Pros & Cons of Website Building Programs

Website building programs put almost everything you need to build a website into one place.Instead of choosing a web design option, a web host, and a domain registrar, you just find one website building program that automates the whole process.

This makes website creation easier and usually cheaper. In return, you may have less control over your website design (depending on which program you're using).

These programs are ideal for newbies, especially technophobes.

Those who need or want more design control and are willing to take the time and effort, or invest the money needed, might be better off building a website from scratch.

Not Just for Newbies

On the other hand, I've built several websites since 2004, but in July 2008, I chose to built this website using a website building program and I've never been more pleased with the results. More about that later.

A good website building program can be an excellent choice, depending on your goals and circumstances.

Choosing a bad program could be a nightmare.

After I go over the advantages website building programs, I'll give you a few tips on finding a good one.

Advantages of Website Building Programs

Everything Is in One Place

No need to search for a website designer, web host, or domain registrar. These programs take care of all of that. This is great, providing they offer good web designs, good hosting, and excellent customer service. If not, you're screwed.

So take care when choosing a program. Read reviews, check out the templates available, and look at some of their customers' websites (they'll often have examples available).

It's Usually Less Expensive

If you build your site from scratch, you could spend thousands hiring a website designer. Web hosting is less expensive - often as low as about $4 or $5 a month, if you don't need a lot of disk space. Registering a domain name shouldn't cost you more than $10 a year. But overall, a website building program is likely to cost you less than the cost of all three together.

It's Easier

This is one of the most appealing aspects. When you build a site from scratch, you need to take the files your web designer made for you (or you made yourself) and figure out how to upload them to your host. You also have to figure out how to get the domain name to "talk" to your web host's server. Your web designer can do this for you, but it can be awkward and expensive to have your designer do this every time you make a change.

A host with good customer service can get you over this hump, but a good website building program can make your life a lot easier.

You Have More Control Over Content

If you rely on a web designer, you may need him or her to make all your changes for you. Or you can buy the design software he or she used and learn how to make changes on it. That's what I did with my site at Scribe for Hire. It worked, but it's taken me years to learn how to do everything I want to do without having to keep rehiring Maureen.

With a website building program, you have complete control over the content. I've been building this site for two months and plan to continually improve it and update it. I love having this much control over my site.

So, while you'll have less control over your web design (unless you choose a program that lets you upload html), you will have more control over your site in general.

Choose Wisely!

If you decide to use a website building program, take the time to choose wisely. When I researched several programs, many had terrible reviews.

It's hard to know what to make of these reviews, as they could be written by competitors, and people are more likely to write when they're angry than when they're satisfied. So I won't name names (there is one notable exception below). But I do encourage you to do your homework.

Go through the program's site carefully, being sure that it offers everything you need. Check to be sure the website design templates fit the user guidelines I've outlined on the Website Design page.

If you like the program after that, do an internet search for reviews. Don't be overly swayed by a couple of bad reviews (for the reasons I mention above). Or by good reviews. This is the internet. Just read it all and try to get as balanced a view as you can.

Website Building Programs I Recommend

There are two programs I recommend.

I used Site Build It! (SBI) to create this website. I was blown away by SBI's amazing features.

This program is not just for newbies. On the contrary, it automates the geeky stuff and teaches you to do the important work of creating a website that offers excellent, valuable content; ranks high in the search engines; and earns you a good part- or full-time income. In the short time I've had it (as of July 1, 2008), I've fallen in love with SBI.

Thanks to its excellent manuals and online tools, my site is already in the top 1% of all websites, according to my Alexa ranking. And I only started it on July 30! I even used what I learned to bring my Scribe for Hire site into the top 1% of websites.

SBI does support html, which means you can hire a web designer or create your own design. But I think the templates are among the best I've seen, so I'm very happy to save my money and use SBI's designs.

SBI owner Erwin does a great job of explaining how SBI differs from other website building programs:



For many - if not most - people, SBI is an excellent choice. If you think this might be a good option for you, take a look at my review of SBI:

Janet's Review of SBI

Or you can go straight to their website:

Site Build It!

If these pages don't answer your questions about whether SBI is right for you, feel free to contact me and I'll help you decide whether or not SBI fits in with your individual needs.

The other website building program I recommend is SquareSpace.

My very good friend Rebecca uses it for her rubber stamping website, www.rebeccastamps.com, and loves it, so I checked it out. I did an internet search for SquareSpace and found that it's getting rave reviews.

To find out about other programs, just do an internet search for "website building programs" and you should find plenty to look into.

A Website Building Program to Avoid

I don't like to name names when a company has a few bad reviews. But this company's problems go much deeper.

The company is called BlueVoda (also known as VodaHost or AffiliSys). On their main website, they'll offer you a free website. What they don't tell you is that after you've built your website, you 'll need to purchase their hosting to put it up. That would be okay if they were upfront about it. But instead, they give the impression that the website itself is free.

Well, I guess it is, if you have no intention of actually putting your website on the internet.

These websites have some revealing reviews:

Top Shareware Reviews

RipOff Report

I also find their Better Business Bureau listing (under their parent name, AffiliSys) enlightening:

Blue Voda BBB Report

I've just thrown a lot of information at you. If you need a little extra help making sense of all this, feel free to contact me.