With 85% of consumers searching online before buying something makes it important for your business to have a responsive, fully-functional, SEO compatible website. However, one doesn’t have to spend big bucks to achieve it. When it comes to building a website for free, there are plenty of options available in the market, and most of them require little to no coding knowledge, which makes it accessible for every kind of user.
These website builders are often comparable in quality to the paid versions available in the market. These free versions are particularly good for small businesses or personal brands as they do not require spending any money and are extremely easy to use.
How and Where a Free Web Builder is better than Traditional Methods?
Traditionally, websites are written in HTML code, which is then stored on a server and pointed to by a domain. If you do not have the technical expertise and do not possess coding knowledge then you’ll have to hire a web developer which makes the process of creating a traditional website time-consuming and costly. Following that, you must purchase server space. Finally, you must register a domain name. The entire process is so perplexing that many people wonder how to create a website at all and if one decides to brave through then managing three different bills and three different companies is a different game altogether.
On the other hand, using a website builder requires no coding expertise to create a beautiful website as per your business needs. Its simple drag-and-drop editor makes it simple to position photos, text, and other elements exactly where you want them on your page. When it comes time to add a domain name, you simply select one and it is automatically configured to work with your site. With a website builder, never again will you have to worry about not being able to make changes to your website on time or about hiring an expensive web designer.
What to look for in a good website builder?
When it comes to selecting a good free website builder there is some set of requirements that must be fulfilled. Such as-
- Functional Templates– When it comes to building a website, having beautiful, fully-functional templates is important. The kinds of templates you have at your disposal decide the look of your website, and trust us when we say you’d want your website to look spectacular to attract any kind of traffic.
- Ease of Use– There is no use in having access to free software if it’s too complicated to understand. A lot of free websites get away with having a complicated user interface just because they are free of cost. However, one should focus on website builders with an interface that is easy to use and understand. Having the drag-and-drop option works best in such cases.
- Freedom of Design– Just because you’re using a free website builder doesn’t mean you should have to compromise when it comes to designing your website. A good website builder should give you enough freedom to customize and build a website that’s unique to your brand.
- Affordable Site Upgrades– If your website makes it big then it might start paying for itself with options such as leads of your business or ad avenue, in such cases you might have to expand your site’s functionality without wanting to spend too much money on it. Always look for affordable and easy site upgrades even if at the moment you’re using the free option of a website builder.
Creating a website for your business should be a fun and easy process without having to worry about the technical aspect of it such as coding or cryptic words like HTML and FTP. We’ve created a list of the top 15 free website builders out in the market to help you find the one that best suits your needs. Take a look!
1. Wix
Wix is one of the most popular free website builders with over 110 million users. It gives you the complete freedom to create, design, manage, and develop your web presence as per the needs of your business. Whether you’re showcasing your work, starting a blog, promoting your business, or opening your store- the Wix website builder will help you with everything. Wix provides over 500+ customizable website templates for businesses such as Blogs, Online stores, Businesses, Photography, Beauty, Education, and more.
Wix gives the user complete drag-and-drop freedom. Furthermore, it provides several built-in marketing and blogging tools such as Online scheduling software, an online store, a Logo maker, a Professional blog, SEO tools, custom domains, and more.
2. Weebly
Weebly is a flexible and easy-to-use website builder that’s compatible with every platform and device. Weebly is an open-source SaaS-based platform that provides services such as domain registration, web hosting, e-commerce, web design, and more, which makes it a perfect fit for small businesses and startups.
It comes with drag-and-drop functionality, hand-coded HTML files, and an integrated CMS solution. It has a lot of additional features such as video backgrounds, custom headers, and full-width color and image backgrounds. Moreover, it comes with PayPal integration, digital gift cards, and an automatic tax calculator which make it a really smart choice for e-commerce businesses. Weebly has now become a part of the Square product site which allows you to give your user the chance to pay however they want.
3. WordPress
WordPress is used to build 43% of the websites on the web. It is a popular free website builder that also lets you purchase a domain name. You can also operate your site live using a WordPress-owned URL if you don’t want to pay for a domain.
WordPress provides an easy-to-understand backend interface with minimal to no coding required for individuals who are new to website creation. It comes with professionally-designed themes to help your brand stand out. Photo carousels, tiled image galleries, maps, and forms are all easy to add to your site and look excellent.
4. Elementor
While WordPress is a fantastic platform for creating websites, it’s occasionally helpful to have some assistance when you’re starting from scratch. A WordPress page builder can come in handy in this situation. Elementor helps you create, manage, and host your WordPress website, and avoid the headaches of dealing with different vendors and installations.
Elementor is a drag-and-drop builder with over 5,000,000 users, and it’s a terrific no-code choice for quickly launching a WordPress site. With Elementor you can choose from 100+ templates, customize your page, and make sure your website is suitable for all platforms and devices.
5. WebNode
With over 40 million users, WebNode is a popular choice for both personal and professional brands. It has a very easy-to-use interface that allows you to create websites in multiple languages and on multiple platforms to best suit your business needs. It comes with lots of amazing features such as customizable templates, a mobile editor, Google AdSense, Blogging, and more, that help you create or edit your website in little to no time.
Several e-commerce stores are supported by WebNode, and the sites are mobile-friendly on Android, Mac, and iOS devices. It provides free statistics to track the progress of your site, and even the free edition will be ad-free.
6. Jimdo
Based out of Germany, Jimdo helps you create a professional website or online store with its website builder that’s tailor-made for small businesses. It comes with 100+ stunning customizable templates and provides the option to create a site in more than 9 languages which makes it a great website builder option for international companies. The builder works on smartphones and tablets, and there’s even a mobile app to help you create a mobile-friendly site.
With no page limits and 500 MB of storage, you’ll have plenty of room to construct your site, and it even comes with HTTPS/SSL encryption, ensuring that your visitors’ information is protected. Also, it helps you seamlessly integrate your social media with your site.
7. Mozello
This Latvian-based platform has everything that you need to create a beautiful, modern, and unique website that helps you achieve all the goals of your business. One of the main unique selling points (USP) of Mozello is that it allows you to create a multilingual website, that too free of cost, which is a feature that not many of its competitors possess. Moreover, it’s compatible with all mobile devices, comes with powerful SEO and marketing features, 500 MB storage, and requires no technical skills at all.
Mozello displays advertisement as a link in the footer, however, that’s not visible on your page and most visitors can easily ignore it. Mozello’s only drawback could be that its drag-and-drop feature isn’t as intuitive as some other website builders available in the market and it doesn’t provide as many customizable options.
8. WebStarts
WebStarts takes the guesswork out of the process of creating a website. Everything you need to create and maintain your very own website is available at WebStarts. Its easy-to-use drag-and-drop editor makes it extremely easy to place text, photos, and other elements wherever you want them to appear on the site page. You do not need to have any programming knowledge to build your website with WebStarts.
Moreover, WebStarts is different from the other website builders out there because it does not limit you use the same old boring templates that hundreds of other people are also using. It comes with fresh and innovative templates to help build a stunning website for you.
9. Webflow
Webflow is trusted by over 3,500,000 designers worldwide. While most of the other builders on this list are for those who don’t have a lot of coding experience, Webflow is designed primarily for designers and agencies who develop websites for clients, which means you have complete control over the HTML and CSS. You’ll need to move your site from Webflow to a content management system after it’s finished.
Webflow has some features that do not require any coding knowledge like drag-and-drop widgets for implementing social components, videos, maps, etc. Moreover, one other drawback of Webflow is that it only allows you to have only 2 pages, and free users are limited to 500 visits.
10. IM Creator
With over 11 million websites built using IM Creator, it is a popular choice among all users. It provides some great features such as a wide range of images and templates, an easy point-and-click interface, and unlimited domain and web hosting services. IM Creator is extremely scalable and allows you to build 1-pager or 1000-pager without any difficulty.
Any site created with IM Creator is highly adaptive and will easily adjust to layout for laptops, tablets, phones, and even wearable’s like smartwatches and the Oculus Rift. Moreover, this builder has built-in e-commerce features as well as SEO and Google Analytics to ensure that your site is properly optimized for search engines.
11. SITE123
SITE123 is arguably one of the most flexible and easy-to-use website builders out there. It allows you to personalize anything and comes with a one-click installation process that includes graphics and templates. It proves to be helpful with its wide range of professional fonts, free image library, and imaginative DIY plans for creating unlimited pages. Moreover, with SITE123 you won’t feel compelled to upgrade to a paying plan because it includes 500 MB of storage space, Google Analytics, web hosting domain registration, and is ad-free.
It’s perfect for people who want to create a simple and easy website; however, if you want to push the boundaries and get creative, then SITE123 is not for you.
12. Strikingly
Strikingly is one of the easiest website builders out there and requires zero coding and design skills. Thousands of websites have already been created using Strikingly, and you can build your website in under 30 minutes by choosing any of the countless built-in templates. It has e-commerce built-in which allows you to easily add the Simple store that lets you connect to PayPal or Stripe. It also lets you easily add coupons, shipping, membership log-ins, and more. With Strikingly you can easily find designs suitable for blogs, e-commerce stores, startups, personal branding, product launches, and more.
Although, Strikingly’s free service comes with unlimited free sites but has monthly bandwidth limited to just 5GB. Moreover, unless you upgrade to a paid plan(i.e. $8 per month), you’ll be stuck with the strikingly.com domain.
13. Duda
Trusted by over 18,000 agencies and SaaS platforms, Duda is your very own professional website builder that highly emphasizes team productivity and powering top-performing websites for your clients. Duda is a feature-rich website builder that lets you piece together a website to meet your individual needs using a variety of site widgets and media assets. With dynamic page creation, automated workflows, and connected data features it allows you to build websites twice as fast. Duda includes a team-collaboration tool and rudimentary statistics to show you how visitors interact with different portions of your website, in addition to site templates and a large content library.
It offers a free trial as well as monthly plans starting at $14 paid annually.
14. Squarespace
Squarespace allows you to work with pre-designed themes or use its wire-framing features to create a site from scratch. It requires no plugins and offers 24/7 customer support to its users. Squarespace can prove to be a great fit for people in visual media, dining, entertainment, or fashion industries as its pre-designed themes emphasize greatly on imagery or video.
Many of the pre-built templates on Squarespace are mobile-optimized and simplistic in their look, and however, simplicity might not be the look that most client-based companies go for, but for consumer-facing industries that directly sell to the customer, it might just be what they demand. It also has some additional features like built-in SEO and analytics tools.
15. GoDaddy
GoDaddy is a giant when it comes to the domain name and web hosting business, and now they have their website builder, and it has a free plan too- what more one could ask for. It is a beginner-friendly website builder that focuses mainly on making website building easy for people with no technical or design skills. The free plan comes with easy-to-edit mobile-friendly templates, and useful add-ons like an email marketing tool, blog, appointment scheduler, and member pages.
However, the ability to use your domain name or to start selling products through an online store is not free. In addition, a GoDaddy banner will appear at the top of all your pages. The SEO options that GoDaddy provides are also severely limited, and one will have to upgrade to paid plans to be able to edit elements such as keywords and image alt tags.
That’s the end of our list! Now all you have to do is choose the best fit for your business. Since all of these website builders are free, we suggest you try out a few and then decide which suits you best.
