By When building a website in 2018, you have plenty of options to choose from in terms of website platforms. When you want to keep the cost of building a website reasonable but you don’t want to sacrifice the quality, you can design and build your website on your own through a top website platform. In this article, we are going to go through 5 website platforms and their cost in 2018.
Wix
Many businesses are choosing to take their businesses online through Wix. The large selection of templates is one of the reasons businesses list as why they choose to go with this platform. If you don’t have enough templates, you run the risk of using the same one as your next door neighbor’s shop. With over 510 different templates, you should be safe.
Any template that you install is going to come with dummy content. That means it is going to be easy for you to replace with your own content instead of trying to visualize how things are going to look. Most people aren’t able to envision a finished project from nothing.
The drag and drop editor makes it very easy to get the site set up the way you want it to be and there are always new features coming available for users.
On the less than positive side, you aren’t going to have total control with Wix so there will be some challenges if you want to customize your site even further than what they offer.
If you are looking at pricing, you won’t have to put out too much money. From $5 to $25 and your site is up and ready to go.
Squarespace
You’ve probably heard the fuss about Squarespace by now, but it is all everyone says it is? With more than 1 million people that keep paying after their 14 day free trial, maybe there is something to do platform.
One of the things we like about Squarespace are the beautiful designer templates that grab our attention. Most of the themes are minimalistic but they give users what they need to get their message across and showcase their website content. They also look great one mobile and tablet with their awesome mobile friendly designs.
You can use the style editor to easily customize your site and make it look all your own. You do not have to know any coding. You just have to drag and drop but it is less intuitive than other drag and drop builders that we have used in the past.
Since there are so many customization options available, it can feel a little overwhelming. Another con with this platform is that there is no dedicated mobile editor. While the templates do automatically respond, it is nice when you can fix it how you want it.
Another thing to note is that while there is a free trial for 14 days, there is no unlimited time free offer. After the 14 days, you can pay anywhere from $12 to $40 to use Squarespace.
Weebly
When you look into Weebly, you will find it to be one of the easiest website builders you can use. You can piece your site together in a matter of hours and there are no confusing extras to get you off your game. Weebly’s themes are on-trend and mobile responsive so you can keep up with what’s going on today in design and make sure that you are serving clients on both mobile and desktop
Not good at designing layouts? Don’t worry because Weebly has over 40 pre-designed layouts you can use and customize for your site.
On the not as positive side of things, you should know that the drag and drop customization has its limits. You can use the built-in code editor, but if you don’t know what you are doing, you could cause a mess in the css. There are more improvements to be made in terms of blogging and feature innovation so if you want the latest and greatest, you need to look elsewhere.
With Weebly there are free plans available and you can go all the way up to $49 for premium plans.
Jimdo
Using Jimdo can be a great idea for people that don’t speak English since they have teams all around the world you can get the support that you need. You get access to html and css code if you know how to code so you can customize your site and another big perk is that you can build a nicely functioning website for free. There are no time limits on how long you can be a free member even though there are multiple upgrade options.
This may not be a good platform for beginners since it is not a true drag and drop platform. There are also limits to the templates unless you want to get in and deal with the code.
Jimdo starts at free and goes up to $20
WordPress
WordPress is the mother of all platforms and has 30% of sites that it supports. These WordPress stats might blow your mind. What is even better is that WordPress is 100% free to use. This is the WordPress.org version vs WordPress.com.
The flexibility and ability to customize your website, install plugins for just about any need to create a site that is truly stunning makes WordPress come out in front. The only thing you need to pay for with WordPress is your domain and hosting and you’re good to go.
Conclusion
Consider all your options, and weigh them against the needs of your company or organization, take all things into consideration before making your final decision.
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