A website is much more than an online place to find you or an outlet for your marketing — it is the heart of your truth, the shopfront of your business, and the most potent tool in your public relations arsenal.
For Entrepreneurs & Startups, having a strong online presence can either make or break their start-up venture. However, building a professional website does look like a tricky deal, especially when you also have the budget to consider.
Weebly is a great choice for small business owners and startup founders who want a simple, affordable, and dependable website builder. Weebly is a very popular (drag and drop) design platform that allows you to build a professional-grade website for free or a low cost through ease of use, e-commerce integration, and you name it.
Weebly Top Features and Benefits
Drag-and-Drop Builder with Ease of Use
Anyone who isn’t a developer will love the drag-and-drop builder from Weebly. You can choose items such as images, text boxes, and forms and drag and drop them into the desired area on your page. This makes it super flexible in terms of layout, all without requiring any technical skills.
- Elements you can drag-and-drop: No coding needs to go into this — everything is just dragged where you need it.
- Supports different layouts and styles: Starting with a template is a great way to quickly get a product up and running.
- Live preview: Make changes and view them immediately — a handy way to visualize the end product.
That feature is a game-changer because now anyone can have what feels like a logo builder site and have the experience feel like a design studio creative with the website site builder experience than coding.
Mobile-First Responsive Templates
And in the era of mobile browsing, so vine, it is all the more in need of the responsive design. All of their templates are responsive by default, which is great for making sure your users are not frustrated by having to zoom in and out all day on their desktops, tablets, or smartphones.
- Professional templates: This includes quality templates for all industries, portfolios, ecommerce, etc.
- Mobile optimization: Each template tweaks to make room for mobile devices for better UX.
- Customization features: Add your logo and color scheme and customize as much as you want to make the site yours.
Weebly’s website templates are also considered some of the best in terms of their clean design and adaptability; if you are an entrepreneur who values modern and mobile-friendly aesthetics, then this is an ideal choice when looking at the best website builders.
All-in-One Ecommerce Functionality
Do you want to sell products or services online? Weebly comes with an ecommerce solution, which helps you easily set up an online store. This feature provides an edge to startups and small businesses that don’t have the budgets.
- Product listing: You can list products with descriptions, images, plus prices.
- Inventory control: Monitor your inventory levels and can manage the orders.
- Secure checkout: Customers are protected with built-in SSL certificates.
- Payment options: Integration with major payment gateways (such as PayPal, Stripe, and Square).
If you’re looking for an affordable ecommerce solution that makes selling online dead easy, this is where Weebly really rises above other website builders and makes most ecommerce-focused platforms look overkill if all you need is a low-cost ecommerce solution, since it easily works as a free website builder with ecommerce features.
SEO Tools to Boost Visibility
New businesses and websites desperately need visibility, and Weebly has built-in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) tools designed to help your site to start ranking higher in search engines. These tools can assist entrepreneurs to outrank in searches and capture extra organic traffic.
- SEO settings: Customize page titles, descriptions, and URLs to improve ranking.
- Optimize images: Include alt tags in images, making you much more visible on searches.
- Add Google Analytics: Find out how visitors behave and improve your site.
Weebly, unlike some free website making sites, comes with many powerful SEO tools as standard. So you won’t need to invest heavily on additional SEO tools, which makes it perfect for new businesses starting to grow online.
Built-In Marketing Tools
The Weebly platform also comes with in-built marketing features to help reach out to your audience, bring them in as leads, and convert more customers. This is especially useful for startups and solo entrepreneurs, who usually lack a marketing team.
- Weebly Promote takes care of email marketing campaigns for you easily integrated with email marketing.
- Social media integration: Connect your social accounts and urge sharing.
- Lead capture forms: Create your own forms to obtain leads or collect feedback.
This in-house marketing equipment empowers you to promote your business without depending upon external platforms, and makes a lot more efficiency in functioning, conserving your time too.
The Score: Weebly vs. Other Site Builders
Weebly vs. Wix
Both Weebly and Wix allow drag and dropping your website elements; however, Wix offers more design freedom and customization. But here is where Weebly is able to make things easier for a beginner, forcing you to adhere to a more organized design system, in that it tends to prevent you from moving things out of alignment.
Weebly vs. Squarespace
Squarespace templates are beautiful and are frequently used by creatives. Weebly's simpler user experience and much lower cost are more business-friendly, making it a better choice for entrepreneurs and small businesses.
Weebly vs. WordPress.com
WordPress offers a bit more flexibility using plugins, but in turn takes more time to learn. Weebly is a simple website maker that requires little to no technical know-how, making it the best website to make a website if you need to get set up quickly and without much hassle.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Started with Weebly
- Try Weebly — free Weebly Sign Up. It's a quick process with an option for a free site maker.
- Select a Template: Go through templates available in Weebly and pick a template that reflects your niche/brand.
- Make Your Site Your Own: Use the drag-and-drop builder to add text, images, videos, and other components.
- Include SEO Features: Create page titles
Weebly for Growing Businesses: Advanced Features
An App Center for More Options
Weebly was one of the first apps to create an App Center where you have a plethora of third-party applications to create the best experience. This makes it very adaptable and is great for an entrepreneur who is looking for more advanced features as their business expands.
- Ecommerce apps — Include apps like Printful for drop shipping, or other add-ons to help you manage your store in an efficient manner.
- Additional marketing tools: Download apps such as Mailchimp to improve email marketing and expand your reach.
- Social Media Integration: Integrate your website with social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to share your website easily.
Weebly is a top startup website builder to scale, thanks to the versatility built into this App Center differentiator.
Weebly Promote: Integrated Email Marketing
Most website builders do not come with any email marketing tools, so you need to rely on third-party tools to run your email marketing campaigns. However, Weebly has an integrated email marketing platform called Weebly Promote. This tool enables companies to build and send professional email campaigns directly through the Weebly dashboard.
- Pre-designed Email Templates: Access to pre-made email templates to design stunning campaigns.
- Automated workflows: Create automated email sequences like welcome emails or abandoned cart reminders.
- In-depth analytics: Analyze open rates, click rates, etc., to measure success.
This makes it easier for you to stay connected with your audience, even if you are making other types of software cash outlays, and this feature is what makes Weebly set apart from other website creation sites.
Write Your Own Code or Use the IDE for Advanced Edits
For users who desire greater control over their website design, Weebly includes a code editor in advanced mode, which makes it a perfect feature for those startups who might consider customizing their site further down the road.
- Access to HTML/CSS: Add custom code for custom elements or functionality.
- External embeddables: Embed videos, forms, or other interactive items from other platforms.
- JavaScript support: Load custom scripts for advanced features such as animations or tracking codes.
Weebly offers a level of customization that is hard–if not impossible–to find on free website building sites without access to the backend.
Take A Look At How Weebly Compares To Others: User Reviews
PCMag’s Review of Weebly
Weebly receives high marks in user-friendliness, making it one of the most accessible website builders available according to PCMag. It will be especially useful for beginners, as they praise its simplicity and usability. However, they point out that the design customization options for Weebly are a bit limited when compared to something like Wix.
TechRadar’s Take on Weebly
According to TechRadar, Weebly boasts an attractive pricing plan and ecommerce features, adding that Weebly is a real bargain for small biz owners. The Weebly App Center adds flexibility, but it doesn't come with as many integrations as you might find with some of the more feature-rich platforms.
User Feedback from Trustpilot
The reviews from Weebly customers on Trustpilot show that the Weebly drag-and-drop design gets a lot of love, while many users praise the easy installation process. However, other users wanted more templates specifically targeted to businesses in specific industries.
Summary: Comparing Weebly to the Best of the Best
Weebly vs. WordPress
WordPress is much more customizable (especially in its self-hosted version), but that also means you need a bit more technical know-how. Weebly is much simpler for those who think that ease of use is more important than customizations. Weebly is the more novice-friendly choice between the two, especially for entrepreneurs wanting to build a quick free of cost website.
Ecommerce: Weebly vs. Shopify
Weebly vs. GoDaddy
GoDaddy offers a fast and easy website builder but doesn't have all the advanced customization options of Weebly. With the limited tools that GoDaddy offers for ecommerce and email marketing, Weebly is a complete solution for establishing a business online.
Weebly SEO: How to Get the Most from Your Weebly Site
Leverage Page Titles and Meta Descriptions
Every page on your site should have a different title and meta description. Weebly makes these widgets customizable in the SEO settings, so search engines can understand what every page is about.
Incorporate Keywords Naturally into Your Content
Use keywords like “website builder,” “best website creator,” etc., sparingly to ensure they do not feel forced within your content. Write to be read, not stuffed with keywords.
Add Alt Text to Images
Add alt text to all images on your site, indicating what content they show. This not only helps visually impaired users but also enhances your site SEO.
Link Google Analytics with Search Console
Connect your Weebly website with Google Analytics and Google Search Console to see traffic data and check your search performance. Both are free to use and can provide useful data to optimize your site.
Create Quality Content
Consider putting a blog on your
Weebly site, and write articles about your business or industry. Over time, this