Free website builders
If you want to be seen on the internet, you need a website. However, hiring a pro developer can be expensive for small businesses. That's where free website builders come to the rescue. These tools do the hard work for you, so you don't have to be a coding expert. Here are the top six best free websites for you to use.
Google Sites is a straightforward website builder, but it has limited options for making your site unique, and it doesn't offer any SEO tools. It's great if you're just starting or testing things out, but it won't help you conquer search engine results.
You can pick from a few templates or start with a blank canvas. Then, you can change the look of your site, like colours and fonts, using a few themes. However, if you choose a standard theme, you have some limitations. For instance, if you want an orange button, you have to change the theme colour, which might affect other things. You can't change the button size either – it's set. To avoid these limits, you'd have to create a custom theme.
Even though Google Sites is easy to use, it lacks SEO settings, which is a bit odd. You can set a custom path for each page, but for SEO, you might have to trust Google to handle it.
The best part is that Google Sites is completely free, and there are no paid plans. It's user-friendly and good for people with little website experience, but it falls short in terms of SEO compared to platforms like Weebly or Wix.
Weebly, a free website builder, is perfect for straightforward websites, like portfolios or blogs, but it falls short for things like online selling and social media integration. It offers an easy-to-use builder with basic customisation.
After signing up, you'll choose between Weebly for personal websites and Square Online for business sites. Weebly's personal option is user-friendly, allowing you to select a template and edit various elements. Each theme comes with editable text boxes, images, and named pages. You can change anything with a click, and editing pictures is a breeze – you can crop, adjust lighting, and add text right in the editor.
Although there are fewer templates compared to platforms like Wix, they are well-designed. You can easily add elements like buttons, contact forms, slide shows, and more. The Apps tab lets you add extra features, most for a small fee without subscriptions.
Weebly also offers SSL for SEO and makes tasks like changing your favicon or adding SEO elements simple. However, the free plan includes Weebly branding and domain. Paid plans start at $10/month, but they aren't the most cost-effective. If you need more features, consider other tools on the list.
Weebly pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start at $10/month.
Ease of use: Very intuitive, with easy click-based editing.
Customisation options: Not as flexible as platforms like Wix, but great for beginners.
SEO tools: Basic but better than some site builders.
Value of free plan: Decent, but not exceptional
While most free site builders fall short, GetResponse stands out. It's primarily a marketing tool with a focus on email, but its free site builder is impressive. You can choose a template or use the AI-powered builder, customise elements like font, size, and images, and add sections effortlessly. The features are comprehensive without being overwhelming, making it easy to edit and build.
On the marketing side, it's a bit basic. You can optimise for mobile easily, but SEO features are limited. You can adjust the meta title and description and add custom code, like HTML, CSS, or JavaScript, in the page header.
GetResponse is a strong choice for a free site builder, especially if you're into email marketing or plan to focus on it.
GetResponse pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start at $15.58/month.
Ease of use: Highly intuitive with extensive customisation.
Customisation options: Offers hundreds of templates and easy drag-and-drop features in the templates.
SEO tools: Basic but adequate with meta and alt tag editing and mobile optimisation.
Value of free plan: Excellent; you can build, launch, and manage up to 500 newsletter contacts for free.
Wix is a top-tier drag-and-drop website builder. It's perfect for creating simple websites without getting lost in complex decisions. Start by defining your site's type and any additional features you need. Then, pick from over 900 professionally designed templates. If you prefer, let Wix use its Wix ADI feature to build your site, although the results may not be as impressive.
Wix’s template editor is robust, letting you customise fonts, headings, lists, and more without needing to code or navigate through confusing tabs. It's an intuitive and user-friendly tool. Additionally, Wix offers many integrations and marketing tools, making it a one-stop solution for website owners.
For free, you get a domain with a ".wixsite.com" ending and a Wix logo, but you can connect your own domain if you have one. Wix also offers detailed SEO features and a marketing calendar. It's a great choice for business owners who want a user-friendly platform.
Wix pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start at $14/month.
Ease of use: Easy drag-and-drop editor, suitable for beginners and pros.
Customisation options: Highly customisable with options to add forms, blogs, eCommerce features, and custom videos.
SEO features: Comprehensive, with explanations and guides for each feature, including off-site tools like Google Analytics.
Value of free plan: Excellent, offering most features at no cost.
Dorik is a versatile website builder offering free options for creating full websites or single landing pages. It provides premium features for blogs and paid memberships. While beginners might find it challenging, it's intuitive for those experienced with WordPress page builders.
You can start from scratch, import JSON, or choose from 39 website templates. Dorik guides you through settings as you start editing. The visual drag-and-drop editor allows you to build sections with 250+ UI blocks and 20+ elements. You can position the editor control panel on either side of the screen.
Notable features include colour differentiators for easy editing distinction and a Navigation Tree for precise row selection. This ensures you won't mistakenly edit the wrong block or element.
Dorik offers accessible SEO settings for each page, covering basics like titles and descriptions, along with advanced options such as FAQ schema and analytics. It allows customisation for different screen sizes, including desktop, tablet, and mobile layouts.
Dorik pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start at $79/year.
Ease of use: User-friendly drag-and-drop editor with good online documentation for assistance.
Customisation options: Extensive choices, including templates, UI blocks, and elements.
SEO tools: Comprehensive, covering various SEO settings and meta configurations.
Value of free plan: Exceptional, providing unlimited features like page views, storage, templates, SSL certificate, image optimisation, SEO settings, and more.
HubSpot, known for its business software, offers a free website builder that aligns with its marketing and sales focus. It guides you step by step through the site-building process, displaying your progress as a percentage.
Begin by choosing a theme from the marketplace, with hundreds of both free and premium options. Customise the theme to match your brand's colours, fonts, and layouts. You can even create a custom colour scheme. Create the essential pages like home, about, and contact, and select a header and footer layout. A drag-and-drop editor simplifies the process, and you have access to 47 modules, including text, images, and CTAs.
HubSpot's website builder caters to business sites, emphasising blog creation and robust SEO tools. It offers SEO optimisation from the start, allowing you to set up blog titles, URLs, and descriptions for better search engine results. You can fine-tune general on-page SEO settings, such as title, description, URL, language, featured image, and custom code snippets for the header and footer. HubSpot also provides SEO recommendations while you add content to your pages. To enhance your inbound marketing efforts, consider using a custom domain to replace the default URL.
HubSpot CMS pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start at $23/month.
Ease of use: User-friendly with guided prompts.
Customisation options: Extensive selection of free and premium templates and 47 modules to match your brand style.
SEO tools: Provides SEO recommendations and customisation options like adding code snippets and defining a canonical URL.
Value of free plan: A great starting point, although you may want to upgrade to a premium plan to remove HubSpot's logo and use a custom domain for a more memorable URL.
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