For non-tech savvy users, Site123 is a heavenly platform. No need for coding or setting up complicated hosting accounts as Site123 packages are fully hosted and ready to use. It claims to be “the easiest free website builder” and one of the cheapest for a premium account.
Site123 Website Builder Review 2019
For those who have used Wix before, getting started on Site123 is no sweat. It boasts a drag-and-drop editor and a highly customizable platform. From creating homepages to producing different individual pages or your blog, it’s very easy. To add, Site123 already has royalty-free photos and videos on its platform that you can use.
Site123 is poised toward users who are looking for a fast and easy way to create a website. It’s also targeted to businesses that are planning to try their hands on online marketing.
But is this the best website builder for small businesses and bloggers? We’ll find out here:
PROS
-Fully mobile responsive templates and designs
-Easy to use drag-and-drop editor
-An impressive app store for integrations and add-ons
-Excellent customer support through live chat
-Ability to create multiple websites in one account
-No coding, simple platform for creating websites
CONS
-You’re stuck on your chosen template once you publish the website
-Some features aren’t as useful as it should be
-Both the free and premium plans have prominent limitations
-Too simple landing pages, especially for e-commerce purposes
Overall Score: 8.9/10
Key features
Once you signed up for a Site123 account, you’ll be redirected to its dashboard. The UI is pretty simple and straightforward. You can see messages, tweak your websites, peruse themes, and switch between the drag-and-drop and classic editors.
Overall, this platform has so much to offer its users. But for those who are looking for more professional tools, even the premium plan may prove to be very limited. Still, most of the features are good enough for the majority of the users.
Here are some of the built-in features that are worth mentioning:
Blog. Site123 has a built-in blog with basic tools that you need to run a simple content website. Optimizing the content is also easy here since you can access royalty free photos and videos inside the website builder.
Free SSL certificates. No need to worry about the security of your website as each Site123-created website comes with a readily installed SSL certificate. This is a free feature and you don’t have to pay additional fees unlike what you’ll do in self-hosted platforms.
Multilingual website builder. It’s always a challenge to create a multilingual website since not all platforms support this feature. Good thing, Site123 simply allows you to add a language on which you want your website to be translated when needed.
Mobile-responsive designs. Many web users access the internet through mobile devices. With this, Site123’s responsive themes would be a great option.
No coding needed. For those who aren’t knowledgeable of technical website development, Site123 offers a coding-free platform where you simply drag, drop, and customize visually.
Ease of use
In a range of 1-10 with 10 being the highest, we can say that ease of use for Site123 is at a perfect 10. However, it comes with some caveats too. Signing up is a breeze and very straightforward: choose the type of website, provide a business name, and sign up with your name and email. After that, you’re good to go to explore the website.
Performing basic tasks like posting content, creating forms, and utilizing image is a no-brainer here. Even newbies will find the learning curve to be a gentle bump.
Site123 advanced tasks are also intuitive enough to be done. Users can edit navigation bars, social media integration, and so on without racking their brains out.
If you’re new to Site123, we think you can learn the platform in under 30 minutes. Everything is neatly filed on the dashboard. If you want to manage your dashboard, you can upgrade to a premium package for a small price.
Designs and templates
After choosing a category for your website, you’ll be offered around 5-10 themes. The options are pretty modern and chic, but its’ a bit limited when it comes to functions. You can always customize it to change the colors, position of the blocks, and the overall look of the theme you chose.
Take note that theme importation isn’t supported here so you’re stuck with what the system has. Even if you upgrade to the premium package, you can only choose on the built-in options. Anyway, their themes are fully responsive so this offsets the lack of integration for this part. The themes are also sorted by industry so rest assured that you’re getting pre-picked styles that suit your niche.
Remember that Site123 doesn’t support CSS coding just in case you want to alter the functionality of the theme. You can only go as far as changing menu buttons, font styles, colors, and so on. However, you simply can’t switch themes on the go whenever you like. You’ll need to create another website to use another theme. It’s like Wix, once you publish the site, there’s no way you can change the theme you installed.
Integrations
We’ve mentioned already that you can’t integrate third-party themes in Site123. Even though this is a bit disheartening, you can still enjoy the ease of integrating widgets and apps from Site123’s own app store.
A quick look is enough for us to see that there are tons of options. This is good news if you want to increase the functionality of your website without worrying about compatibility issues. For those who have zero knowledge about manual integration, the app store proves to be helpful.
When it comes to e-commerce purposes, Site123 offers a suite of tools for shipping, taxes, payment gateways, and so on. This is already the best value for money platform if you’re planning to establish an online store.
SEO
Site123 has optimization staples so your website stands the chance of getting good rankings on search engines. You can edit the meta description, title, URLs, and alt texts so search engines can crawl your pages efficiently.
Aside from that, there’s nothing more to find here for advanced SEO practitioners. Unlike WordPress and Wix, Site123 has a smaller optimization sphere. Still, it doesn’t mean websites created in this platform can’t be seen.
If you’re a newbie, you can make use of the SEO guides in Site123’s resource center. You can also utilize plugins that will improve the SEO efforts you’re planning to apply.
Site123 pricing
Site123 has a free version that you can use, but if you want more functions, you can click the Upgrade button to avail either the Basic, Advanced, Professional, or Gold packages. If you’re going to visit the pricing page of Site123, you’ll only see the Basic plan. From there, you can upgrade once you’re on board the website builder.
Remember that the amount you’re willing to pay upfront will dictate how much discounts you’ll enjoy, Here’s a quick look at the monthly rates to give you an idea:
| PACKAGE | PLUS $34/mo. | PREMIUM $119/mo. | ULTIMATE $249/mo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| User licenses | 1 | 5 | 5 |
| Product | 500 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Storage | 3 GB | 5 GB | 10 GB |
| Transaction fees | 1.25% | 1% | 0.75% |
| Custom SSL | No | No | Yes |
| Affiliate marketing | No | Yes | Yes |
| Premium store templates | No | Yes | Yes |
| Free domain | No | No | No |
Each of these packages has different storage limits, bandwidth, and unique features. For starters who are not ready to spend their money yet, the free package will be a good way to test the platform. You can always upgrade whenever you want.
The free package comes with 500 GB of storage plus 1 GB of bandwidth. This is already a champ as compared to Site123’s competitors. But if you’re serious about running a profitable website on this platform, you might as well invest in premium plans.
Site123 support
Site123’s live chat is a convenient and reliable source of information. If you’re thinking twice about signing up, you can use their live chat feature to ask questions that will help you decide. You only need to give them your email and they will answer in minutes.
The support of this platform is one of the best I’ve seen so far as compared to its competitors. You won’t get stuck waiting for a response. Aside from the live chat, you can also contact Site123 via social media and email. If your concern isn’t urgent, you can utilize their knowledge base for Site123 tutorial articles and videos.
Is Site123 for you?
Well, thousands of websites were built in Site123. This could be a testament to its efficiency as a website builder. But before you proceed, always size up your planned website to ensure that the platform will be sustainable and flexible enough for what you need to do.
Site123 is intuitive, easy to use, affordable, and best for beginners. Even businesses can build their online stores here. But remember, this platform also has its limitations as a self-hosted builder. You need to be decisive and careful with your options as some of the features, like themes, can’t be changed once you publish the page.
Also, pick the right Site123 packages. This way, you’ll enjoy tools and features that match your website building needs.