SITE123

SITE123 Review: when and when not to use SITE123

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SITE123 website builder has become incredibly well known. Indeed, it succeeded in getting into a serious fight with companies that have existed for many years, making them almost irrelevant…

Some of these companies have been playing the old mode in business: profit, profit, profit. They do not care if the customers are having trouble using their services, or if the tools offered aren’t enough. All they care is if people are buying from them. That’s not nice.

We all know that nowadays, this isn’t the way to go. Every customer wants to know if the service they are paying for is actually providing them any value. People want to see the results or benefits from what they are buying right away. In this direction, Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, recently stated that “A world where business is motivated primarily by profit is no longer an option”.

Now, this is a man that has built his businesses from nothing. Virgin Group now controls over 400 companies all over the world. He most likely knows exactly what he is talking about. And we all know that what really matters in the other end are the customers themselves and that is what SITE123 has as its primary focus.

They actually provide value to your business or project by offering a straightforward website builder with full support whenever you need a hand.

Enough talk, let’s get right to it…

SITE123 created a super easy and intuitive interface with amazing layouts that are designed for small businesses, restaurants, online stores and artists such as musicians and photographers and more… They are optimised for mobile devices and are built with amazing code that delivers great SEO results for any website! And, with SITE123’s app market, every website can add popular web apps like google maps, forms, chat and much more.

The best part of all is that in order to do all that was mentioned above, you need absolutely no design or coding skills. Yes, the normal person can do it. You do not need to be a math geek that knows all kinds of coding in order to build a website. You do not have to be that super creative art guy that can draw an awesome website sketch in just a few minutes. Yet, by using SITE123 you will be able to do the job and obtain similar results.

Get going

With few simple actions you can create an amazing design to your website. The process is very simple: all you need to do is go to SITE123, sign up and choose your business/project category. Then, you insert some basic information and voilà, the system creates a website automatically taking your information into account.

Yes, it sounds and actually is very simple. But of course you need to do some things. That would be too good to be true if you could just lay back and have a website in a minute. However, it is still very easy. The website builder pretty much guides you through the whole building process. You start by editing your homepage: adding your logo, titles, slogans, images… Then you move on to adding the pages you need. There are several options that covers everything that most types of businesses need.

Also on the website builder, it is possible to change the layout (where your menu will be, how content will be placed, and so on). In addition, you can give an extra touch to the design by changing the color pallet and/or fonts so these match your brand identity.

Moving on there is the settings part, which is very important as well. There you have the option of changing your website type (single page or multipage), editing your footer, inserting a subscription box and more, including SEO features such as title tags, description tags and keyword tags.

On top of all these easy to edit features, you just have to add your content. What you put on your website will be the differentiator between you and other companies in the same field. The content is also what makes the website unique, so if you have to spend more time on something, make sure you spend it on your content in order to present nice looking images and compelling copywriting.

What does it cost? Nothing.

Ok, now that all this is said you are probably thinking: this is going to cost me a lot of money. That would, if you were in the wrong place. But on SITE123… Nah – wrong! It is available for free for as long as you want, but if you want to use professional features like your unique domain name, you can choose from one of their premium plans.

Of course they cannot make everything free for you because of all the team work involved in developing this amazing website builder tool. Their programmers, representatives and workers in general need to eat, sleep and shop just like you do. And they can’t work for free.

The good thing is: if you need a simple website without email accounts, domain name and other plugins, you can keep it free just as is. However, if you need the above tools, you can simply opt to purchase one of their plans and enjoy the benefits of having a more sophisticated site.

When you should choose SITE123 and when not

Now that we have gone through all the major aspects and the actual process of building a website there, let’s take a look at when to use SITE123 and when not to do so.You should use SITE123…

  1. When you are looking to build a website with no hassle. The interface is intuitive and useful (No drag and drop!) Finally someone gives you a really simple system to build your site. With the feeling that someone is guiding you and telling you what to do next
  2. When you are looking to rank high on search engines. FANTASTIC SEO results – SITE123 Built with an amazing code that delivers a great SEO results for any website.
  3. When you want nice design tools. SITE123 can supply a lot of professional features such as Ready-made Styles and Layouts, Responsive Web Design, Ready-made color pallet, Menu Link Styles, Navigation bar styles, Royalty Free Image & Video Library, website fonts and more
  4. When you would like accessible customer support. They have customer support & knowledgebase – providing 24/7 customer service with an amazing live chat + support.site123.com

You should not use SITE123…

  1.  When you need access to the source code. There is no option to browse the source and insert pieces of code. Very few HTML pieces may work using the blog or editing text pages.
  2. When you would like an ad-free website. There are visible advertisements on the free plan. If you are looking to keep your website in the free mode, you will have to deal with advertisement. But in that sense, it’s like that pretty much everywhere else…
  3. When you need elaborate stores. SITE123 is not designed to handle complex e-commerce needs. Stock management is simple and there isn’t much in terms of stats and managing flexibility. To be fair, they do have better e-commerce tools than most standard website builders, and that makes it possible to work with small and mid-sized online stores but not with big e-commerce websites.
  4. When you want to have a customer area. SITE123 does not offer the possibility for you to create a client intranet where they can view orders, receive messages, etc.

Conclusion

If you are tired of the expensive traditional means of having a website, SITE123 can change your life in that sense. Whether you are looking to keep a free website or get a more sophisticated one by paying, that is the right place to go. You will not feel like being scammed by a company that sees you not like a real person but instead like a bag of money. With their friendly customer support, you will feel like you are getting a product from a friend’s hand. And that is a whole different story.

In addition to the ethics, the ease of use is simply amazing. You do not have to drag and drop stuff around for hours on end. Simply add the page modules you need and tweak the website to your taste. The features available will make you feel like a rock star web designer. And the best part is: your customers will think that too.

On the con side, there is the fact that you cannot add any source of code in a definite part of your website. In addition, you will not be able have more complex stores or provide a customer login interface for them to keep track of the purchases and messages from you.

All in all, SITE123 is an amazing website builder. The simple aspects of this tool makes it accessible to almost anyone that knows how to use a computer. Furthermore, the pricing, staff friendliness, and ultimately, the looks your website will have when done will be a hell of a payoff!