Websitebuilder.com Website Builder Review
There are tons of website builder platforms on the web nowadays. For this website builder review, we will look into one of the less popular choices: the websitebuilder.com. Sure thing, WordPress, Weebly, and Wix are enjoying their heydays. Still, this platform may just be the next big thing that will give all the popular site builders a run for their money.
NOTE: Sitebuilder.com, Sitey, and WebsiteBuilder.com are all the same thing. They just exist in different domain names for some marketing reasons.
Websitebuilder.com 2019 PROS and CONS
The main premise of this website design platform is its “solid” tools. Users don’t need to code anything as everything is pre-set and ready to use. There are also premium plans that users can subscribe to for more tools and exclusive functionality. So is this the best website builder? We’re about to find out.
Overall, we can say that the websitebuilder.com works for almost any project – blogging, e-commerce, portfolio, or a company page. Still, we’ve run into some caveats that we will discuss as we progress in this website builder comparison.
PROS
-10,000+ design templates that you can choose from
-Full-editing capabilities for uploaded images
-You can create and manage the site using the mobile editor
-Easy to customize canvas with the drag-and-drop feature
-Excellent blogging features
-No coding or technical setup needed
CONS
-The billing is a bit problematic
-There are limited payment gateways for e-commerce purposes
-There’s no auto-save function on the editor
-The free version has very limited features
Overall Score: 9/10
Overview of Websitebuilder.com
The Websitebuilder.com is a new kid in town, being released in 2014. Although it’s a newcomer, the platform is poised to take the ranks of top website platforms. Still, some parts are still a work in progress.
One thing that made it a successful platform is the freedom it gives its users. You can blog, build an online store, create a portfolio, and more with all the tools at your disposal.
Basically, creating your website on this platform only takes three steps: choose a theme, customize, and publish. It looks easy, but you’d want to read on for more information.
Should you use Websitebuilder.com?
Obviously, if you know nothing about technical setup or coding, the Websitebuilder.com is for you. You no longer have to rely on professional web developers just to create and manage your own pages. This is one thing that made Websitebuilder.com appeal to the masses. It’s straightforward, convenient, and most of all, affordable.
Also, the platform is fully hosted. It saves you around five to ten bucks of monthly fees from setting up a self-hosted website.
Websitebuilder.com is an image of simplicity which is both a perk and a bit of a problem. It’s made for novice users, so for those who want the freedom of coding, tweaking, and customizing, it could be challenging, or even impossible, to achieve certain outputs.
Key Features
Even if there are some caveats, we can say that we’re impressed with what Websitebuilder.com has to offer its users. Five years is still a short time for a platform, but this one has managed to rise to the top with a full spectrum of tools on its belt.
Here are some that we find very useful:
Blogging. Websitebuilder.com’s built-in blog is stylish, highly customizable, and features a drag-and-drop editor which newbie users will love. It’s better than other newer platforms we’ve seen so far. You can set cover images, permalinks, featured posts, and so on. It’s pretty interesting for those who are planning to start a blog.
eCommerce tools. For those who want to build their online store, WebsiteBuilder.com has recently rolled out its eCommerce platform. The staples are covered: product variations, discount codes, categories, and more. However, the checkout page redirects off your domain. It can stir trust issues from customers.
Design all you want. You can choose a template and customize or start from scratch. Users have all the options to design their websites to their heart’s content.
User experience
Putting aside billing problems, for now, we can say that the Websitebuilder.com is a champ in user experience. It’s very easy to use, intuitive, and the learning curve is far from steep.
The elements on your site are categorized in sections so you can easily find and customize it. It’s like having everything laid out on your plate. Users will find pre-designed sections which make website building even easier.
There are snap-to-grid sections available for easy designing. However, unlike its competitor Wix, this is not Retina-ready. Nevertheless, we still think that the image and graphics quality is reasonable enough for the eyes of most web users.
We want to give a word of warning here: once you have multiple things going on in your screen, it will become overwhelming. This is a common downside of blank canvas editors. Learning how to organize and prioritize should keep your sanity intact.
Website design and templates
If you’re looking for website templates, you can never go wrong with Websitebuilder.com. It has more than 10,000+ templates that you can browse based on industry and categories. There are nine industry categories that you can choose from. Based on the themes we saw, many are modern and chic, but like any other website builder, there are outdated ones too.
Whether these are SEO-ready or mobile-responsive, you’ll know once you check your option. We think not all of them are equipped with all the tools that you need for mobile responsiveness. Websitebuilder.com doesn’t have mobile-responsive templates but you can generate a separate mobile website if you wish so.
Lastly, once you chose a theme, there’s no turning back. It’s like Wix where you have to create another website if you want to change the theme.
SEO tools
If you want a built-in SEO suite and a mobile-friendly website, you need to avail a Premium plan and higher. Still, the SEO tools here are basic and not as in-depth as what you’ll see in WordPress or Wix. You can only edit the meta description, keywords, and title tags. Aside from that, there aren’t too many surprises for you.
In case you’re looking for something like accessing the HTML/CSS/PHP and stuff, you need to look elsewhere. Still, that doesn’t mean Websitebuilder.com sites can’t rank well on Google.
Integrations
Integrations and plug-ins are critical components of building a website. Websitebuilder.com seems reasonable with its features, but there are some missing pieces that would make website creation more worthwhile.
First, it doesn’t come with a form builder, newsletter integration (e.i. Constant Contact. Mailchimp), multi-lingual feature, audio player, and membership. Also, it doesn’t have any mobile apps. This can be discouraging for many users.
Still, there are some pretty great integrations here but don’t expect too much. Remember, this platform is made with novices in mind.
How much does the platform costs?
Cost-wise, Websitebuilder.com is a catch due to its very low price. It’s fully hosted and packed with features that newbie website creators would like. Here’s the pricing table:
| PACKAGE | STARTUP STORE $19/mo. | BASIC $29/mo. | PLUS STORE $16.50/mo | PRO STORE $24.50/mo. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staff accounts | 1 | 2 | 5 | 15 |
| Products | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Transaction fees | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
(Current promotional price since January 2019)
If you’re planning to build a store, the eCommerce feature is the only suitable package. The rest would be great for casual blogging. Although it’s affordable, it’s also very limited when it comes to features.
It’s best to purchase a more expensive plan if you’re serious about putting up a website. Honestly, the starter package offers nothing but bare-bones of hosting and limited features.
Websitebuilder.com also has one BIG problem: billing issues. Many users complained about items being added to their cart without their permission, thus the chance of checking out with an item you didn’t intend to purchase. The billing practice is also poor even if the cancellation policy is in place.
Be careful when using this site builder to prevent any shady charges.
Customer support
Bad news for those who have queries, there’s no way Websitebuilder.com can be contacted. There’s a Support page with email, live chat, and call options but it’s hyperlinked to nothing. Maybe, it’s yet to be filled out by the developers. But currently, users are stuck on the limited self-help resources on the platform’s website.
As much as you can troubleshoot some issues on your own, it’s a whole different thing if you have issues about payment. Not being able to contact anyone is nerve-racking. This is one big reason why many Websitebuilder users just move on and look for another platform.
Final verdict
Overall, Websitebuilder isn’t really that bad. It has a full spectrum of features that newbies will love. There are some limitations but website owners grew to love it as well. Just be careful since once you’re working on many sections, it can get a bit overwhelming.
When it comes to the downsides, we think it’s not unforgiving as what we saw in older platforms. Websitebuilder is still young and a work in progress. So even if there are some missing pieces, we still gave it a high score in this website builder review.