How to Make a Website: Free and Best Value Options for 2024 (2024)

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In the current economic climate, scaling back costs has become a non-negotiable for many. Fortunately, business owners planning on building an online presence are now able to create a polished, professional-looking website without spending a dime, thanks to the help of free website builders.

While thebest website builders for small businessescost a premium, free website builders let you build, design, and edit basic sites without fussing around with code. They have their limitations, however. So if you want a custom domain name, or have specific site requirements, we’d still recommend investing in a paid builder or outsourcing the task to a professional.

For those of you intent on building a website for free, stay tuned – we outline how this can be done in simple steps in this article, from selecting the perfect software to making the final tweaks. We also round up the perks and pitfalls associated with each method, to make sure you’re beginning your online journey with 100% confidence.

• • How to Create a Website For Free in 7 Steps
  • Limitations of Making a Website For Free
  • Creating a Website With a Paid Website Builder
  • Hiring a Web Designer to Create Your Website
  • How Much Does it Typically Cost to Build a Website?
  • How Do We Test and Rate Website Builders?
  • Verdict: Is Using a Free Builder Right For You?

How to Build a Website For Free in 7 Steps

In 2024, a website has the potential to make or break a small business. But rest assured, heaps of tech experience isn’t necessary to create a high-performing site, thanks to the user-friendly nature of drag-and-drop builders.

Whether you’re creating a simple portfolio site, or a fully-fledged ecommerce store, learn how to make a business website for free by following the simple steps below:

• Step 1: Choose the best free website builder
• Step 2: Create an account and setup
• Step 3: Create a domain
• Step 4: Choose a website template
• Step 5: Design your site
• Step 6: Add products if necessary
• Step 7: Publish your site

In 2024, website builders like Squarespace and Wix come with detailed SEO guides, native keyword support, and SEO best practice prompts, which means you can optimize your site for Google even if you have no prior experience or knowledge to draw from. Plus, Wix now has a ChatGPT-style website builder that just needs a prompt to get started – which means beginners can build professional-looking sites without too much heavy lifting.

Step 1: Choose the best free website builder

You can’t build a free website without a free website builder. Free website builders are complimentary software programs designed to make the process of creating a website fast and easy. Like paid website builders, they let users control the content and design of a website without outsourcing a high-priced web developer to hardcode the website. However, they lack some more advanced features that you’d expect from paid versions, like enhanced customization and troubleshooting services.

When choosing a free website builder, it’s important to consider must-have features, like custom domain names if you don’t want a clunky-looking URL, AI capabilities if you want extra support building your site, or e-commerce integration if you’re creating an online store.

We extensively researched the best free website builders on the market – considering factors like web-building and design features, user experience, and customer support – and found that the best free website builder overall is Wix. The popular platform gives free users access to a raft of time-saving AI features, its intuitive drag-and-drop website builder, and hosting and storage options.

Wix’s free plan does lack custom URL options and will include ads on your website, but unfortunately, this is the price you’ll pay for using a free version. There are tons of free options to choose from aside from Wix, though. Learn more about our favorite solutions in our comprehensive guide to the best free website builders, or see how they weigh up at a glance in our comparison table below.

Step 2: Create an account and setup

After you’ve decided on a free website builder, you’ll have to create an account with your chosen platform. This should be a super simple step – all you’ll have to do is enter your email and create a strong password.

Then, the platform will guide you through its setup process. Most website builders will ask you basic questions about the requirements of your site, including its primary purpose, its target audience, and any must-have elements you want it to feature.

Because Wix is the best free website builder we researched, we decided to use the platform to set up a sample site. When creating a website with Wix, you’ll be able to choose whether to set your site up manually or to streamline the process with its AI chat feature. The AI chat is easy to use, and stores information you enter about your site, helping you to complete tasks faster later down the line.

Wix’s manual setup process is just as intuitive as straightforward, however, and there’s still AI-powered support at hand in the form of Wix ADI– which means it’s pretty hard to get stuck.

Step 3: Create a domain

As part of the setup process, you’ll have to create a custom domain for your site. When we talk about a website’s domain, we’re basically talking about the website’s address. For example, Tech.Co is the name of our website, and the domain is https://tech.co.

You’ll typically want your website’s domain to correspond with the name of your business, blog or whatever purpose you’re running it for – just so you don’t confuse people. Try writing up a list of possibilities and pick the best.

Most free website builders will give you a free domain to get started with – but they’ll often have the name of the website builder shoehorned in. For example, if I created a website on Wix with the chosen domain name of cakesncardsbycathy, your free URL would be username.wixsite.com/cakesncardsbycathy. It’s not exactly catchy, and you probably wouldn’t want to have your Wix username at the front of it either.

Step 4: Choose a website template

Once you’ve entered your business details, it’s time to choose the visual layout of your site. The template you choose will have a considerable impact on the overall look and feel of your site it’s important that you don’t rush through this stage, and consider a few options before locking one down.

You want your chosen template to complement the goals of your site, and your business type. For example, if you’re showcasing a design portfolio, you’ll want a template with strong visual elements, and if you’re creating an online store you’ll want a template that corresponds with your business’s branding and product offering.

Wix helps you along this process by letting you filter website templates by business type and website functions. You can also refine your search by entering targeted keywords in the search bar, like ‘chocolatier’, ‘minimalist’, or any other term that describes the intended function or aesthetic of your site.

Step 5: Design your site

So now you’ve picked your template, it’s time to move on to the actual website development part of the process. The template will be pre-loaded with stock words and images which you can chop and change to your liking. This is the time to unleash your creativity and make the site feel personal to you and your business.

Don’t worry, you don’t need tons of technical expertise to customize your site. Most website builders use a grid-based, drag-and-drop system for page editing. This makes it straightforward to keep each element on your page in line and when you want to add a new text box, image, or any other type of element, you’ll be able to see, at a glance, how to fit it onto your page.

If you’re looking for granular levels of control, Squarespace’s Fluid Engine lets you customize the design of your site down to the pixel – making it a great choice for businesses with a very specific vision in mind.

Here’s a breakdown of the main steps you’ll have to take while customizing your site:

Adding images

Uploading an image couldn’t be easier with platforms like Wix. All you need to do is select ‘Upload & Import’ under the Image tab, before selecting your chosen photos for upload, and making any necessary edits.

If you don’t have any to include, most website builders give users access to stock image galleries as well. Wix even includes free access to its AI Image Creator, which lets users create custom AI images using targeted keywords.

Editing text

Changing the text is, again, pretty straightforward – all you have to do is click on the bit of text you’d like to change and you’ll be able to type straight into the text box. You can also adjust the size and style of each bit of text, but it’s worth remembering that each font will generally be consistent with the template, so making radical changes might make it look a bit odd.

Wix let me edit the content, color and style of the text on my website, and move it wherever I wanted on my page. Source: Tech.co

Extra tools and function

You’ll also be able to add elements beyond text boxes and images with Wix and other website builders. These might include, for example, restaurant menus, contact forms, or social media feeds.

Again, you’ll be able to drop these onto the page and line them up using the gridlines. You might find that some apps and functionality are reserved for paid-for plans but typically this is for ecommerce functions such as stock tracking and shipping costs.

Step 6: Add products if necessary

For example, you’ll need to add the product name, price, and type, as well as a brief description. If you’re struggling for inspiration when coming up with product descriptions, builders like Wix, Shopify, and Hostinger have an AI text generator feature that provides you with lists of example paragraphs to include based on the details you enter.

This is also when you’ll need to upload your product photos too. We recommend using large and sharp images to show your product in the best light possible. It’s also a good idea to add a wide selection of product images, as well as product variants, so your audience can get an accurate idea of the products you’re selling on your site.

Step 7: Publish your website

That’s it, with all your content loaded up and the design perfected, a registered domain and a completed sign-up for the perfect payment plan – you’re ready to publish your site.

Before you do, though, it’s probably worth getting someone you trust to take a look over the site. An errant spelling mistake might be the difference between a sale, a booking or a commission!

The fun isn’t over, though. You’ll be able to – and you should – go in and update your website in case anything changes, or you just fancy changing some of the content. This will keep your site looking and feeling fresh for anyone who visits.

Limitations of Making a Website For Free

Free website builders provide a lifeline to small business owners who want to establish a site presence without denting their budget. However, while free website builders are perfectly adept at creating basic business sites or online stores, most businesses will struggle to meet all their requirements without investing in paid alternatives.

For example, websites created with free website builders will be covered with adverts, making your site look less professional and comprising the user experience for your audience. Most free builders won’t allow you to have a custom domain name either, which will impact your brand’s credibility and make it harder for users to find your site.

Free plans also offer limited storage options and lack advanced web-building, SEO, and design features. This means that users in need of specific capabilities will need to make up for these shortfalls with integrations and software add-ons. More times than not these extra tools come at a premium, resulting in business owners spending even more money on the service than if they opted for a paid plan in the first place.

Ultimately, whether or not you should use a free website builder depends on your user intent. If you’re just starting out and are perfectly okay with creating a no-frills website, using a free website builder could be a good option for you. If not, it may be worth considering investing in a paid platform or outsourcing the job to a professional. We offer an overview of both of these options next – alongside their pros and pitfalls – to help you determine the best way to build your site.

Pros of making a website for free

• Free website publishing is, of course, absolutely free

Cons of making a website for free

• Your site will be hard to find
• You won’t get a professional URL
• You’ll have to put up with adverts (that don’t make you money)
• Limited bandwidth will curb your success
• Your site will look unprofessional

Creating a Website With a Paid Website Builder

From our thorough testing, Wix emerged as the best website builder platform you can choose. The platform offers just about every feature in the book, including an SEO toolkit, and in-built marketing tools.

Wix is an excellent option for users without tons of technical experience. Its unique Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) platform lets you build a site from scratch in less than seconds, and the builder’s AI text, AI image, and AI meta-tag creators also make it ultra-simple for users to enhance their site without pouring in lots of effort.

In fact, its artificial intelligence feature stack is so impressive, that Wix was also the best AI website builder we tested – beating close runner-ups Hostinger and Shopify to the punch.

Wix won’t be right for everyone though. In our last round of research and testing, Squarespace emerged as the most user-friendly builder. Its professionally designed templates also make it a great choice for creatives after a modern site, and ecommerce stores looking to display their products in the best way possible.

Learn more about the easiest website builders for beginners.

Pros of using a website builder

• A lot more affordable that outsourcing
• Excellent design and customizability options
• Very low learning curve

Cons of using a website builder

• Potential site migration issues
• Drag-and-drop builders may feel limited to experienced designers
• Less capable of building a completely unique site

Hiring a Web Designer to Create Your Website

If you don’t wish to take on the task of building a site yourself, then you can contact a design professional to do it for you. In fact, you can request free, non-committal quotes from highly rated web design agencies using our web design quote comparison tool – it only takes one minute to do – easy!

Web designers can be a fantastic choice for small or medium-sized businesses. You’ll get a completely unique website and you won’t lose any of your time building the site itself. It can also be handy to hire a web designer if you need bespoke features.

Instead of creating the site yourself from a template, you’ll brief the designer on exactly what you want your site to look like, and the features you need it to have. They’ll get on with creating draft versions of your site, while you can get on with running your business.

Building a site using this method doesn’t come cheap, however. If you’re planning on a brochure-style site with 1-5 pages, you can expect to pay anywhere from $250 to $650. Yet, businesses looking to build fully-fledged websites with advanced features like ecommerce tools, content management platforms, and customer databases may need to spend in excess of $13k.

If these price points don’t put you off, find out how to hire a web designerin simple steps.

Pros of using a web designer

• You can get a completely bespoke site
• Saves you time and effort
• You benefit from creative expertise

Cons of using a web designer

• Much more expensive than using a website builder
• You might be locked into a long contract
• Risk of dependency on the same designer for all future updates

How Much Does it Typically Cost to Build a Website?

Most website builders will let you create and run a simple website for between $2-20 per month, but you might want a larger website or greater functionality. More advanced sites will cost another $5- 30 per month, but this will vary depending on your individual business’ needs.

If you’re just starting out though, it’s always worth investigating whether the website builder package you’re after offers a free trial or a free version. What free versions are good for is giving you a bit of leeway to get your site right before publishing it — otherwise, you might worry you’re throwing money down the drain.

Learn more about how much it costs to build a website, whether you’re outsourcing the task to a professional, or taking the DIY route.

How Do We Test and Rate Website Builders?

To work out the best website builders to recommend, we do extensive independent testing. Our research team has invested hundreds of hours into testing every feature, and they have developed a metric covering the six most important areas to consider for this software. These are:

• Features: Includes SEO, blogging, and assistance tools
• Design functionalities: Includes themes, mobile editors, and general flexibility
• Value for money: Includes plan costs and features offered with each plan
• Help and support: Includes type of support and support hours
• Customer score: Includes customer and user testing feedback
• Ease of use: Includes design and simplicity of the software itself

We include user testing, with a panel of users of mixed expertise trying out the website builders and feeding back. That way, we can give real-world recommendations to help you decide. All the while, we remain unbiased.

Create your site now with the Best Website Builders for Beginners

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