After WordPress, online website creators are my favorite website building platforms. I particularly like the ones that let you try it for free.
I use many, including Weebly. In fact, I’ve built dozens of websites with online website creators (free and paid) as a supplement to my offline and online websites. They’re easy to use, fast, inexpensive and create nice looking websites.
This Weebly review profiles my experience using Weebly for creating a supplemental website for a client. Actually, I created a blog in Weebly, but Weebly makes fantastic static websites as well.
People frequently wonder whether it’s worth using Weebly or a similar platform called online website creators (a.k.a. online website builders). My response is “absolutely.” You can create excellent supplement blogs and websites if you’re looking for another outlet.
Moreover, if WordPress isn’t for you (it’s more complicated than Weebly and other online website creators), an online website creator is just fine for creating your business’ main website. I happen to prefer WordPress, but I’d have no problem using Weebly for my business’ main website.
This Weebly review starts with the main Weebly features, followed by my list of the Weebly pros and cons. Along the way I display several backend screenshots to give you an idea about what it looks like to use Weebly. However, don’t just rely on my Weebly review … one of the Weebly pros is you can use Weebly for free to see if it’s the online website creator for you.
Main Weebly Features
1. Templates
Weebly has 100s of templates which you can choose by category (business, personal, portfolio, color, etc.). You can search by category. Then you choose your design. The following is a screenshot of the Weebly website template display page (for the business category):
2. Easy-to-Use
I created my first Weebly website in less than 20 minutes. The following are a series of screenshots (it’s surprisingly few) that get you started:
After choosing your domain, you choose a template (using the template screen above).
Next, you set out your pages (including your blog if you want a blog):
Next, add content and design your home page. Note, you can create only a blog – you do so by deleting all pages in the screen immediately above.
The screenshot immediately above gives you a good view of the toolbar at the top. This is where you create your website. As you can see, it’s fairly simple and easy-to-use.
3. Adding a Blog post to your Weebly blog
The following screenshot depicts the simple process of adding a blog to your Weebly website.
4. Site-wide SEO
Weebly gives you the option to set up your site-wide SEO meta data in the Settings tab. Once in the settings tab, choose Search Engine Optimization. The following is the SEO panel:
5. Weebly Elements & Features
Weebly offers a decent array of what they call elements that improve the visitor experience and functionality of your Weebly website. The following is a list of Weebly elements available to you.
Blog Sidebar Elements
- Picture
- Twitter badge
- Flickr badge
- Del.icio.us Linkroll
- LinkedIn Button
- Archives
- Author box
- Category box
- Blog feed
Mutlimedia Management on posts AND pages
- Photo gallery
- Slide show
- File
- Audio
- Video
- Document embedding
- Flash
- Google Maps
- YouTube Videos
A note about the slide show. Weebly’s slide show element is one of the best of all the free online website creators I’ve used. The following depicts the Weebly slide show options you have:
General Site Elements
- RSS Feed Reader
- Custom HTML
- Divider
- Online Bookings
- Forum Software
- Online Polls
- Contact Form
Weebly Support
Weebly has a huge support library. Check it out:
It’s difficult showing you the full Weebly experience with a static Weebly review
Weebly offers free websites. regrettably this Weebly review cannot fully convey the Weebly experience. In order to truly get an idea how this free online website creator functions, create a free website with Weebly here.
Weebly for Website Designers
Weebly offers a platform for website designers. We designers create a website for clients. Clients can then log in and manage their Weebly site with their own login details. It’s a low-cost web design solution for small businesses.
The advantages of using Weebly by web designers is the option to create low-cost websites for clients. Let’s face it, many small business owners don’t want to spend $2,000 and up for a 5 page website. In fact, as a web designer, it’s my view that it’s important to explain to clients the importance of conserving resources for website promotion instead of spending every marketing dime on web design.
Is a low-cost web design business a good business model?
Yes and no. It’s smart because:
- You can build up clientele quickly
- With an established clientele you have many opportunities to grow your business by doing more work for existing clients.
- Build up your reputation by doing great work.
It’s not smart if you:
- Don’t leverage existing clients with additional work. If you churn out $300 websites, you create for yourself a job, not a business. Sure, you could hire someone to build the sites, but in my view the smarter move is to work with existing clients to help them with their ongoing online marketing.
Weebly Pros
- Add slideshow anywhere. Plus, there are many slideshow options. The slide show element is one of the best features of Weebly and definitely distinguishes them from other free online website creator platforms.
- Easy drag n’ drop technology.
- Free website option.
- Easy-to-use blog integration. This is an important feature because blogs are an extremely powerful business building tool. In fact, my business blog quadrupled my business inside 2 years. My blog is the focus of my business marketing (now I primarily consult for clients having sold my business once it grew to the point where I either sold it or ramped up infrastructure).
Weebly Cons
- Unable to fully configure blog post meta SEO data. By default, the blog post title is the meta title. The meta description for blog posts is the site-wide meta description. If you can, it’s hard to figure it out (and I’ve used many website builders). The right WordPress theme (of which there are several) include SEO customization for every page and post. I love being able to customize meta SEO data for every single URL on all of my websites.
- Unlimited page package is fairly expensive at $24.95 per month (for the non-free Weebly website). If you plan to build only one website, this isn’t too bad. If you’re like me and end up building dozens of websites and blogs for your business, WordPress may be a better choice.
Overall Impression of Weebly – Weebly Review Conclusion
Weebly is comparable to many other free online website creator platforms. It’s on the easier side to use. It’s toolbar is simple. The slide show element is a standout feature. Otherwise, the template selection is okay. They aren’t stunning, but they do the trick.
I’d have no problem building an inexpensive business website with Weebly. I’m confident it would convert. It’s ideal for first-time website builders who need a business website quickly. The SEO limitations are a concern as is the cost of an unlimited page package.
Click here to create a free Weebly website.
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