Building a professional website used to involve a lot of HTML coding and web design. It was a difficult (not to mention expensive) process that was reserved for the geniuses in programming and web developing. Before, if business owners wanted to start their own sites and establish their presence online, they had to hire these professionals to do the work. Now times have changed, and with the development of technology come tools that make this process more efficient.
What are drag-and-drop website builders?
Drag-and-drop website builders are essentially software that visually create web pages through a publishing program. The pages are designed using a graphical user interface (GUI) while the layout and CSS code are created through generated HTML code. The process involves dragging web page elements (hence, the name “drag and drop”) to create the layout of your site. This makes the whole process of web building very fast and easy. With this, anyone can create a customized website of his own.
In this article I’m going to share some of the best drag-and-drop website builders with the perfect tools for anyone wanting to have his or her own site set up today.
1.Wix
The finest cloud-based platform for web building, Wix currently helps millions of users around the globe. First established in 2006, Wix was created with a simple site builder that can be used by people who have little to no knowledge in programming. Wix offers gorgeous-looking templates that will help you set up a professional-looking website in less than a day.
Wix currently hosts free and pre-paid subscription plans. Most of the prices covered in paid plans already include hosting, domain name, service support, and integration with Google Analytics. You can view Wix’s premium plans to see more of their features.
2. Weebly
Founded in 2007, Weebly is regarded as one of the most user-friendly drag-and-drop website builders. Users simply need to select a theme from their collection and use the drag-and-drop feature to create their preferred layout. You can use Weebly to start an e-commerce store, personal blog, or business website. Weebly’s paid plans come with an email address and personalized domain with reliable hosting and a vast collection of customizable professional templates and themes. You can visit Weebly’s website to learn more about how they can help you.
3. SquareSpace
As another fast growing professional website builder, Squarespace is the go-to web builder for owners wanting to start their first business website. Like Weebly and Wix, SquareSpace also comes with an easy drag-and-drop interface for people with no prior coding experience. With Squarespace you can easily design your site without the need to write a single line of code. Square Space has 24/7 support specialists that will respond within minutes to any problem. To learn more about Squarespace, you can read user reviews of Square Space platform.
4. Jimdo
Launched in 2007 by a team of German developers, Jimdo is a web hosting service that offers free and premium services for consumers all over the globe. Jimdo’s free service allows users to create a basic online store with a maximum of five items. A popular choice for small businesses, Jimdo is one of the best website builders that offers good e-commerce functionality.
Jimdo has a great free platform that can provide you the best tools to build a functional site. Credit card information is not required before signing up for a free account. To learn more about their pricing visit their website here.
5. Yola
Grow your site with Yola. Yola is a website builder that has been around for almost ten years. Unlike other website builders, Yola is often reviewed as clunky and disorganized. Despite this, Yola has a user-friendly appearance and provides great support for their new customers. They’re also quite cheaper with plans starting at $59.40 per year. Yola Silver and Gold plans have more features including a Facebook publishing tool, SEO optimization, and directory submissions. For examples of their custom site and templates, visit Yola’s gallery here.
6. Webs.com
Webs is a good web builder if you’re looking for easy-to-use and practical tools in web building. It helps users build a website from scratch without having to write a single line of code. Webs has a lot of good features including mobile optimization, blog features, and data analytics. Webs.com has fair and competitive pricing plans and is great for businesses whose focus is mobile-friendly platforms.
7. Moonfruit
Launched back in 2000, Moon-fruit was one of the first website builders that quickly became one of the most popular places to create a website. Moonfruit is cheap and offers good blogging tools for people who wish to incorporate a blog on their website. Like Wix, Moonfruit uses HTLM 5 technology. It has an easy mobile site conversion process and a good online file storage system for reusing content and batch image uploading.