If you’re starting your web business on a limited budget and want to ensure a professional, clean navigation structure then easy website builder tools might be an ideal solution. While paying a professional designer thousands of dollars might be in your future plans, saving money in the early stages of a startup might be a smart move. Before putting up a simple, basic site, however, consider that appearance mattes when it comes to early stage companies. You’ll want to feature your site prominently on business cards, emails and advertising, so a professional presentation is essential for your website. Even if you don’t have a degree in graphic design, you can translate your brand ideas into a compelling visual presentation with quality site builder tools. In this guide, we’ll walk through the process of deciding how to build a new startup site with website builders on the market today.
Choosing Website Builder Tools
Many web hosting companies and software development companies offer visual site builder tools for beginners. For either a low flat fee or monthly hosting rate, you can build a site with a visual WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor. Understanding how to design a quality site in house requires programming and design experience that many startups do not have. You don’t even have to know basic HTML with these programs, since they rely upon drag and drop visual editors, as well as automated scripting so you can add forms, functions, images and media. Website creation software is designed to bridge that gap by offering tools so you can create an ideal site to match your brand vision.
Most programs on the market today cost less than $50 with advanced programs running slightly more. Popular options such as Intuit Website Creator also give you a web-based interface for just $5 a month, which also gives you the flexibility of hosting the site with them for a nominal fee. Most professional designers create sites starting with visual images and proceed to code – with website builder tools you complete the process in one step, using an integrated interface to customize the design accordingly. Many programs, such as Web Easy Professional come with templates that you can customize, making it easier to start with a professional template.
Designing with Site Builder Tools
Today’s website builders have advanced features such as media editors, automatic uploads to your hosting, search engine friendly features (such as automated keyword tags), as well as automatic backup tools. You can easily hire a professional writer to produce sales copy, as well as a designer to make a professional logo and integrate those with a website builder. Most software programs make it easy to add images, contact forms and tables to your site.
By loading up a basic template that meets your application or industry type – corporate, entertainment, etc – you can start customizing a variety of pages (About Us, Products, etc.) with your own content and images. After building a quality site, you can go back and update the content as your startup evolves and can even learn basic design programming by viewing the dual visual and HTML editors included in many programs.
