SiteBuilder.com is a tool that allows you to build websites by yourself. The company was started in 2014 and is based in the United Kingdom. While a new player,  they are quickly establishing themselves as a go to option due to their professional looking themes and ease of use. In fact, they offer more than 10,000 templates, free domain names and web hosting, search engine optimization (SEO) tools, business email, and ecommerce integration.

Pros of SiteBuilder.com

Cons of SiteBuilder.com

SiteBuilder.com’s Features

Sitebuilder is a fully web hosted option and is an online resource. This means it can run from any machine, so long as it has an up to date browser. One of the things that really makes this option stand out is the fact that it targets so many different businesses. This is why they also have such a huge array of templates. They are easy to search through, nevertheless, as the company has made categories available for anything from beauty & fashion to pets & animals. Furthermore, each of these templates can be customized to your particular needs, which means you can easily create something that is truly unique.

The interface is incredibly easy to use, which is one of the things that really makes Site Builder stand out from the crowd. Even if you have never tried to build a website in the past, you should be able to get to grips with this one. You can change virtually anything, including:

It also has some strong features, including:

SiteBuilder.com Templates

There are over 10,000 templates for you to choose from, in any category you can think of. While this may seem overwhelming, the way they are organized really makes sense. There is no need, therefore, for you to trawl through all the 10,000 different options. Plus, if you’re a bit more confident about your own design skills, you can even choose a blank template and build it yourself from start to finish.

App market

The app market is currently very limited. Unfortunately, SiteBuilder.com only integrates with Ecwid for their shops, and PayPal for the payment gateway. This is a bit of a shame, but it is understandable at the same time. Integrating third party apps can lead to a lot of problems and each app needs to be individually checked, which is something that Site Builder is unlikely to have the manpower for at present.

eCommerce

SiteBuilder offers a shop interface to those who want to build an ecommerce store. If you sign up for this option, you can add quite a number of different items and services, changing their prices and descriptions as you see fit. The tool is really good and very reliable, but it is basic at the same time. Unfortunately, however, the only integration you have is with Ecwid and PayPal, which means that your audience will also be a bit more limited. As such, if your goal is to build a store, you may find this option too limited overall.

SiteBuilder.com’s Pricing

There are a number of different payment options with SiteBuilder.com, and this is also where things get a bit complicated. The personal plan, which gives you the lowest functionality of all plans, costs more per month than its upgrade, for instance. Furthermore, although you do need to have some patience for this, Site Builder currently makes it possible for you to get a very significant discount (around 70% per month off, in fact). To access this, you need to pretend you are leaving the site three times in a row. Each time you do so, you will receive a notification saying that a discount is available ‘today only’ or ‘for a limited time’. There are four available plans:

  1. The personal plan costs $9.99 per month if you pay monthly, $8.99 per month if you pay yearly, or $2.70 per month if you pay every two years. For this, you will receive a free domain and hosting, $375 in advertising credit, and all SiteBuilder ads will be removed.
  2. The pro plan costs $2.99 per month if you pay monthly, $2.77 per month if you pay yearly, or $2.30 per month if you pay every two years. For this, you get everything in the personal plan, as well as free email.
  3. The premium plan costs $3.89 per month if you pay monthly, $3.69 per month if you pay yearly, or $3.59 per month if you pay every two years. For this, you get everything in the pro plan plus priority support and SEO tools.
  4. The ecommerce plan costs $7.49 per month if you pay monthly, $5.99 per month if you pay yearly, or $5.54 per month if you pay every two years

There is also a free option that you can choose from, although this has very limited functionality and is covered with Site Builder ads.

One of the problems with this platform is that it is really hard to get to see the prices. In fact, you won’t get to see them until you have signed up for a free account. And then, as stated, you can bring the price down by pretending to leave three times. Payment for your plan can be made through credit or debit card, or PayPal. There is a 14 day money back guarantee, although you do have to explain why you want your money back.

Support

The support system at Site Builder leaves a bit to be desired. There is a reasonable do it yourself section on their website with explanations and advice. However, if you cannot find the solution to your problem there, you will have to contact the company and you can only do that through the online order form. There is no telephone, online chat, or direct email address that you can access. Some have also complained that response time can be very slow, unless you have paid for premium support.

Conclusion

SiteBuilder.com has a number of significant flaws. However, this is mainly because it is a new company that is still finding its feet. So far, they have demonstrated numerous times that they listen to their customers and try to make improvements. As such, the criticism expressed here was true at the time of this writing, but may have been resolved since.

The criticisms also don’t take anything away from the functionalities of Site Builder and, at the end of the day, how it functions is the important part. You can access your interface from any computer (desktop or laptop) with a browser and internet connection and start to make changes or add and remove things from your website. The site is mobile optimized, although you cannot use a mobile device to make changes.

The one criticism that may put people off when using SiteBuilder is the fact that its ecommerce features are limited. While you can add as many products as you like, creating your own descriptions and using your own pictures, you can only use Ecwid to build your shop, and you can only use PayPal as a payment gateway. This can be a bit of a deterrent to some people, which means you have to carefully consider whether or not this will work for you.

Overall, however, with well over 10,000 templates, each of which is very easy to find and search through, huge customization options, affordable packages (particularly if you know about the closing the window three times, which was correct at the time of this writing), it can be difficult to actually criticize the package at all. This is particularly true when you consider the ease of use of its interface. When Sitebuilder.com said they would create something that anyone could use, they meant it. If you have never even considered building a website, you will still be able to get to grips with this one in less than an hour. And with many interesting features such as social media and blogging platform integration, it quickly becomes clear why this is now such a popular option. I 100% recommend SiteBuilder to anyone looking to build his or her own website.

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