The Internet is a vast space filled with millions of opportunities for everyone. In the beginning, using the Internet for business was not available to everyone and was kind of like an exclusive club where members had to have specific skills to join. However, thanks to the existence of services like website builders, everyone and the mother can get online today and make a lot of money.
So, if you want to find out how you can get online and do whatever you want to do, even if you are a beginner with no tech-related knowledge whatsoever, this article is for you. Via our conversion chart below, you can see which are the best website builders that you as a beginner can use to get online and make money. Also, if you want to learn more about each builder, stick with us and find out what they offer and how they compare with each other.
Check our Top 7 Best Beginners Website Builders:
- IONOS – best for its low prices
- Squarespace – best for design-centric and creative websites
- Wix Website Builder – best overall website builder for beginners
How Do We Test and Rank?
In order to decide whether a website builder is a good choice for you, you would need to know what are the essential features and services a builder needs to offer for website building. Also, you would need to allot a lot of time to cover all the website builders in detail. In reality, you won’t have to do any of that. That’s what we’re here for anyway!
Namely, in order to provide you with a comprehensive list of the top 7 best website builders for beginners, we have developed our own ranking system, which puts each builder through numerous tests and trials. Also, the HostAdvice experts tested out each builder individually by buying a plan from all of them and trying it out to see how it works and if it is suitable for beginners.
Each builder is ranked based on five factors that our experts deem most important for determining whether a builder is suitable for beginners or not. Also, each factor is assigned a specific percentage based on how important it is to our goal. The five factors include:
- Ease-of-use (30%): how easy is the builder to use, is it suitable for beginners, does it require any coding skills, does the builder have a steep learning curve,
- Pricing (25%): is there a free plan, is there a free trial, are the builder’s prices generally affordable, are the features the builders provide worth the price of the plans,
- Design (15%): how many templates does the builder offer, the quality of the templates, can you customize the templates easily, can users integrate other third-party tools into their websites,
- Customer Support (20%): what kind of support do the builders offer (phone support, live chat, email support, forums, knowledge bases), how long do the builders take to respond, the level of issue-solving skill of the builders’ staff,
- Features (10%): does the builder offer valuable features, are the features that the builder offers suitable for building a website, are the features of good quality, are the features easy to use.
How to Choose the Best Website Builder for Beginners?
All website builders are different in their own way. Whether they differ in prices, features, or other services, picking which are the best for beginners comes down to a few important things.
First things first, when choosing which builder is the right one for you, you need to decide what you are going to use it for. Namely, you need to decide whether you need a website builder suitable for building a simple website, a content-driven website, an eCommerce website, or other kinds of websites. So, the first thing you need to do is make a plan for your website.
After figuring out what you want to build with the website builder and what you want your website to have, you need to determine your budget. Knowing how much money you are able or willing to spend will help you narrow down your options immensely and choose the right builder more easily.
Now, you need to come to terms with your skills. Namely, you need to determine whether you need to be guided through the whole journey step-by-step or whether you are comfortable enough to do some things on your own. But since we are talking about website builders for beginners, we’ll assume that you will need as much help as you can get to create your website as easily as possible.
Next, it would help if you decide whether you want to try the builder out for free first before committing to a plan. That will narrow your decision down to only the website builders that offer free trials because not many of them do.
Also, when choosing which website builder you should go for, you should consider how important customer support is for you. Namely, is customer support as important to you as the price or the ease-of-use of the builder, or is customer support not a priority for you. If it is not a priority, you will probably be satisfied with a website builder that offers only live chat support or email support, nothing more. However, if you want to have a team of experts at your disposal at all times, then you should look for a builder that offers live chat, phone, email support, and a ticketing system.
The Top 7 Best Beginners Website Builders
- Overall Score: 4.1
- Ease-of-use: 4.1
- Pricing: 4.3
- Design: 4.1
- Customer Support: 4.2
- Features: 4.0
There are a lot of website builders that offer both low prices and beginner-friendly builders and editors, but none offer such low prices as 1&1 IONOS. 1&1 IONOS is synonymous with the term “dirt cheap†as its plans start at only $1 a month!
Also, it is suitable for scalability and growth and offers users enough features and tools to build fully-functioning and responsive websites.
Pros:
- Wide range of templates
- Allows users to set up their websites in different languages
- Low prices
Cons:
- Outdated editor and templates
1&1 IONOS is best for those who are looking for a cheap and easy way to create a website and get online.
Plan | Starter | Plus | Pro |
Price | US $1/month | US $5/month | US $10/month |
Number of Products | 500 | 5,000 | 10,000 |
Free Trials | No | No | No |
Additional Feature |
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Unique Features:
Website Builder
Creating a website with 1&1 IONOS is a simple enough process that involves three key steps:
- Choose a design – as with most website builders, the first step in creating a website with 1&1 IONOS is choosing a template that suits your goals and your business best;
- Add content – this step involves editing and changing your template and adding elements like photos and text to your website;
- Publish – once you’ve chosen a template and have customized it to your liking, your website will be ready to publish.
From the above-explained steps, you can see that creating a website with 1&1 IONOS is pretty simple and, by the looks of it, does not take a lot of time. Also, we’ve tested the website builder and can confirm that it really does not take a lot of time to get your website ready for its debut.
1&1 IONOS offers many industry-specific templates you can choose from for your website, including templates for a restaurant website, real estate website, travel website, business website, photography website, and wedding website.
You can also choose from 17,000 free high-quality images if you do not have your own to add to your website. Also, all of the builder’s templates are responsive and designed to adapt to all screen sizes and devices, including desktops, smartphones, and tablets. Other features that 1&1 IONOS offers include the following:
- Some SEO tools;
- The ability to set up your website in multiple languages;
- Professional email;
- A free SSL certificate;
- Analytics tools;
- Built-in privacy tools like GDPR-compliant legal pages;
- Marketing tools;
- eCommerce features;
- A 99.99% uptime guarantee;
- 30-day money-back guarantee;
- And more.
1&1 IONOS is an inexpensive and beginner-friendly website builder suitable for creating simple websites, online stores, blogs, and portfolios. If you want to find out more about 1&1 IONOS, you can do so by reading our expert review on the builder.
- Overall Score: 4.7
- Ease-of-use: 4.7
- Pricing: 4.6
- Design: 4.9
- Customer Support: 4.7
- Features: 4.8
Squarespace is a website builder explicitly made for creatives and those who care about their website’s design above all else. It is suitable for beginners and requires no coding or other tech-related knowledge for people to use it and create a website with it.
It offers excellent designs and is one of the best builders with which you can build anything you want, including websites, blogs, portfolios, and online stores.
Pros:
- Excellent built-in features
- Easy to use
- Ideal for building creative websites and portfolios
- High-quality templates
Cons:
- It offers more limited customization options compared to its competitors
Squarespace is best known for its creative, high-quality, and design-centric templates, which are ideal for beginners and others who want to build creative websites and portfolios.
Plan | Personal | Business | Commerce (Basic) | Commerce (Advanced) |
Price | US $19/month | US $33/month | US $36/month | US $65/month |
Number of Products | None | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Free Trials | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Additional Feature |
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Unique Features:
Squarespace Templates
Squarespace’s template designs are some of the best on the market and perfect for creatives and those who want to create a visually appealing website. All of its templates are made by designers and will allow you to create a website with a professional feel and modern vibes, which will catch visitors’ eyes and ensure that they remember your website for its uniqueness and style.
Squarespace offers templates specifically made for online stores, portfolios, memberships, blogs, Scheduling, and one-page websites. Also, you can choose from other categories, like:
- Art & Design;
- Photography;
- Health & Beauty;
- Personal & CV;
- Fashion;
- Professional Services;
- Local Businesses;
- Community & Non-Profits;
- Food;
- Entertainment;
- Travel;
- Restaurants;
- Media & Podcasts;
- Events;
- Weddings;
- Real Estate & Properties;
- Home & Décor;
- Nature & Animals.
Squarespace Features
Another thing that Squarespace is widely known for is its built-in features. Namely, depending on which plan you get, you will be able to enjoy a wide range of practical and powerful features, including:
- Multiple features for websites like various design tools, custom CSS, the ability to add a commenting system to your website, built-in mobile websites, scheduled blog posts, Image Editor, and many more;
- Powerful commerce features like product merchandising, product subcategories, the ability to add discounts, inventory management tools, mobile-optimized checkout, and many more;
- Domains – with Squarespace, you can register a custom domain name, the ability to connect third-party domains, free custom domain for the first year, integration with Google Workspace, and many more;
- Marketing features like email campaigns, newsletter blocks, social media integrations, banners and promotions, and many more;
- Analytics features like commerce analytics, engagement analytics, acquisition analytics, and many more;
- Extensions for finance, inventory & product extensions, marketing & sales, and many more;
- Connected services, including the ability to import content from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and more, Facebook Page Integration, Squarespace Scheduling, Zola for wedding websites, and many more;
- And many other features.
All in all, Squarespace offers modern and high-quality designs, which are some of the best on the market and are ideal for creatives who want to build creative portfolios and websites. If you want to learn more about Squarespace, you can do so by reading our expert review on the builder.
- Overall Score: 4.9
- Ease-of-use: 5.0
- Pricing: 4.9
- Design: 5.0
- Customer Support: 4.9
- Features: 5.0
Wix is a powerful website builder that has been around since 2006. It offers excellent, high-quality templates made by designers and more than enough features that a beginner might need to build and maintain a website.
It is one of the most popular and most widely used website builders on the market, and it serves more than 200 million users from all over the world.
Pros:
- Powerful features
- Free trial
- Drag-and-drop builder
- Wix ADI
Cons:
- A bit more expensive compared to its competitors
- Users can’t switch their templates once their websites are live
Thanks to its drag-and-drop builder and excellent ADI functionality, Wix is an excellent website builder for beginners.
Plan | Connect Domain | Combo | Unlimited | VIP |
Price | US $4.50/month | US $8.50/month | US $12.50/month | US $24.50/month |
Number Of Products | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
Free Trial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Additional Feature |
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Unique Features:
Wix ADI
Wix’s ADI functionality allows users to sit back and receive a fully-functioning website without lifting a finger. Namely, Wix’s ADI builder builds your whole website for you and allows beginners to have the easiest website-creation experience there is. You will only need to answer some questions about what you want your website to have, how you want it to look, the theme of your website, etc. The builder will create a whole website based on your answers.
The website that the builder will create will contain all the features and elements that you requested, and you can customize it and add more things to your website if you want to. It truly is the best option for beginners out there.
Also, if you want to participate in the creation process but don’t want to code the whole website yourself, you can use Wix’s drag-and-drop builder to create your website by simply dragging and dropping elements on your screen. Thus, both options are ideal for beginners and don’t require a lot of technical know-how from users.
Templates
As we mentioned, Wix offers more than 800 designer-made templates you can choose from, including templates specifically-made for landing pages, restaurants, AI companies, business websites, tech companies, gaming companies, bars, real estate companies, CVs, photographers, construction companies, universities, and many more.
Overall, Wix is an excellent website builder, which is ideal for beginners. If you want to learn more about Wix, you can do so by reading our expert review on the builder.
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Next Steps In Building the Perfect Beginners Website
After choosing the website builder you like, you need to complete a few other steps to build the perfect website. The first step is, of course, choosing a plan that suits your needs and budget. Almost every website builder offers more than one plan you can choose from for building a website.
Once you choose a plan and pay, you need to choose a unique domain name. Your domain name will be the name your customers will type in Google or other search engines in order to find your website, so choose wisely. When creating a domain name, you should make sure it suits your business and matches what you sell or do on your website. Also, make sure to keep it short and easy to remember and ensure that it doesn’t already exist.
Now, it’s time to pick a design template and customize it. The design template you choose should reflect the services or products you will offer on your website. Also, when you customize your website, make sure not to overdo it. Customizing a template include:
- Adding new pages
- Changing and editing the colors, size, and fonts
- Adding elements like an “About†page, contact forms, and menus
- Editing your photos
- Choosing a different color palette if you want
- Linking your social media channels
- And more
After you have made the template truly your own, you need to upload and format your own content. You can add all kinds of content to your website, like photos, videos, text, etc.
In addition to your own content, you can add extra functionality to your website by downloading other third-party apps from your builder’s App Market. Some builders have better app markets than others, so if adding third-party apps is important to you, choose the one with a more extensive App Market.
After completing all the above-mentioned steps, all that is left for you is to preview and test your website, make the necessary adjustments if there are any, and finally publish your website.
What Should a Beginners Website Include?
When you complete all the steps and make the necessary preparations to get online, only one question remains: What should your website include? Well, even though your content depends on you and your business in the end, there are a few things you should add to your website to make it look professional and competent, including:
- A homepage – the homepage is the page most visitors see first when they open your website, and It should tell them who you are and what you do. Also, the content on your homepage should be interesting and engaging to make visitors want to stay and look into your products and services.
- An “About†page – if you want to sound legit to visitors and show them that you are real and your services are professional, you need to have an “About†page. On this page, you should add a summary of your company, information about your employees, and write about what makes you differ from others that are in the same business as you.
- A “Services†or “Products†page – depending on whether you offer services or products, you should include a page where visitors can see the services or products you offer, along with their prices. Also, each service or product should have a short description so that visitors know what they are and how they can use them.
- A FAQ page – the FAQ page should contain the answers to the most frequently asked questions you are asked.
- A “Contact†page – all websites should include a page where visitors can find ways to contact you, either via phone, email, social media, or any other way. Also, you can include your business hours and the locations of your offices here.
- “Latest News†page – on this page, you can share all of your latest news, updates, press releases, and more.
- A “Privacy Policy†page – on your privacy policy page, you should include what you’ll do with your visitors’ personal information, what data you will collect, how you will collect it, if the data will be shared, etc.
- A “Terms and Conditions†page – this page should include the rules a visitor to your website must agree on to use your website.
- A navigation menu
- Photos and videos
Summary
There are a lot of excellent website builders suitable for beginners out there. In fact, there are so many different options that it may be overwhelming for you to review all of them and choose the right one.
However, with our recommendation system, you will get to choose between 7 website builders for beginners that we deem to be the best on the market. That way, your decision-making process will be easier and shorter, and you can rest assured that all of the builders on the list offer excellent services and enough features for you to create and manage a website. Let’s summarize.