You’re ready to start building your website, but first,
there’s an important step you need to take. Head down to your local library and check
out Web Coding & Development All-in-One For Dummies. See you in a few months.
No, no, no. You don’t have to do that anymore! In fact,
with the right platform, you can build a beautiful website, no code required.
Many website builders let you create your website visually making it easy to add text,
images, and design elements to make your website stand out.
Let’s check out some features to consider when choosing a web building platform:
Ease of use: Most creators should stick to a point-and-click or drag-and-drop
website builder that doesn’t require coding knowledge. The most advanced
tool on the planet is pointless if you can’t make it do what you want.
Integrated ecommerce: If you plan to sell digital products,
choose a platform that includes ecommerce features. Integrated ecommerce tools
make it easy to manage payments, deliver products, and track sales all in one place.
Optimized for mobile and desktop: 59% of all website traffic comes from mobile devices as of
late 2022, so choose a platform that automatically optimizes your pages to look great on any device.
Don’t rule out free website builders: Did you know that you can make a full-fledged
website that doesn’t cost you a penny? Using a free website builder when you’re growing your
online brand gives you time to find your footing while still looking professional.
Now, based on those features, here’s how some of the most popular website builders stack up.
#1 Podia Podia is an easier-than-drag-and-drop
website builder with built-in sales pages, digital products, and payment processing.
You can set up your full website, start a community, manage your email marketing,
sell a digital download, and offer coaching on the free plan. Paid plans start at $39/month .
#2 WordPress WordPress is an
open-source content management system. There are lots of themes and plugins to add functionality,
but WordPress has a steep learning curve and you might need to work with a developer to get
your site exactly how you want. While WordPress is technically free to use,
you still need to purchase hosting to build your website. If you’d like to sell products,
you may need to pay extra for ecommerce and payment plugins.
#3 Squarespace Squarespace is a website builder with pre-designed
templates but not many advanced customizations. Squarespace does not offer a free plan and basic
plans start at $23/month. Ecommerce features are only available on the $33/month plan and above.
#4 Wix Wix is a website
builder focused on ecommerce with templates and payment processing built in. Wix offers
a limited free plan, but if you’d like to sell products, ecommerce plans start at $17/month.
#5 Shopify Shopify is an
ecommerce and website platform specifically designed for selling physical products. While
it’s possible to sell digital goods, a lot of Shopify’s features are optimized for in-person
and physical product sales. There is no free plan and the basic plan starts at $19/month.
#6 Weebly Weebly is a drag-and-drop website
builder with customizable themes for portfolios, blogs, events, and businesses. Weebly offers a
basic free plan, but if you’d like to sell digital products, business plans start at $12/month.
For many creators, the best web building platforms offer additional features that
allow them to conduct their business without having to jump around to multiple sites. These
are called “All-in-one” platforms. An all-in-one platform is a creator tool
that lets you handle multiple aspects of your business, like building a website,
selling digital products, managing your email marketing, and more from one central dashboard.
Paying for each tool individually can get expensive. If something breaks, you’re stuck
piecing everything back together. An all-in-one platform keeps things simple so you can spend more
time creating and less time figuring out how to make a zillion different tools talk to each other.
Ultimately, when choosing a website builder, you have two options:
Option 1: You pay separately for website hosting, a premium theme, an email management system,
and ecommerce plugins. You may have to pay for an additional service to connect everything
and possibly a developer to wrangle all the moving parts. If it breaks, you’re juggling
emails between ten different people who are all blaming each other for the problems.
Option 2: You use an all-in-one platform that includes your website, digital products,
email subscribers, and courses. You pay one flat rate and you don’t need
to hire any outside help because the site builder is simple. If you have issues,
you have one point of contact to connect with.
So what’s our favorite all-in-one free website builder? Surprise! It’s Podia
Let me share a few things we love about using Podia to build your website.
First, Podia truly is an all-in-one solution. You can build your website,
sell one digital download, offer coaching, and start your community
all on the free plan. When your business grows, you can upgrade to a paid tier to
sell courses and unlock more advanced features like affiliates and webinars.
For Valeria Hernandez from VegiVale,
having everything in one place means greater peace of mind.
She says, “I love keeping things simple in my life and business and Podia lets me
do exactly that! Instead of worrying about 20 different platforms for email, website,
and course hosting, I can just host all my offers and run my business from Podia. The peace of
mind that comes from using a “one-stop shop” is priceless, especially as a newer business owner!”
The Podia site builder is also really easy to use and lets
you build a beautiful website even if you don’t have any design experience.
You can choose from over a dozen sections that
can each be customized to match the look and feel of your brand.
Podia user, Adrian Dalsus had this to say: “With Podia, you know your site
will look beautiful on mobile or desktop. It won’t crash. All the buttons will work.”
Some have even gone as far to say that Podia websites are fun to build and are pretty.
According to classical piano instructor Joseph D’Amico , “Podia makes website building so fun.
I feel like I could set up a site in an afternoon, and it would look great. And
there’s something to be said for how pretty it is. It’s the best-looking one by far.”
Bottom line: Your website builder should make your life easier,
not harder. Look for an option that’s simple to use, friendly to your wallet,
and already connected with your favorite features to free up your valuable time and energy.
I know you’re excited to start building, but before you do, it’s important to determine
what content should go on your website. Coming up, we’ll talk about pages, site navigation,
and more, so you can build your site from a solid content plan. See you in the next video.