What Is A Sitebuilder? by Shannon Cox

Cheap websites are bountiful these days and there are many web design companies and web hosting companies offering sitebuilders that allow you to build a website in a relatively short amount of time. Sitebuilders are normally extremely user-friendly advanced website builders that let nearly anyone create and handle a successful website quickly, and like I said, extremely affordable.

Sitebuilders are just what they are, a package. There are sitebuilders that allow you to change almost every aspect of your site and there are sitebuilders that will limit you to only a few modifcations. Pricing ranges from $1.99 (of course you have to buy something else) to $49+ per month. Some have upfront setup fees while others will allow you to jump right in and start building without any setup fees. Most good sitebuilder offerings will allow you to try the sitebuilder out for free, build your website and when you are ready to pay, you sign up and then publish your site to your destination.

The one thing that people get hung up with with sitebuilders is that they can never find the right "template" that matches their site or business. Many people forget that they are using a sitebuilder and start to move to the custom world. One thing to not forget if you choose to go with sitebuilder technology as opposed to a custom designed system is that you will be locked in to what the sitebuilder offers. Some builders will allow you to edit the HTML after you have published while others will not. I recommend that you go with a sitebuilder that will allow you to edit the HTML once you have published so that you can make your site search engine friendly. Make sure your builder provider doesn't include those annoying tags linking back to their site at the bottom either. They shouldn't stick their link on your site unless you give them permission so read the terms of service before you sign up.

The bottomline with sitebuilders is that if you need a quick site put up, they are great. However, if you need special functions or features on your site, a sitebuilder may not be the best solution to your needs. A custom design will always give you more movement to do what you want and make your site stand out from the rest.

About The Author

Shannon Cox has empowered companies by providing internet consulting, web development, web design, branding, system integration and many other business consulting solutions since 1995. Currently, he owns and operates http://www.argonhosting.com providing quality web hosting, reseller web hosting and site building solutions.