Long gone are the days when people needed programmers, designers, and coders to build a website. With the advent of professional website builders, small businesses, bloggers, and other organizations can create attractive sites that rank high in search engines and convert. Today, we will discuss the main elements you need to consider when you choose the best service for your needs.
| Table of Contents |
Integrated Hosting Service
When you choose an online website building service, you should know you can work on your future website anytime, anywhere, provided you have an Internet connection. The most significant advantage of such services is that many offer you accompanying hosting. It is one of the most crucial features you need to look for in such a provider. It saves you the time and the technical issues of picking a specific hosting service that is right for your needs.
Besides hosting, you should also look for two more features that will help you establish a brand on the Internet, rank higher organically, and gain authority:
---
- Domain
- Email registration
Make sure you find a website builder that provides you with email and domain registration so you can own your piece of Internet property professionally.
Smooth Learning Curve
Most website building services offer drag and drop functionalities, website editing tools, user-friendly interfaces, buttons, social links, contact forms, embedded pictures and videos, text editing tools, plug-ins, and more. For a beginner to use all these functionalities and tools, the website building platform should deliver a smooth learning curve.
Website Responsiveness
Since the Mobile First strategy, no website owner can afford to make the mistake of building a non-responsive website or landing page. Website responsiveness means that a website responds and adapts to all types of devices, operating systems, and screen sizes. An online website builder that does not allow you to test responsiveness across the board before you take the site live is something to avoid.
Industry-Targeted Professional Templates
The best online website building service should provide you with a rich library of professional website templates you can choose according to your industry. Once you select an outline for your future coffee shop or fashion store, customization becomes easier. The advantage you have when you choose a website builder instead of creating a website from scratch is that the available professional templates come with UX standards, pre-tested color schemes, and extra functions specific to your activity field. Here are some things to look for when you choose a template:
- The templates are industry-designed;
- The basic template structure is in line with what you want. Tweaking the colors and images is more comfortable than modifying the basic layout of the home page, menu items, categories, header, and footer, etc.
- You have plenty of choices when it comes to pre-packaged designs, sharp color schemes, and well-stocked collections of images and videos.
Smooth Content Upgrading Features
You can do your research or trust experts when they say that content is still king. In other words, a website that you want to rank and convert should stay ahead by providing ever fresh and upgraded content that is easy to access and share. For this reason, when you look for a website building service and start using it, do not ignore the tools they give you to quickly and smoothly upgrade and update your content.
Social Media Compatibility
Seamless integration of social media platforms through functional icons and links is mandatory for a website to stay ahead of the competition. Your online website building service and template should allow you to choose and fine-tune your social media integrations.
Extra Features and Customization
No matter how neat and proper your chosen layout is, you still need to add your personal touch to your website without knowing to code. In other words, an A-list website builder should allow you a wide range of customization options and the adding/removing of features:
- Creation of your brand logo;
- Choosing different font styles and sizes;
- Adding headlines and subheads to a landing page, so it converts correctly and avoids failure;
Adding a blog section where you can publish and update your unique content; - SEO tools and plug-ins;
- Avoiding Landing Page Failure;
- Website analytics and metrics tools and plug-ins;
- Uploading of your images and videos;
- Adding a fully functional e-commerce section with payment and shipping options;
- Adding live chat options, messenger boxes, chatbots, etc.;
- The smooth insertion of portfolios, sliders, and other modules and features long after you finished the website.
Affordable Pricing
While it is more affordable to use a website builder than paying programmers to build you a site from scratch, the fees you need to invest in such a service should not create doubt in your mind. As you know, with any professional service, quality does not come cheap. Make sure you have a price vs. value ratio in focus when you compare various website building options.
Previewing, Testing, and Going Live Features
Once you have your host, domain, SEO, and fully designed website that looks and works exactly as you dreamed of, it is time to test it. Almost all website builders, from the free ones to the more expensive professional ones, allow you to hit the “preview” button before you hit the “publish” one. However, A+ website builders also allow you to run a few tests before you decide to send the website live on the Internet.
Make sure you take advantage of all their functions and perform all the necessary edits before you enter the indexing part of the process. Broken links, malfunctioning buttons, poor pictures, insufficient SEO, or chaotic display of text blocks across pages can ruin your chance of ranking well and attracting your target customers.
Bottom Line
Using an online, drag-and-drop style of a website builder with tens of template options and extra features saves you from learning HTML or CSS or pay people who do. Nevertheless, building a great website takes time and practice. Pick a website builder whose interface and functions make sense to you, create some test pages first, pay for the options that are necessary to you, and don’t feel discouraged when things do not look or work from the first trial. Be patient and learn, and you will have a sharp-looking, high-converting website in no time!
