Jimdo: Website Builder and Hosting
Create a website and make it easy for clients to locate you. Jimdo provides all the internet resources you require to carry out this task, such as a personalized, secure website or a 24/7 online store.
Website: Start your professional website in minutes
Online Store: Start selling online with your own store
Domain: Get your personalized domain for $0 in the first year
Logo: Create your own customized logo
Facebook & Instagram: Promote your business on Facebook and Instagram
Pick your desired services from Jimdo!
How to Choose the Best Website Builder
Every business needs a top-notch website that presents itself professionally. However, setting one up and going is exceedingly difficult. Due to the complexity of web design, it is simpler to put off doing this work as long as you can. Many folks don't know where to start because there is so much to learn.
The good news is that you don't absolutely need to have technical expertise or coding experience to create a fantastic website. If you use a website builder, you may manage anything independently.
Consider it this way: the longer your company operates without a website, the more revenue you lose.
Your website is similar to a second person that works full-time, never takes vacation time, and is available 24/7 to handle anything from sales and marketing to customer care.
Is it the kind of applicant you would reject? We didn't believe it.
What is a Website Builder?
Exactly as it sounds, a website builder is a program that you may use to create your website from start. Even for beginners, the finest website builders are simple to use and intuitive. The majority of builders come with templates and tools that enable you to develop an attractive, useful website that complies with guidelines and standards. Small businesses that want a website but lack the funds to employ a developer typically use website builders.
Budget and Pricing
The website building tool may not encompass all website price options. You should also take into account elements like:
- Domain registration
- Hosting
- Images
- Copywriting
- Templates and plugins that cost extra
The majority of website builders will provide a free plan, however that may not be the best option for you. Free plans typically have restrictions on the amount of traffic they can manage, the tools you may use for creating, and the caliber of customer service you'll get. Upgrading to a premium plan is often worthwhile, and you'll probably find one that meets your current traffic needs. You may scale your plan as your business expands.
Look for website builders that enable you combine services if your firm has a very limited budget. For instance, HostGator combines hosting and a website builder into a single price.
When comparing website builder prices, it's also important to take the provider's transaction charge into account. You don't want to pay a portion of each transaction if you're going to be selling things directly from your website. Sometimes switching to a more expensive plan can allow you to avoid such transaction costs.
You can also consider their free trial offer and refund policy. Following the purchase of a subscription plan, many providers will return your money within 14 to 30 days. For you to try the tool before making a purchase, companies could also provide a free trial period. Some service providers may even provide a free trial period as well as a complete refund within a specific term.
Don't cut corners when it comes to creating your budget if you can avoid it. Your website will provide you with a lot of value, but that value will cost you money.
Requirements and Questions to Ask
You must comprehend your business and the functions that you need your website to do before we can discuss the characteristics to seek for in a website builder. We'll walk you through addressing some crucial inquiries about your company's needs in this part.
What is your projected launch date for your website?
Find the simplest tool that combines as many services as possible if you need a website up and working by tomorrow afternoon. However, if you have a lot of time, you may experiment with a more sophisticated program that offers more customizing choices.
Would you prefer a fully-hosted builder?
Consider using a fully-hosted builder if you don't need all the bells and whistles that something like WordPress offers. Weebly and Wix are two examples of this. Although these builders are frequently simple to use, the disadvantage is that you are only able to use the capabilities they provide.
Consider BoldGrid if you want something in the center. Since WordPress is really built on top of this website builder, you may benefit from its modifications while using a drag-and-drop builder to create your website.
What kinds of media should you include on your website?
Explainer films regarding items could be a good addition to e-commerce websites. A beautiful photo gallery is required for photographers. Many writers desire blogs. For customers to discover brick-and-mortar establishments simply, they will require a map. Make sure you only go with a website builder that can accommodate the sorts of material you require.
Additionally, you might be able to locate a website builder with a built-in image collection. You may browse for stock photographs in this way that are legal to use on your website.
Is it necessary to create a staging website?
Before making the changes live, you'll test new designs on a staging website. Before actually publishing the results, you may alter the layout, test out a new theme, or apply a new plugin to see how it will seem live.
How much experience do you have in design?
Even while the majority of website builders are designed with non-programmers in mind, it doesn't imply they're all very simple to use. Some people will nevertheless experience a steeper learning curve than others. Look for a drag-and-drop website builder with simple design choices and lots of theme templates if you've never constructed a website before or if you're not extremely tech-savvy.
Will you be selling products directly from your website?
You'll need e-commerce functionality if you're intending to sell goods on your website. These could include a shopping cart and checkout functionality, as well as the ideal design choices to entice customers to complete a transaction.
Do you need every little detail to be just right?
Look for a website builder that offers a large selection of templates to pick from and that allows you to modify a number of these templates if you are a business owner who wants a lot of freedom and customization possibilities. WordPress, an open source website builder, is one of the best website builders for this. WordPress gives you the most power over your website, but you also bear full responsibility for it, even if you make a mistake and change the code in the back-end editor.
Ease of Use
It will be simpler to learn how to use a website builder than to learn how to develop a website from start. You might even be able to make minor adjustments to your website with only a little CSS or HTML know-how. For instance, by modifying the coding on my WordPress site, I was able to change the pattern on the menu bar and delete several of my templates' features, despite the fact that I am by no means a coding expert.
The simplest website builder available is one with a drag-and-drop designer, so seek for one with that feature. Also think about if you want to be able to make adjustments while on the road; if so, the website builder should offer a mobile app.
Features
It's time to explore the many capabilities that many website builders provide now that you are more aware of the requirements for your company. Keeping a list of the things you (a) need, (b) desire but don't need, and (c) absolutely don't want and would prefer not to pay for is an excellent strategy.
Ecommerce
E-commerce was briefly addressed previously, but let's talk about it more now.
A fully-hosted e-commerce solution, like Shopify, is the finest and most dependable option. The benefits that these e-commerce website builders provide include the following:
- templates and layouts to alter how your business appears
- an infinite amount of goods can be uploaded
- complete order tracking and inventory management
- marketing strategies to reach a wider audience
- Discounts, deals, and coupons that never expire or that do
- Customers' integrated payment solution
- the choice to add third-party payment gateways
- Effective statistics to monitor and enhance performance
- management of software, updates, and backups
Some online store owners will have demands that are more complicated than what Shopify can manage. If you plan to sell goods through your website, take into account the following:
- Do you require that buyers download digital goods right away after making a purchase?
- Do you want to provide VIP clients access to areas of your website that are password-restricted?
- Are your goods sophisticated? Do they, for instance, provide a wide range of variants or customizing options?
- Do you just want to connect with clients in particular markets?
You could want a website builder with additional flexibility if your e-commerce requirements are more complicated. You might be able to provide your consumers a more personalized experience if you use a WordPress website and the WooCommerce plugin.
Webflow is a wonderful choice to explore if you're searching for a more dynamic e-commerce solution. Consider it a SaaS toolbox that functions as a cross between common website builders like Wix and content management systems like WordPress.
Templates and Themes
A significant element of the choice-making process is finding a website builder with themes and layouts you like. You may choose from either free or premium themes in your website builder, which you can then personalize. It depends on the builder and/or theme you select how much customization is possible. Examine the various themes before purchasing for a website builder. Find out if you can import a theme you purchase from a different provider, such as ThemeForest, if you like the website builder but aren't happy with their themes. The themes from Restored 316 are my personal favorites, and each one includes with documentation and step-by-step instructions for customizing it.
Don't fall for website builders' hundreds of accessible themes either. Many of such motifs could appear old or cheap. Having so many options might be daunting if you don't have the finest sense of aesthetics. You just need one theme that will make your company seem amazing; you don't need hundreds of them.
A topic selection involves several factors. Here are three crucial aspects that will significantly affect how people see your website.
Content Width
Both full-width and boxed-width choices are available for content width.
The background picture will fill the whole width of the computer screen when set to full-width. Full-width websites are innovative and contemporary. They are perfect for companies who are very concerned with design and aesthetics or that have a strong brand image.
Boxed-width denotes that there is a frame around the content. These websites are classic but less cutting edge than full-width sites, making them a fantastic choice for firms that cater to businesses. Think of the content on these websites as being enclosed by a border that reduces its size.
On a mobile device, both widths will look good. When viewed on a mobile device, full-width websites are typically more responsive than boxed-width ones since they adjust to the screen. Your website will work just fine on mobile in any case.
Homepage Header
Your brand will determine the kind of homepage header you have. This choice is strategic rather than design-focused. Your header should clearly state what your brand stands for to your readers. Consider the header as the welcome screen for your website.
Basically, a static header image is just a big graphic or image with no text. These headers are most suitable for establishments that require a visual to draw clients, such as hotels, restaurants, and wedding photographers.
If you're unsure of which style of header is appropriate for you, a static picture with content is your best bet. You'll receive a picture with a headline, summary, and call to action superimposed on it.
For firms with a large number of items to display or audience groups to appeal to, a slideshow header works best.
If you need a better approach to quickly express the purpose of your business, a video header is your best option.
Note that if the flashier header kinds won't correctly represent your brand, you shouldn't necessarily gravitate toward them. Even if you believe that this kind of header looks superior, if it doesn't go well with your brand, it can end up damaging your business.
Menu Bar
Even though you might believe so, the style of your website's menu bar is crucial. The menu will be used by visitors to help them navigate your website. You need a template with a clear, simple menu that isn't obscured by distracting colors or patterns.
Also take into account where the menu bar is located. A website with a lot of material, where the visitor must continually scrolling, benefits from a fixed menu bar. For shorter webpages, a top horizontal bar works well. A side vertical bar will remain out of the way if you have a visual-focused website with huge graphics; this is also a fantastic alternative if you need to add a lot of menu selections.
Mobile
The website builder or template you select must be able to produce mobile-responsive websites, regardless of which one it is. This is now a must given how many people use the internet via mobile devices. In any other case, it would be a hassle to change your website individually using a mobile editor.
Integrations and Plugins
You may use a library of plugins from several website builders, like WordPress (and other, simpler ones), to fully customize your website. Similar to an app for your website, a plugin. It will provide features and capabilities that are not included with the builder or theme by default.
Make sure the website builder you use is suitable if you need to link your website to third-party services like Google Analytics or MailChimp.
Memberships and User Accounts
You could desire a members-only section on your website for a variety of reasons. For instance, you could wish to let paying members enroll in online courses.
You could also want to have the option of adding numerous users on the back end of your website. If you manage a blog, for instance, you might wish to give each contributor their own login details.
Language Support
You may translate your content into many languages on some websites. If your target audience is international, WordPress, for instance, will allow you to develop a bilingual website, which is a significant advantage.
Lack of branding and advertisements
Find out whether they add their own branding or adverts in some of the plans before picking a website builder or determining which plan is appropriate for you. In free plans, there's a chance the website builder could slap their logo at the bottom or throw an ad inside the website's content area. Often, these components be removed by subscribing to a more expensive plan.
SEO
Although creating a website is a must, you also need people to discover it. To improve your site, the top website builders will contain SEO tools. You should seek for a constructor that enables you to quickly alter the meta information, such as the meta headline and description for each page and the picture alt tags. Additionally, you want a website builder that submits your sitemap to search engines so they may list the pages of your website in search results.
Marketing
You should search for a website builder that offers some of this capabilities either built-in or through a simple integration with a third-party application if you want to put advertising on your website. But bear in mind that incorporating adverts frequently necessitates a developer or the capacity to deal with customized code.
Management
Your website is published and available for public viewing now that you've decided on a website builder. But you're not finished yet. Websites need administration and upkeep, and while you may have the skills to build one, you might not be familiar with how to maintain it in good shape.
Yes, you can do all of this yourself while hoping nothing goes wrong or you can engage with a website builder company who takes care of it all for you. Another choice is to use a builder that can be customized, like WordPress, and then employ a professional to maintain it and fix any problems that arise.
Customer Service
There will be a learning curve with any drag-and-drop website builder, no matter how simple. Additionally, there will be more to get used to for builders with a lot of features. In any case, you want to ensure that there is adequate assistance accessible to assist you should you run into trouble. This kind of help consists of live customer care representatives who may be contacted by chat, email, or phone, as well as a self-service database with instructions, tutorials, and FAQs.
Although you can preview the self-service section in advance, you won't really know how dependable customer assistance is until you require it, and by that time, it could already be too late. Reading customer reviews and paying attention to what the majority of them have to say about customer service is an excellent substitute. There will inevitably be some exceptional good or bad experiences, but you should focus on the commonalities in the experiences of many clients.
Conclusions Regarding the Best Website Builders
Getting the website builder with the most features isn't necessarily the best option. Instead, you should look for a website builder that is simple to use, will enable you create a website that represents your brand, and is within your budget. Use a website builder that will scale with you when your business expands as well. After all, the objective is to grow, serve a wider clientele, and boost revenue, not to remain in the same location.
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