page to place higher since the same information appears on both sites.

The other is duplicate content published by mistake. This can happen on product pages and blogs. Two product pages that describe the same exact product are to be avoided. Not only scrutinize the description on the pages but pay attention to URLs as well. They need to be unique.

Most websites host a blog for disseminating information. Since a blog contains a series of posts, a topic might get published twice by mistake. Duplicate content on the blog can prove to be vexing for the search engine to rank.

3. Keywords strategy that is sub-par

A search engine cannot actually read and understand content from a page as humans can. That is why every page carries keywords in descriptions and content. Incorrect keywords are a top SEO mistake.

The keywords allow the search engine to understand if the page is meant for someone looking for information about dental braces or an online store for potted plants.

Keywords are available through Google Keyword Planner and other similar tools. Not only must you place keywords correctly, but choose those that accurately describe your site and the page.

Image source: staticflickr.com

4. Not fixing errors in H1

Header tags or H1 tags are the first and largest tag of a webpage.

Think of it as newspaper headlines. When you want to find the score of a soccer match, you locate it by glancing through the headlines on the sports page.

A search engine does something similar. Wrong header is among the most common SEO mistakes made by a rookie site owner.

For this reason, the H1 tag has to be descriptive and give a summary of what is on the page.

For this page, the H1 is <h1> Common SEO mistakes that prevent the growth of your website</h1>

If instead, the tag read <h1>How to optimize web pages</h1> it tells the search engine nothing about the actual content. It is an SEO issue you need to avoid at all costs.

5. Publishing content that is too concise

Search engines prefer lengthy blog posts.

Posts that are about 1000-2000 words are the norm. In some cases, such as buying guides, content can be 4000 words long.

Shorter posts that contain less than 500 words do not get much attention from search. A longer post contains more details and therefore provides greater value. Ensure that you avoid the most common typos that plague low-effort content.

At the same time, pepper the writing with as much data as possible. This is very attractive to other writers who love to find someone who has done the hard work for them and would gladly provide a backlink to your site.

6. Neglecting SEO-friendly meta descriptions

Meta descriptions are the short snippets that appear below the URL and H1 in the search result.

They have two purposes. The first is to describe the page for the search engine and the second is to inform the visitor about the page.

The meta description has to be no more than 160 characters. Many site owners do not bother with a meta and as a result, the search engine shows the first 160 characters of the webpage content.

To fix it, generate a meta description for every page in 1-2 sentences. Your search ranking would skyrocket.

Los mejores constructores de sitios web para 2024

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Le presentamos una reseña detallada de los mejores constructores de sitios web (website builders en inglés) del año 2024 tanto gratuitos como de pago. Cada año aparecen muchos constructores de sitios web y por eso hemos resumido todos los datos pertinentes para el momento actual y hemos realizado una recopilación actualizada de las plataformas para construir sitios web más avanzadas del año 2024. Cada constructor de sitios web en nuestra lista dispone de una descripción, así como se indican sus ventajas y desventajas.

Constructores de sitios web en España

La mayoría de los constructores de sitios web disponibles en España son constructores de webs internacionales adaptados para hispanohablantes. En primer lugar esto se aplica a la interfaz del constructor de webs. La calidad de la traducción de la interfaz depende directamente de la credibilidad y la popularidad del constructor concreto. A veces hay errores o palabras sin traducción, pero en la mayor parte, para nuestros conciudadanos el uso de estos constructores de sitios web es fácil.

Además, muchos usuarios españoles están utilizando activamente las interfaces en inglés. Aparte de las grandes plataformas de creación de sitios web extranjeras existen constructores de webs españoles, pero estos, por regla general, por sus capacidades no están al nivel de los líderes mundiales. Por lo tanto, se recomienda seleccionar el constructor sin verse limitado por las fronteras de un país. Después de todo, su objetivo es crear el sitio web más eficaz y asequible, y no apoyar a las empresas nacionales.

Lista de los mejores constructores de sitios web con especificación de sus ventajas y desventajas

La presente reseña “Los mejores constructores de sitios web del año 2024” no estaría completa sin resolver las dudas que le puedan surgir a un webmaster novato durante la selección y uso del constructor de sitios web.

WIX

La lista de nuestros mejores constructores de webs la encabeza Wix. No sin razón, muchos consideran Wix el mejor constructor, ya que sus posibilidades a menudo son bastante superiores que las de su competencia. En su mayor parte esto es debido a que Wix existe desde el año 2006 y durante este período Wix hizo mucho para mejorar su servicio y continuamente sigue mejorándolo.

constructor de sitios web

El equipo de Wix consiguió crear un poderoso instrumento para desarrollar páginas web y todo esto sin perder la sencillez y comodidad de uso por los usuarios. Algo que es importante desde nuestro punto de vista es que Wix utiliza el HTML5, dispone de uno de los editores web más perfectos, un interfaz cómodo y la mayor selección de plantillas web de todos los constructores de sitios. Todas las plantillas de Wix se dividen por categorías y la selección de plantillas realmente impresiona. Por lo cual, se puede encontrar una plantilla que convenga casi a cada uno: para un músico, entrenador, centro de fitness o una empresa.

Lo que no es menos importante es que estas plantillas están desarrolladas por diseñadores profesionales y tienen dicho aspecto, a pesar de que Wix es un constructor de sitios gratuito y todas sus plantillas son gratuitas. Se puede primero eligir la plantilla que le guste más y sólo después proceder a crear una cuenta, lo que resulta muy cómodo. Los esfuerzos de Wix no pasaron desapercibidos por parte de los usuarios: en el momento actual en esta plataforma gratuita están construidos más de 75 millones de sitios por todo el mundo.

Ventajas de Wix:

Gratuito

Una selección enorme de plantillas: más de 1000 creados en base de HTML5

La calidad de las plantillas es una de las más altas de todos los constructores

Plantillas totalmente adaptables

Amplias posibilidades de redacción en las plantillas

Interfaz funcional e intuitivo

Una cómoda función de Drag and Drop

Una multitud de soluciones hechas: Foro, blog, chat, versión para móviles y otros

Una indexación excelente de sitios por los buscadores

SEO-Máster que permite ajustar los parámetros SEO del sitio

Precios asequibles en las tarifas de pago

Cupones de descuento operativos

Un gran surtido de aplicaciones en AppMarket

Posibilidad de cargar sus propias plantillas

Posibilidad de ajustar la versión del sitio estándar y para móviles (una particularidad única)

Posibilidad de trasladar el sitio a otro hosting (para la tarifa de pago)

Una gran cantidad de materiales de aprendizaje y vídeos de formación

Localización del constructor en español

Desventajas de Wix:

No hay posibilidad de editar el HTML/CSS

El desarrollo de las tiendas on-line está disponible solo para las tarifas de pago

Conclusión: WIX es una opción perfecta para los webmasters principiantes así como para aquellos que quieren obtener un sitio gratuito, funcional y bonito.

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Webnode

Webnode es un constructor de sitios gratuito y universal, originario de la República Checa. Existe desde el año 2008 y durante este tiempo en Webnode han sido creados más de 18 millones de sitios. No podemos decir que Webnode tenga unas funcionalidades especiales o que sus plantillas web sean bastante buenas. Pero este constructor de sitios no es complicado de utilizar y permite crear sitios multilingües. Esta es, sin duda, la principal ventaja de Webnode: en esta plataforma se puede crear un sitio web que estará disponible en más de 20 idiomas diferentes. En el año 2016 Webnode hizo una gran actualización de su servicio y se convirtió en un constructor aún más cómodo de usar que antes. Esperamos que el trabajo de desarrollo de este constructor de sitios web no se detenga.

constructor de sitios web gratis

Ventajas de Webnode:

Gratuito

Una amplia selección de plantillas: más de 200

Plantillas totalmente adaptables

Función de Drag and Drop

Posibilidad de tener una versión móvil automática para la tarifa gratuita

Precios asequibles en las tarifas de pago

Multilingüe: más de 20 idiomas (una particularidad única)

Posibilidad de hacer cambios en el CSS

Localización del constructor en español

Desventajas de Webnode:

La calidad de plantillas es media, muchas de ellas tienen un diseño obsoleto

Nivel medio de las funcionalidades

No hay aplicaciones adicionales

Conclusión: Webnode es recomendable para crear sitios pequeños a una tarifa mínima que se llama Mini. Pero también será una buena solución para proyectos multilingües pequeños.

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Weebly

Weebly es uno de los constructores de sitios más antiguos y populares, en continua evolución desde el año 2007. Este constructor gratuito está diseñado para desarrollar sitios de diversos tipos: sitios web tarjeta de visita, blogs y tiendas en línea.

constructor de sitios

Weebly es una herramienta en verdad muy conveniente y fácil de utilizar con plantillas excelentes que tienen un alto potencial para la edición y modernización. Además de plantillas coloridas, Weebly dispone de una potente función de Drag and Drop que simplifica considerablemente el proceso de construcción del sitio. Siendo uno de los constructores más populares en todo el mundo, Weebly tiene una gran selección de aplicaciones en AppMarket. Esto permite desarrollar infinitamente las posibilidades del sitio: Weebly lo tiene bien pensado.

Weebly tiene varias opciones agradables más: la posibilidad de subir sus propias plantillas y la posibilidad de realizar cambios en el código HTML del sitio. Y esta no es una opción formal: se puede editar completamente el HTML/CSS de su sitio. Las posibilidades gratuitas de Weebly también son buenas, a diferencia de otros constructores donde la tarifa gratuita está presente meramente formal.

Ventajas de Weebly:

Gratuito

Alta calidad de las plantillas

Plantillas totalmente adaptables

Amplias posibilidades de redacción en las plantillas

Interfaz funcional e intuitivo

Una cómoda función de Drag and Drop

Una indexación excelente de sitios por los buscadores

Un gran surtido de aplicaciones en AppMarket

Posibilidad de cargar sus propias plantillas

Posibilidad de editar el HTML/CSS

Posibilidad de trasladar el sitio a otro hosting (para la tarifa de pago)

Un bono de Google Ads de 100$ de importe para cualquier tarifa de pago

Una gran cantidad de materiales de aprendizaje y vídeos de formación

Localización del constructor en español

Desventajas de Weebly:

Una selección limitada de las plantillas: alrededor de 100

El desarrollo de las tiendas on-line está disponible solo para las tarifas de pago

Precios altos de las tarifas de desarrollo de tiendas on-line

La comisión de ventas es del las 3% para tiendas on-line

Conclusión: Weebly es una buena opción para los webmasters principiantes, con amplias oportunidades de desarrollo de sitios gratuitos.

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Jimdo

Jimdo es un constructor excelente desarrollado en Alemania. La empresa fue fundada por tres amigos programadores en el año 2007 y desde entonces proporciona con éxito servicios de SaaS de construcción de sitios web. Jimdo cuenta con más de 15 millones de sitios existentes.

mejor constructor de sitios web

Este constructor permite desarrollar sitios de diversos propósitos: desde sitios web personales hasta tiendas de Internet. A pesar de la universalidad de Jimdo, este constructor es más adecuado para el desarrollo de las tiendas de Internet.

En el mercado para crear sitios web tarjeta de visita hay ofertas más atractivas, pero la funcionalidad para las tiendas en línea en Jimdo es muy amplia. Pero cabe señalar que la tarifa gratuita de Jimdo implica el desarrollo de un sitio web simple sin posibilidad de ventas en línea y con una funcionalidad muy limitada. Por lo que si usted necesita disponer de opciones más avanzadas, o si va a crear una tienda on-line tendrá que pagar. Es decir que las posibilidades gratuitas de Jimdo no son las mejores en comparación con los demás constructores de sitios gratuitos. Lo que no se puede decir sobre la tarifa Business para desarrollar tiendas virtuales.

Ventajas de Jimdo:

Gratuito

Alta calidad de las plantillas

Un potente y cómodo editor visual

Interfaz funcional e intuitivo

Función de Drag and Drop

Una indexación excelente de sitios por los buscadores

Precios asequibles en las tarifas de pago

Aplicaciones adicionales en AppMarket

Posibilidad de cargar sus propias plantillas

Posibilidad de cargar y descargar artículos a través de archivos CSV

Muchas funciones para las tiendas on-line

Localización del constructor en español

Desventajas de Jimdo:

Cantidad limitada de plantillas: solamente 16

Las posibilidades de la tarifa gratuita son muy poco potentes

El desarrollo de las tiendas on-line está disponible solo para las tarifas de pago

El acceso total a los ajustes del SEO está disponible solo en la tarifa máxima Business

Conclusión: Jimdo es una excelente solución para crear tiendas on-line a precios asequibles.

Crea un sitio web

Shopify

Shopify es, sin lugar a dudas, uno de los mejores constructores de sitios para las tiendas on-line. Inicialmente, posicionándose como una herramienta para vender por Internet, Shopify permite crear tiendas on-line absolutamente de cualquier complejidad. Por lo tanto, no es sorprendente que en esta plataforma se hayan desarrollado más de 200.000 tiendas en línea en todo el mundo. Es una cifra impresionante, teniendo en cuenta que este constructor de sitios es exclusivamente de pago y no es nada barato.

constructor de sitios web

Los clientes que utilizan Shopify están interesados no en ahorrar sino en las más amplias oportunidades para hacer negocios en línea. Shopify tiene un período de prueba gratuito de 14 días pero luego le propondrán elegir y pagar por una de las tarifas. El lado fuerte de Shopify es su potente editor visual y sus super amplias funcionalidades.

En primer lugar esto se explica por la amplia colección de aplicaciones adicionales gratuitas y de pago (en AppMarket) y por las plantillas premium de pago. Sí, no se sorprenda: en Shopify existen tanto plantillas gratuitas como de pago por separado, que se distinguen por una mayor calidad. Todas estas aplicaciones adicionales y plantillas de pago permiten ampliar las posibilidades de la tienda on-line común hasta una tienda on-line super avanzada.

Ventajas de Shopify:

Amplias funcionalidades para tiendas on-line

Una gran selección de plantillas web gratuitas y de pago

Alta calidad de las plantillas

Una selección enorme de aplicaciones adicionales en AppMarket

Función de Drag and Drop

Posibilidad de controlar la estadística de ventas, detalles de los encargos, actuaciones de los visitantes y otros

Hosting illimitado para cualquier tarifa

Una indexación excelente de sitios por los buscadores

Posibilidad de cargar y descargar artículos a través de archivos CSV

Posibilidad de manejar la tienda on-line a través de un teléfono móvil

Ayuda de los expertos Shopify con los ajustes del sitio

Una gran cantidad de materiales de aprendizaje y vídeos de formación

Localización del constructor en español

Desventajas de Shopify:

Precio alto

Todas las aplicaciones y plantillas adicionales de pago se abonan aparte de la tarifa elegida

La comisión de ventas: va desde el 0,5 hasta 2%, dependiendo de la tarifa elegida

Conclusión: Si usted necesita una tienda en línea potente con la máxima funcionalidad, apenas podrá encontrar algo mejor que Shopify.

Crea un sitio web

BigCommerce

BigCommerce es una de las plataformas de SaaS más poderosas para las ventas en línea. Esta es una empresa bastante veterana que comenzó sus actividades en el año 2003 y actualmente es popular en más de 70 países. El número total de clientes es algo menor que el de Shopify, pero también es impresionante: más de 27.000 tiendas en línea operativas. ¡Y algunas de ellas tienen una facturación de más de 100$ millones por año!

constructor de sitios web gratis

BigCommerce tiene unas amplias funcionalidades e incluye muchas opciones para personalizar las tiendas on-line pero la principal ventaja de este constructor son sus impresionantes posibilidades de integración con tiendas on-line en Facebook, Google Shopping, Pinterest y plataformas como Amazon, Ebay, Shopzilla, PriceGrabber, Shopping.com, Beso, MySimon y otras.

Utilizando BigCommerce se pueden manejar (cargar y descargar) los artículos en estas plataformas de modo automático: Usted agrega el producto o el grupo de productos a su tienda de BigCommerce y estos productos se exportan automáticamente a las plataformas requeridas. Cabe destacar que esta integración está disponible para cualquier tarifa de BigCommerce. Sin duda las ventajas de BigCommerce no terminan aquí.

Ventajas de BigCommerce:

Amplias funcionalidades para tiendas on-line

Una amplia selección de plantillas

Plantillas totalmente adaptables

Posibilidad de controlar la estadística de ventas, detalles de los encargos, actuaciones de los visitantes y otros

Función de Drag and Drop

No hay limitaciones de la cantidad de artículos para las tiendas on-line

No hay limitaciones en la cantidad de archivos almacenados

No hay limitaciones del bandwidth

No se pagan intereses por las ventas de las tiendas on-line

Posibilidad de sincronización con Ebay, Amazon, Facebook, Google Shopping, PriceGrabber

Posibilidad de manejar la tienda on-line a través de un teléfono móvil

Un asistente personal para cada cliente

Una gran cantidad de materiales de aprendizaje y vídeos de formación

Desventajas de BigCommerce:

Precio alto

La interfaz del editor web puede parecer difícil para los webmasters principiantes

No hay posibilidad de pagar mensualmente, sólo por un año o más

Cada tarifa tiene una limitación dentro del marco de la suma máxima abonada (salvo la tarifa top de Enterprise)

Conclusión: BigCommerce es perfecto para quienes desean tener una poderosa tienda en línea con integración con Facebook, Google Shopping, Pinterest, Amazon, Ebay, etc.

Crea un sitio web

Volusion

Volusion es un popular constructor de sitio web diseñado para crear tiendas en línea de pequeño y medio tamaño. A diferencia de otros constructores especializados para las ventas en línea, Volusion tiene precios más económicos y oportunidades similares. En particular tiene una tarifa básica que permite por 15$ al mes obtener una pequeña tienda en línea con un número de artículos de hasta 100 unidades.

constructor de sitios

Para más información, muchos constructores de sitios web populares permiten desarrollar tiendas en Internet a partir de 25$ al mes o más. Por supuesto, Volusion no tendrá oportunidades tan amplias para el comercio multicanal e integración con plataformas comerciales como BigCommerce y su elección de aplicaciones adicionales en AppMarket cede considerablemente ante la de Shopify, pero Volusion tiene también sus virtudes.

En primer lugar, Volusion es lo suficientemente cómodo y fácil de usar. En segundo lugar, tiene unas amplias funcionales y le permite personalizar su tienda en línea como usted necesite. En tercer lugar Volusion tiene una amplia selección de plantillas: más de 100 gratuitas y más de 350 plantillas premium de pago. Por último, también tiene integración incorporada con Ebay, Amazon y Facebook.

Ventajas de Volusion:

Amplias funcionalidades para tiendas on-line

Una gran selección de plantillas web gratuitas y de pago

Plantillas totalmente adaptables

Amplias posibilidades de redacción en las plantillas

Interfaz funcional e intuitivo

Función de Drag and Drop

Posibilidad de controlar la estadística de ventas, detalles de los encargos, actuaciones de los visitantes y otros

Posibilidad de sincronización con Ebay, Amazon, Facebook

Una indexación excelente de sitios por los buscadores

Precios asequibles en las tarifas de pago

Posibilidad de manejar la tienda on-line a través de un teléfono móvil

Un asistente personal para cada cliente

Una gran cantidad de materiales de aprendizaje y vídeos de formación

Desventajas de Volusion:

Nivel medio de las funcionalidades

La tarifa básica (Mini) tiene unas limitaciones significativas en sus funciones

Hay pagos adicionales para aumentar los límites del bandwidth

Conclusión: Volusion es una solución asequible para el desarrollo de pequeñas tiendas de Internet con la integración con Facebook, Ebay y Amazon.

Crea un sitio web

Squarespace

Squarespace es un constructor de sitios de pago con excelentes plantillas. No se puede alegar que este constructor de sitios web sea el mejor de nuestra lista, pero es realmente digno de atención. Porque dispone de unas plantillas muy bonitas y de alta calidad.

mejor constructor de sitios web

Las plantillas de Squarespace son un regalo para los ojos y pueden ser consideradas unas de las mejores entre muchos constructores. Incluso a pesar de que son comparativamente pocas. Por lo tanto, la parte visual de Squarespace está en orden. Squarespace tiene una interfaz del editor visual poco típica, lo que puede implicar que se necesitará tiempo para acostumbrarse. Pero es fácil personalizar las plantillas y las posibilidades para personalizar el sitio web son realmente amplias. Esto incluye la posibilidad de realizar cambios en el CSS (aunque pequeños), lo que puede resultar muy útil para los webmasters experimentados.

Ventajas de Squarespace:

La calidad de las plantillas es una de las más altas de todos los constructores

Plantillas totalmente adaptables

Amplias posibilidades de redacción en las plantillas

Función de Drag and Drop

Una indexación excelente de sitios por los buscadores

Posibilidad de hacer cambios en el CSS

Desventajas de Squarespace:

Cantidad limitada de plantillas: solamente 32

La interfaz del editor web puede parecer difícil para los webmasters principiantes

Para la personalización más detallada del sitio se pueden requerir conocimientos del HTML/CSS

La comisión de ventas es del las 3% para tiendas on-line

No admite PayPal como forma de pago para las tiendas on-line

Conclusión: Squarespace es una solución de pago buena para el desarrollo de blogs y pequeños sitios con galerías de fotos y vídeos.

Crea un sitio web

Webs

Probablemente, Webs es el DIY constructor de sitios web más antiguo, que comenzó su trabajo en el lejano año 2001 bajo el nombre Freewebs. Por el momento en esta plataforma de construcción de sitios se han construido más de 57 millones webs y ese número sigue creciendo.

constructor de sitios web

Webs es conocido, sobre todo, como un constructor de sitios honesto y gratuito. Esto significa que se puede crear un sitio web gratuito en Webs que existirá durante años de forma absolutamente gratuita. Webs se caracteriza por una interfaz simple e intuitiva, una gran selección de plantillas adaptables (más de 450) y presencia de aplicaciones adicionales para modernizar los sitios.

¿Qué distingue a Webs de otros constructores? Webs permite implementar en los sitios web el sistema de membresía. Esto significa que usted puede hacer disponibles algunos de los contenidos en su sitio sólo para un grupo de usuarios que tendrán accesos especiales. Cabe señalar que esta única funcionalidad sólo está disponible en Webs. Los otros constructores de sitios no lo ofrecen.

Ventajas de Webs:

Gratuito

Una amplia selección de plantillas: más de 450

Interfaz funcional e intuitivo

Función de Drag and Drop

Posibilidad de desarrollar sitios con el sistema de membresía (una particularidad única)

Posibilidad de cambiar la plantilla en cualquier momento y sin tener que volver a empezar desde cero

Aplicaciones adicionales en AppMarket

SEO Booster que permite ajustar los parámetros SEO del sitio

Precios asequibles en las tarifas de pago

Desventajas de Webs:

No todas las plantillas están disponibles de forma gratuita. Una parte de las plantillas está disponible para las tarifas de pago

La calidad de plantillas es media, muchas de ellas tienen un diseño obsoleto

Posibilidades insignificantes de redacción de las plantillas

Las posibilidades de la tarifa gratuita son muy poco potentes

El desarrollo de las tiendas on-line está disponible solo para las tarifas de pago

No hay posibilidad de editar el HTML/CSS

Conclusión: Webs es un buen constructor para desarrollar sitios con el sistema de membresía y accesos privados.

Crea un sitio web

Moonfruit

Moonfruit comenzó sus actividades en el año 2000 y es uno de los primeros constructores en línea. Moonfruit es un constructor gratuito y versátil con plantillas en HTML5, con la función Drag and Drop incorporada y más de 100 plantillas de una calidad satisfactoria. La principal ventaja de Moonfruit es su uso gratuito y su sencillez. Por supuesto, las funcionalidades de este constructor no son tan amplias como las de Weebly o Wix, pero para desarrollar un pequeño sitio web personal o un blog este constructor es bastante cómodo.

constructor de sitios web gratis

Ventajas de Moonfruit:

Gratuito

Una amplia selección de plantillas: más de 100

Alta calidad de las plantillas

Amplias posibilidades de redacción en las plantillas

Función de Drag and Drop

Precios asequibles en las tarifas de pago

Desventajas de Moonfruit:

La interfaz del editor web es un poco obsoleta

Hay un requisito para sitios gratuitos: hay que actualizarlos por lo menos una vez en medio año o más a menudo

No hay posibilidad de editar el HTML/CSS

El desarrollo de las tiendas on-line está disponible solo para las tarifas de pago

El editor móvil tiene posibilidades limitadas

Conclusión: Moonfruit es un constructor simple y cómodo para el desarrollo de sitios web poco complejos.

Crea un sitio web

¿Por qué no hemos hecho ninguna mención acerca del soporte técnico de estos constructores de sitios web?

Realmente esto no significa que el soporte técnico no sea el factor al que haya que prestar atención al elegir un constructor de sitios web. Por el contrario, este criterio es muy importante. Créame, cuando usted necesite una respuesta urgente a una pregunta importante y se vea obligado a esperar unos días y como resultado no obtenga ayuda cualificada, estará enfadado pero a la vez se verá incapaz de cambiar nada. Muchas webs que están dedicadas a las reseñas de los constructores de sitios indican el nivel del funcionamiento del servicio de soporte técnico. Pero esto no es enteramente cierto: ya que nos hemos enfrentado a menudo a una situación cuando el excelente soporte técnico después de un tiempo se convertía en simplemente horrible. Y viceversa. Así que decidimos no indicar cómo de bien funciona el servicio de soporte en una u otra empresa. Le recomendamos que durante el período de prueba se ponga en contacto con el servicio de soporte técnico y evalúe su trabajo. Preste atención tanto a la utilidad de la respuesta, como a la velocidad. Un tiempo de respuesta aceptable es de hasta 24 horas. Los mejores constructores de sitios generalmente responden más rápido, suelen tardar hasta 10 horas.

Al buscar el mejor constructor de web (en su caso concreto) hay que entender que la plataforma web que elija debe tener muchas posibilidades funcionales y a la vez ser fácil y cómoda de usar. En la presente reseña hemos analizado y redactado una lista de los constructores de web más avanzados, tanto gratuitos, como de pago, de entre todos los disponibles para los usuarios en el año 2024. Los constructores de web enumerados son fáciles y comprensibles, por lo que para el desarrollo de su web el usuario no debe tener conocimientos especiales en el ámbito de programación o diseño web. ¿Quiere Usted obtener un sitio, blog o tienda on-line de pleno valor gratuito? Estos constructores le vendrán al pelo. Para esto hemos hecho anotaciones especiales para cada constructor acerca de si es el más conveniente de entre todos para crear sitios web de un tipo concreto.

¿Qué es un constructor de sitios web?

El constructor de sitios web, cuyo nombre completo es constructor de webs WYSIWYG, es un software on-line que permite desarrollar sitios web on-line sin tener ningún conocimiento en PHP, HTML, JavaScript, etc. La abreviatura WYSIWYG significa What You See Is What You Get, que del inglés se traduce como “lo que ves es lo que obtienes”. El principio de funcionamiento se reduce a un movimiento visual (arrastrando) de los elementos del sitio según desea el webmaster. La analogía directa es cuando los iconos en el escritorio se arrastran con el ratón. Esto se consigue usando las funciones drag y drop, lo que simplifica radicalmente el proceso de construcción de sitios web. ¡Ahora lo podrá manejar incluso un alumno de primaria! Y esto no es una exageración.

¿A quién están destinados los constructores de sitios web?

El sistema SaaS (Site as a Service) fue diseñado originalmente para el usuario medio de Internet. La mayoría de los clientes de los constructores son webmasters novatos con un presupuesto limitado o nulo. Al no tener conocimientos suficientes para utilizar los CMS y hosting estándares, estos usuarios necesitan un sitio web hecho en el momento y no están dispuestos a esperar. Todos estos requisitos los cumplen plenamente las plataformas modernas de creación de webs.

El segundo grupo de usuarios lo componen empresas o personas físicas que inician un negocio on-line. Estos clientes no están dispuestos a invertir cantidades importantes en la construcción de sitios web para su negocio. Las soluciones SaaS con pago mensual son ideales para ellos. Cabe señalar, que la funcionalidad de muchos constructores de sitios altamente especializados cumple plenamente con las modernas tendencias de los negocios on-line. Por regla general, estos constructores no son gratuitos, sin embargo, este hecho no es impedimento para este grupo de clientes. Ya que están dispuestos a pagar por este tipo de funcionalidad.

Beneficios de los constructores de sitios web.

Es una solución rápida – Desde el momento de la identificación en el sitio para crear webs hasta iniciar el proceso para añadir el contenido se necesitan aproximadamente de 10 a 60 minutos (para los sitios web-tarjeta de visita). Por ejemplo, el proceso de construcción de un sitio web personalizado en un estudio durará semanas y el resultado, en este caso, será muy difícil de predecir. Si utiliza plantillas prediseñadas, o, por ejemplo un tema de WordPress, usted necesitará al menos unas horas para: adquirir el hosting y el nombre de dominio, la instalación de la plantilla y la personalización final. En este caso, necesitará ciertas habilidades y conocimientos. En conclusión: un constructor de sitios web es la forma más rápida de crear su propio sitio web.

Es fácil – La mayoría de los constructores contemporáneos están hechos para que los puedan usar personas sin ningún conocimiento especial. Es más, no es necesario conocer las siguientes cosas básicas: cómo alojar un sitio web usando los servicios de hosting, cómo registrar servidores DNS, cómo configurar los sistemas de pago, cómo configurar los formularios de contacto y mucho más. En el constructor todo esto se hace simplemente con un movimiento de ratón: basta con hacer clic y elegir lo que necesita y esto aparece inmediatamente en su sitio y empieza a funcionar. Ninguna agencia de diseño web ni las plantillas de los sitios web pueden ofrecer nada parecido. El modelo de creación de un sitio usando los constructores WYSIWYG implica extrema sencillez y claridad para el usuario. Dado el hecho de que el usuario no es especialista en las IT. Esta es la principal diferencia entre los constructores de sitios web del resto de formas de construcción de webs.

Es cómodo – La facilidad de uso se debe a su simplicidad. Usted mismo configura su sitio web tal y como lo desea. Puede utilizar un layout o puede editar el layout según lo vea. Trate de hacer lo mismo con el sitio, que fue diseñado por un freelancer o un estudio. Usted tendrá que ponerse en contacto con ellos, preparar el encargo de personalización, pagar y finalmente esperar hasta que todo esté hecho. En el caso de los constructores de sitios web no necesitará pedir a nadie ni pagar a nadie; todo se configura de manera simple y cómoda directamente en su interfaz.

Barato – La construcción de un sitio web personalizado en un buen estudio web tendrá un costo de 10.000 euros. Los freelancers lo hacen más barato, pero la calidad del resultado será directamente proporcional al monto solicitado. Además, en el primer y en el segundo caso, usted tendrá que comprar un nombre de dominio y pagar el hosting aparte. En los costos, el uso de los constructores web de pago se puede comparar con el uso de hosting compartido. Los mejores constructores de sitios web tienen precios mensuales ligeramente más altos que el hosting estándar, pero usted no tendrá que comprar las plantillas o temas WP (lo que de promedio serán unos 40 euros) o, tanto más, pagar por el diseño del sitio web personalizado en el estudio. Además, muchos constructores de sitios web son generalmente gratuitos sin límite de tiempo. Por supuesto, usted puede encontrar plantillas gratuitas, pero, por lo general, su mala calidad a continuación crea más problemas que los beneficios reales, en contraste con los mismos constructores de sitios gratuitos.

No hay riesgo – Los constructores web no sólo permiten ahorrar en el diseño, sino también reducir los posibles riesgos. Por ejemplo: Usted desea iniciar un negocio on-line y necesita una tienda on-line. El diseño de una tienda on-line profesional en una empresa web que tenga buena reputación le costará a partir de 20.000 euros. Usted hace esta inversión, pero puede suceder que su negocio no funcione y resulte que se ha gastado el dinero en vano. Si para este fin decide utilizar un constructor de sitios web para e-commerce, Usted conseguirá una tienda on-line que va a ser no menos potente y funcional y además tendrá soporte técnico, pero no va a pagar la totalidad del importe en el mismo momento, sino mensualmente. Y este importe será mucho menor. Por ejemplo, veamos en Shopify, que es uno de los mejores constructores de sitios web especializados para las tiendas on-line. Permite obtener una tienda on-line por 29$ al mes. Se trata de un plan básico, pero siempre se puede pasar a una tarifa más avanzada, cuando su negocio requiera más funcionalidad de su página web. Así se puede ahorrar. La funcionalidad de Shopify para ventas on-line es muy amplia: en esta plataforma funcionan muchos grandes proyectos occidentales. Ahora, si de repente se da la circunstancia de que su negocio no está a la altura de sus expectativas, Usted sabrá que no ha invertido una gran cantidad de dinero en el diseño de un sitio web personalizado. Usted sólo paga por el tiempo en el que su tienda en Internet esté funcionando. En el caso de los sitios web corrientes se pueden obtener incluso unos beneficios mayores. Utilice la tarifa gratuita y si todo le convence, puede pagar un plan con funcionalidades más amplias. Si no quiere pagar, no pague, quédese en el sitio gratuito durante tanto tiempo como sea necesario. Estas condiciones favorables las ofrece por ejemplo Wix. Conclusión: el riesgo de perder dinero es mínimo, las inversiones básicas en el diseño del sitio también son mínimas.

No sería justo para nuestros lectores enumerar sólo las ventajas de los constructores web y no mencionar las posibles desventajas. Hablamos de las desventajas posibles, porque no todos los constructores necesariamente tendrán estas desventajas. Algunos constructores de webs no tendrán algunas de estas deficiencias, pero probablemente tengan las suyas propias.

Las posibles desventajas de los constructores de sitios web:

Las páginas se cargan despacio – Por lo general, este defecto es propio de los constructores populares que tienen millones de clientes. Pero hay que señalar, que este inconveniente es, por lo general, propio de las tarifas gratuitas y, como regla, al pasar a cualquiera de las tarifas de pago, este inconveniente desaparece. A menudo, el hecho de que las páginas se carguen despacio es debido a que el cliente y los servidores del constructor están situados en diferentes continentes. Así, algunos constructores de sitios utilizan centros de datos en el Reino Unido o Alemania, y si el cliente se encuentra físicamente, por ejemplo, en Nueva Zelanda o los Estados Unidos, podrá notar que su sitio funciona algo despacio. Al mismo tiempo, otros usuarios que visitan su sitio web desde Europa no notarán esta desventaja.

La necesidad de realizar un pago mensual – De hecho, muchos propietarios de sitios interpretan esto como una ventaja significativa, porque no quieren invertir en seguida en el diseño de su sitio, y es conveniente para ellos pagar una pequeña cantidad cada mes. Además, muchos constructores ofrecen la posibilidad de pagar por el servicio por un año o dos a la vez con un descuento considerable. Los constructores de sitios web gratuitos no requieren pagos, Usted puede tener un sitio web muy atractivo y profesional durante años y no tener que pagar nada. Para ser justos hay que señalar que teniendo cualquier otro sitio diseñado sin el uso de los constructores on-line, Usted tendrá que pagar el hosting mensualmente y el nombre de dominio anualmente.

No están optimizados para el SEO – Este mito se ha mantenido desde la época antigua cuando los constructores activamente utilizaban la tecnología flash. Esto, según se sabe, hacía más difícil la indexación de las páginas web por los buscadores. Ahora, en el año 2024, casi ninguno de los constructores de sitios utiliza la tecnología flash. En su lugar, se utiliza el HTML 5, que no tiene ningún problema con la indexación. La mayoría de los constructores de hoy en día son “SEO friendly”, porque no sólo pueden ser indexados por los motores de búsqueda, sino también disponen de la posibilidad de configurarlos a detalle: los títulos de las páginas, títulos meta , meta descripciones, archivo robot.txt, mapa del sitio, y mucho más que es importante para el SEO.

Mal soporte técnico – Esta deficiencia, al igual que la lentitud de carga de las páginas, es propia principalmente de los constructores gratuitos. Es obvio que teniendo decenas de millones de usuarios gratuitos, algunos servicios no pueden atender debidamente a cada uno que acuda al servicio de soporte. Por lo tanto, por lo general, para las tarifas gratuitas el soporte no proporciona un número de teléfono, sólo tickets y e-mail. Y por lo general, la respuesta del soporte no será rápida, debido a las mismas razones: un gran número de clientes gratuitos. Por otro lado, se puede entender también a los constructores de sitio web gratuitos: proporcionar un servicio de apoyo técnico más avanzado para todos los usuarios es físicamente imposible. Por lo tanto, la prioridad se da en primer lugar a los clientes de pago, que es a quienes deben su existencia cada uno de dichos constructores.

Hay limitaciones en la personalización de los sitios web – Mejor es el constructor de sitios web, mayores son sus opciones funcionales y más posibilidades proporciona para editar las plantillas web. Los constructores modernos permiten cambiar la estructura de la mocap según sea necesario para el usuario, cambiar el esquema de colores del diseño, cambiar el tamaño y el contenido de los bloques de contenido. Por lo tanto, esta desventaja será válida únicamente respecto a las plataformas para crear webs obsoletas. Todos los mejores constructores de sitios modernos no tienen esta desventaja. Sin embargo, vale la pena recordar: a menudo no se puede cambiar la plantilla del sitio web una vez esté seleccionada. Por lo tanto, elija la plantilla con la debida responsabilidad.

¿Qué hay que tener en cuenta al elegir un constructor de sitios web?

1. ¿En qué plataforma está construido el constructor? – Es mejor si es HTML5

2. ¿Cómo de grande es la variedad de plantillas web (layout)? – Cuanto más, mejor. Algunos constructores de sitios (por ejemplo, Wix) tienen una colección de cientos de plantillas maravillosas y permiten verlas antes de registrarse en su página web. Es decir, primero Usted selecciona la plantilla que le gusta, como base para el sitio futuro, y luego puede proceder para registrarse en el constructor y personalizar la plantilla.

3. ¿Cómo es la calidad de las plantillas de sitios web? – Junto con la cantidad, la calidad de las plantillas es algo a lo que se debe prestar atención en primer lugar a la hora de elegir un constructor de sitios web. Como la base de su sitio, la calidad de las plantillas disponibles, es uno de los factores principales.

4. La disponibilidad de las funciones Drag & Drop – Las funciones Drag & Drop permiten mover y configurar los bloques y la estructura de su sitio con solo su ratón. Es muy cómodo y simplifica en gran medida el proceso de construcción del sitio. Como regla general, los mejores constructores de sitios disponen de funciones Drag & Drop.

5. Una interfaz sencilla e intuitiva – Una de las principales preocupaciones de los constructores de sitios web es cómo compaginar la funcionalidad más amplia y la facilidad de uso en un solo envoltorio. Y algunos constructores consiguen hacerlo mejor que otros.

6. ¿Hasta qué punto el constructor está adaptado para el SEO? – Antes de elegir un constructor web averigüe cómo de bien se indexan los sitios desarrollados en esta plataforma por los motores de búsqueda. Por lo general, la mayoría de los mejores constructores se indexan perfectamente por los motores de búsqueda y tienen un buen potencial para la promoción de SEO.

7. La cualificación y atención del soporte técnico – Este factor muchas veces no se toma en cuenta al elegir un constructor, lo que muchos lamentan más tarde. Lea atentamente las opiniones de los usuarios antes de usar el constructor de sitios web, pero tenga en cuenta que algunas de ellas pueden estar publicadas con fines publicitarios.

8. Número disponible de páginas web – Algunos constructores gratuitos (tarifas gratuitas) tienen limitación del número máximo de páginas del sitio. Pero casi todos los constructores de pago permiten crear sitios web con un número de páginas ilimitado.

9. El volumen de espacio libre del disco – Cuanto mayor es, mejor. Esto significa que se puede cargar en su sitio más fotos, vídeos y otros contenidos. Casi todas las plataformas para crear webs permiten comprar más espacio en cualquier momento, pero es mejor informarse con antelación qué espacio está disponible desde principio. También existen constructores de sitios que tienen espacio ilimitado.

10. La edad y los logros del constructor – Elija únicamente los constructores probados que tienen al menos unos cuantos años. Al diseñar su sitio web utilizando cualquier constructor de sitios web, debe entender que su sitio web va a estar vivo mientras viva el constructor. No quiero decir que todos los principiantes en este negocio no sean dignos de atención, pero precisamente los constructores creados recientemente tienen más probabilidades de quebrar y cesar sus actividades.

Estos son los 10 principales factores que se deben tomar en cuenta al elegir un constructor de sitios web. No hemos incluido en esta lista los factores obvios que son propios de casi todos los constructores, por ejemplo la integración con las redes sociales, la posibilidad de implementar el sistema de recepción de pagos electrónicos. Además, algunos constructores pueden presumir de características únicas:

Acceso al código de programación;

La posibilidad de trasladar el sitio a otro hosting;

La posibilidad de cargar su propia plantilla web;

El sistema de análisis web propio;

La publicidad contextual gratuita en Google AdWords como un regalo.