Whether you’re just starting a business or want to move your
existing brick and mortar business online, you’ll need to locate a
website builder to get you and your brand online.Website builders come with a variety of options, so it is importantto find one that fits you and your website.
2. Whether you’re just starting a business or want to move your
existing brick and mortar business online, you’ll need to locate a
website builder to get you and your brand online.
Website builders come with a variety of options, so it is important
to find one that fits you and your website.
WHAT IS A WEBSITE
BUILDER?
4. In a hosted solution you pay a monthly fee to have the software housed
and managed by a third party company. You don’t have to worry about
finding a hosting company or software updates.
Website builders that are self hosted will require you to purchase a
hosting plan from a third party company, install the web builder software
from another company, and you’ll need perform software updates. Don’t
let that last comment scare you. There are many hosting companies that
will manage software updates for you and you don’t have to touch a
thing.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
“HOSTED” SOLUTION OR “SELF
HOSTED” SOFTWARE?
5. CONSIDERATIONS FOR
PICKING A WEBSITE
BUILDER
Content Ownership – You need to own your content.
That may seem simple, but some platforms control
your data. Similar to you using Facebook and
Facebook having ultimate control of what resides on
your profile or page. A website is your window into the
world, so make sure the content you add is owned and
controlled by you!
Custom Domain and Branding – Your website
deserves a unique domain. A domain is simply the
address of your website. Think of a domain like house
number used by the post office to locate you. You want
your domain (aka URL) to be unique and memorable.
Make sure your website builder allows for this and
doesn’t make you use an extension of their URL.
6. Some website builders will offer beautiful
templates that are modern in both appearance
and functionality. Some others look like they
were created a decade ago, or worse yet, were
coded by a developer and without the aid for a
graphic artist. Make sure your chosen builder
has a plentiful supply of templates for you to
pick from and try out.
Available Design Templates
7. FUNCTIONALITY
OPTIONS
Think about the purpose of the website before
you hit that buy button. Do you need e-
commerce, podcast support, video integration,
forum management, or lead generation? Make
sure your chosen website builder supports the
functionality you need and possibly want down
the road. While some software options – like
WordPress.org – allow you to add plugins and
extensions, not all do.
8. Websites should be kept fresh and serve as
living documents. For this to be the case, they
have to be easy to use and provide a WYSIWYG
style editor. WYSIWYG stands for what you see
is what you get. Solid website builders will
make adding and editing content as easy as
working in a Word file. Make sure you review
your preferred builder’s content options and
make sure it provides a tool you’re comfortable
with using.
Ease of Use
9. We live in a multimedia world.
People expect written content,
videos, images, and audio files. A
quality software package will
offer all of these and allow you
to add such files effortlessly.
Multimedia Support
10. In many cases, the off-the-shelf templates
won’t be a perfect fit for your website. You
might need to customize the colors or
layout slightly. Review your website
software’s options and make sure you
have the ability to edit the design and
layout as needed.
CUSTOMIZATION
AVAILABILITY
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11. A good website will produce positive
results for it’s owners. In many cases, this
means lead generation. Not all website
builders will make this easy, so consider
the software and it’s ability to quickly add,
edit, or customize intake forms.
LEAD GENERATION
OPPORTUNITIES
12. Because mobile is a much have feature,
speed and performance will be too. Your
website has to load fast and not chew
through a ton of mobile data.
SPEED AND PERFORMANCE
14. HOSTING OPTIONS FOR SELF
HOSTED BUILDERS
The below list represents our preferred and recommended hosting
companies. We have either used these hosts ourselves and/or
personally know the management team. Hosting will make a huge
impact on your website performance and conversions, so chose
wisely.Cloud Access.net – This website host offers entry level hosting
for Joomla and WordPress. The cool thing about this provider is you
can set up a free WordPress account to try it out and do so without a
credit card or commitment.
Liquid Web – This host will support all major CMS packages
(WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal) and it also offers options like email
hosting and fully managed WordPress hosting support. If you have a
mission critical website, this is your host.
15. WHICH WEBSITE BUILDER IS
RIGHT FOR YOU?
I’ve given you lots of food for thought and I hope you feel
more empowered when reviewing and selecting your
website builder. If you are still not overly confident, just
shoot us an inquiry via our contact page and ask a
question. Or you can do so via the comments option
below.
This is a long-term decision so you want to make sure
you select the best option for you, your website, and your
sanity!
16. 303 Malwa Tower, Near Old Palasia Square, A B Road,
Indore City, Madhya Pradesh
INDIA
7000213226 / 9993671402
info@samaritaninfotech.com
https://www.samaritaninfotech.com/