A well-designed and aesthetically pleasing website plays a vital role in turning any business’s concept into fruition. Especially when you’re just starting out and low on budget, you can’t possibly hire IT people to take care of building you a website and run it. If this is the case and your technical coding knowledge is zero to none, worry not! Modern technological advancements have got you covered.
There are several simple ways you can construct a remarkable website from scratch all by yourself. These services, popularly known as website builders, are the ultimate tools that can get you a fully functional website within hours.
In addition to handing you complete control over how your website will look and function, these web builders are inexpensive, time-saving, and require no prior coding knowledge. You don’t have to be tech-savvy to build a proper website, don’t have to learn HTML and other coding languages, just get yourself a good web builder that will be handling all the designing and coding for you!
The best road to go for a “no-code” option of website building is a WYSIWYG website builder. Don’t be intimidated by this set of letters, it’s a complex-looking acronym of What You See Is What You Get, but a simple solution to all your website creation problems. It is a GUI (Graphical User Interface) website builder and differs from the rest of the website building platforms by showing you the exact final look of your webpage while it is still in creation.
Simply put, what appears on your screen now is exactly what’s going to appear on the target user’s screen later on. It provides you with a simple drag and drops function to create fluid layouts, responsive and innovative templates, add/delete images, change fonts and some also allow integrating eCommerce into the website you’re building.
What is a Website builder and how do they actually manage to do a professional developer’s job? It’s one of the first questions that comes to mind when you hear about web builders. Whether it’s a personal blog, portfolio, or a small business, all would have required long lines of complicated codes to actualize their unique and exciting ideas a few years back.
Today, you can create a website without coding and spare yourself of these intricacies by using website builders that come bearing all the features, advanced dashboards, mobile-ready templates, millions of customization options, and other tools that non-technical people like you and me can easily comprehend and use. While you’re choosing the color, design, and overall structure of content for your final webpage, the website builder is handling all the coding for you. You simply have to drag the desired elements and drop them onto the page in any location that deems appropriate to you.
The cherry on the cake is that some of these website builders offer domain names and hosting alternatives too, which ticks another task off of your extensive to-do list!
Some examples of great website builders are Weebly, Wix, Shopify, WordPress, etc. These are some of the best WYSIWYG website builders that will help you build your website without knowing how to code. As discussed earlier, WYSIWYG is the best feature your website builder can possess!
Types of website builders
Website builders are not universal, some are designed for creating blogs, others for websites, and some for businesses that support the integration of shopping carts and other purchase options with eCommerce. If we are to broadly categorize types of website builders then these would be it;
Offline website builders
These are software programs that are supposed to be downloaded and installed on your computer. You can work offline on your website and when it’s completely built, save the files on a computer and it’s ready to launch.
The launching part would however require purchasing a website hosting service. Because even when the website is customized and made offline, it would still require an upload to the web host as its final step towards completion. Note that these website builders do require basic know-how of website building!
Some popular offline website builders are Dreamweaver and Mobirise.
Online website builders
Online web builders eliminate downloading, installing, and uploading parts from the offline process of building a website. These are web-based services that require nothing more than an internet browser with a steady internet connection. You can work on your website from any device and from anywhere in the world. The best part about online website builders is that they can be accessed and used by people with no coding knowledge.
Moreover, they prove to be inexpensive and fairly easier to use in comparison with offline ones. Some frequently used online website builders are Weebly, Squarespace, and website.com.
Open Source and Closed Source website builders
This classification is made on the basis of liberty and freedom of manipulation each of these web builders offers. Open Source web builders allow modification, edition, enhancement, and extend complete transparency to anyone. In other words, these are designed to be publicly accessible.
On the contrary, Closed Source builders are accessible and alterable by their authors who have the “code” to it. They are also sometimes referred to as proprietary Softwares.
Freemium and Paid website builders
Another way to classify website builders is through what they will cost, some are initially free but require fees for advanced features (freemium) and others are commercial fee-based ones.
Pros of using website builders
- A quick and handy tool to create a professional-looking website
- Inexpensive if you have to buy a web builder, some are also free and online!
- Website builders are extremely easy-to-use and need no technical coding knowledge.
- Domain names and websites host availability without extra cost.
- Easy to export to other platforms if there is a need to change domain or business, no need to start from scratch every time you need an up-gradation!
- Predefined layouts, pleasing designs, and colors, and style themes to pick from.
Cons of using website builders
- Not suitable for large businesses who need professional features on their websites.
- No direct control over coding results in poor SEO and affects Google ranking for the worse.
- Limited pages and features available unless you’re on a premium paid plan.
- Technical support in case of a breakdown is limited to online forums telephone support (if you are lucky).
Bottom Line
Website builders have given flight to many small ventures and dreams. Even if they don’t allow the most advanced customization and features for its users, it still encourages those who can’t afford to hire a professional web developer or simply have no time to learn complex coding languages.
Website builders enable all non-techs and noobs to play, create, and run a website on their own. They are easy to use, gentle on the budget, and amiable for the onlookers. The wisest and most sophisticated choice to go for when building a website without knowing how to code!
Author’s Bio
I’m Mohammad Abid – I live in Karachi and love exploring the city, business, books, and the Internet. I work in marketing and more specifically SEO, have done quite a few things in my short career, have an incredible family, and prefer running my own website over a social media profile
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