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Thebest website buildersare a perfect balance of power and ease of use.
This is done with the audience in mind.
Most website builders offer several pricing options, helping you find the best package and price for you.
Write the review
Finally, we write up the results of our tests into a full review.
Thats why evaluating ease of use is one of our most important review tasks.
This all starts from the very first login.
Most website builders offer several pricing options, helping you find the best package and price for you.
The editor is all about balance.
Even the smallest detail can make a huge difference.
Does a toolbar use icons you could actually recognise for key features, for instance?
Finding a template that works for you and your brand is an important factor in selecting a website builder.
If you look at a menu, do the various options clearly and accurately describe what theyre doing?
Usability depends on many different factors, and we check them all.
For our final verdict, we also take into account the target audience for a website builder.
We give every website builder that we review a score out of 5. This gives a strong indicator of how good the website builder is overall.
We evaluate more advanced features based on a number of factors.
If a website builder can be extended with third-party apps, we look closely to see whats available.
Website support and management features are important, too.
We consider free plans, trial periods and money-back guarantees.
These offer an intelligent way to overcome any uncertainty about picking the right website builder for your needs.
We also consider subscription lengths and associated discounts.
But it isnt just about low prices.
If the price is higher than average, what do you get beyond the norm?
If it’s unbelievably low, what might you be sacrificing?
We also pay particular attention to hidden costs.
Maybe the plan looks cheap, but essential features, like backups, cost extra?
We factor in these unexpected charges to verify our recommended providers offer genuine value for money.
How can you get in touch with a provider, for instance?
But its also good to have live chat and phone support available when youve a quick one-off question.
We test these support methods to see just how each service performs.
Does phone support force you through a lengthy menu system before you could talk to anyone?
How long does it take to get a response on live chat?
The best support isnt just about solving one-off problems.
Templates
Templates are pre-built designs which you could use as a starting point for your own website.
But its not just about the visuals.
We also build default sites with multiple templates and look at how they work.
Do templates use lots of scripts, slowing them down?
Are they properly optimized for SEO out of the box?
Hosting
Despite the name, website builders arent just about creating a site.
We consider any bandwidth allowance, or the data your site is able to use each month.
If your site has a lot of visitors, then its likely youll need a plan with more bandwidth.
Speed is important for any website, both in terms of user experience and search engine optimization.
But thats not the end of the story.
Its possible for a website builder to rate 5 for ecommerce, say, but 3 for value.
The process we have outlined above is applied to each website builder we review.
