SETTING YOUR SITES ONLINE

ANYONE CAN BUILD AND LAUNCH THEIR OWN WEBSITE TODAY

AND, YES, YOU CAN TOO

By Maria Mandile

Set-And-Forget

I get it. You just want a website, not the twelve Labors of Hercules. You're a busy person. You live and work in the real world, not online. But in this modern, technology-oriented world, you need a website to direct clients to your real world services. And you need it fast because every day you're business is missing from online action, you're losing opportunities. But you've heard nightmarish stories about friends and coworkers getting ripped-off on pricing by tech-savvy website creators. And you don't want to get all wrapped up in the confusing and frustrating process of learning to build a website from scratch yourself. It's making you start to hate the internet. Can't you just toss up a set-and-forget website yourself without fear of losing your shirt or a massive and excruciating learning curve? The answer is, yes. This page was written for you.

setting up a website can be a daunting task for the complete beginner. At least in the early days of the internet this was true.

Today there are many online website builders that have streamlined and simplified the process of building, launching and maintaining a website yourself. Online website builders integrate all the required services you'll need into one place, making the task of website building and launching quick and easy. They are uniquely good at making website building a simple step-by-step process anyone can follow. No knowledge of coding necessary.

On this page I will feature two such online website builders that I believe are best suited for the complete beginner to semi-novice. As an experienced web creator with decades of website building in my background -- including witnessing and guiding many complete beginners through the horror of their first website build, I have concluded the two online website builders I recommend below provide the most pain-free introduction and experience for anyone looking to build their own website...from beginner to novice to even expert. Even as an expert, I currently use one of the services below because, frankly, it's just easier. If there is anything I am trying to impart to you, the reader of this, it's this:

Building your own website doesn't have to be confusing or difficult or time-consuming. There are completely legitimate "lazy" ways to a set-and-forget website that even us experts use from time-to-time.

OPTION #1

Google Sites

One of those ways is Google Sites. Google, of course, should need no introduction but they are an extremely well-known internet company that is primarily famous as a search engine. Since their rise to internet dominance, Google services have branched out into Email and, yes, site builders. If you haven't already noticed from the website address, the website you are currently reading was built with Google Sites. Google Sites are uniquely great as information and teaching websites, anything related to imparting knowledge. But that does not limit Google Sites to other uses. Certainly, if you really are in a hurry to establish a web presence for your small business, a Google Site can be the quickest and easiest route. That is why it is my first recommended website builder for the beginner and semi-novice looking to build and launch their own website.

All-In-One Website Launching Solution

Google provides an all-in-one website launching solution in one place. All that is required for you to use Google Sites is signing up for a free Gmail email address. Once you have that, you simply go to Google Sites, select a template and start building using the simple visual website editor. Google automatically handles hosting and because it is Google, your published Google site is assured indexing in Google's search results. Obviously, Google will always want to favor websites built with its own website builder so this is a great plus and reason I recommend Google Sites for the beginner to even expert. Your free account at Google will even entitled you to free analytics or website visitor stats which you can always add later as you become more comfortable using Google's system.

Security and Trust

The Google name is synonymous with trust. Because Google services are used by so many people, they will be more comfortable visiting your Google site than some other free site built with a less known company. Because Google is such a big company, they tend to have more of a responsibility to protect their users. This means websites created with malicious intent are more likely to be discovered and dealt with by Google in a number of ways, such as de-indexing from their search results to warning notifications to visitors to even deletion and account suspension. And so having a Google website without all these restrictions is nothing short of being vetting by one of the biggest and most reliable internet companies.

Super-Simple Website Builder

Google Sites's website builder is intuitively simple to use. For creating a basic website, it really boils down to only adding your text, your images and any links you may already have around the internet. Creating additional pages that mirror the theme of your main page is as simple as a click. To be clear, Google Site's website builder lacks many of the capabilities of other website builders but that's what we want in the case of a reluctant beginner to website building. We want to keep everything simple and just reach the goal. The goal is creating a website to feature your work and contact details and get it online fast and easily. We can worry about adding complexity- if necessary- later.

Search Indexing

Many reviewers will tell to there are better free website builders out there than Google Sites. But I think these reviewers are forgetting a key advantage of using Google Sites. Google owns the most popular search engine on the planet. It's services, including search, are used by billions of people world-wide. So obviously, Google is going to give special considerations in search indexing to websites built using the Google Sites web builder. This means the chances of your published free website being seen are better using Google Sites than if you used other non-Google free website builders.

One Disadvantage of All Free Websites

The unfortunate drawback of using free websites is the lack of your own custom domain name address. For Google Sites, this means the web address for your website will look something like this:

https://sites.google/view/yoursitename

While many might find this perfectly acceptable for their purposes, such a long web address can be a mouthful to impart to a client over the phone, not to mention, hard to recall if it's not written down in front of you. If you're looking to provide an easy to remember website address as well as a more professional feel for your site's visitors, you're going to want your own custom dot com domain name. A custom domain name through Google Domains costs $12 per year and because it is Google Domains it will be easy to connect to your Google website.

Drawbacks of Google Sites

No E-Commerce, Poor Contact Forms

One of the biggest drawbacks of using Google Sites is it provides no e-commerce features so it's not easy to setup a store with your site. If you just want a website that features descriptions and images of your work as well as your contact information, this won't be a problem for you. However, if you want to and anything more to your contact page than a phone number or email address, setting up a professional-looking contact form can be clunky and unnecessarily complicated on a Google Site.

Support Will Be Limited

Because Google Sites is free, finding proper hands-on support and guidance is not guaranteed. Yes, it's Google and they have a lot of employees addressing issues but, as a free user of their services, your ability to have issues addressed in a timely manner in any way comparable to a paid service if you get stuck will be more of a challenge.

Theme Selection

Your selection of website themes at Google Sites will be extremely limited. There are basically only 7 templates. Granted, you can change the colors and design structure but, in essence , you will be basically dealing with the same site as everyone else that uses Google Sites.

Final Assessment of Google Sites

Overall, Google Sites is a useful, if limited, platform for quickly and easily creating a website for someone in a hurry with limited knowledge of website building. If you can go without some of the bells & whistles of the paid website builders you will be fine for a while with Google Sites. If you think Google Sites is the website builder you want to use to build your site, you can click the text link below and begin building. If you want a little more professional feel and functionality from your website, you are welcome to read on and I'll introduce you to a second option I recommend.

YOU CAN CREATE A GOOGLE SITE BY CLICKING HERE NOW

This page contains affiliate links.

OPTION #2

Website.com

If you're looking for a more professional feel, Website.com's paid basic plan is my choice as the most pain-free route to a full-on legitimate online presence or small business website. As is Google Sites, Website.com is an All-In-One solution to building and launching an online website. Everything you need to create an online presence is here. I'll explain why I think this is the better paid option to, not only Google Sites, but to most other available paid online website builders out there. I also want to mention upfront that I am an affiliate of Website.com. However, I am not recommending Website.com because I am an affiliate. Although I would welcome getting a commission should anyone choose a paid plan at Website.com, I genuinely think Website.com is a great choice for a paid all-in-one solution to setting up a website for anyone...but especially for the beginner. Admittedly, in return for the guidance I present on this page, I, of course, hope you will click through my affiliate link at the bottom of this page should you decide to check out Website.com.

The Website Builder

Like Google Sites, Website.com's web builder is not going to bombard the beginner with too many features and design capabilities. It works much the same as all online website builders. You click to place page elements as needed, add your text, images and links. While, in the long run, more features is great, there is no need to overload, you, the beginner, with a lot of unnecessary features you won't even use. The goal is to keep the process simple and make your introduction to website building successful and as confusion-free as possible. Too many choices all at once are not conducive to learning. We are looking for just what all basic websites need to function. Website.com's website builder works much the same and has only slightly more features than Google Site's website builder which, I think, makes it the perfect transitional upgrade if you want to go the paid route.

Cost

If you want a little more functionality, a basic paid personal plan at Website.com is regularly $10 per month and includes a custom domain name free. Additionally, as of the posting of this page, Website.com is running a 75% off promo which cuts the price down to $2.50 per month. However, even at the regular $10 per month price, Website.com's price beats out the price of behemoths like Wix and Square Space. To be sure, a free Google Site with $12 per year domain name is the cheaper option if you're willing to forego a sensibly-working contact form and proper support when you have an issue. But comparable to all the other online website builders out there that do check off all these boxes and more, Website.com is the best priced of the legitimate all-in-one online website builders from my research.

Theme Selection

In comparison to Google Sites, Website.com offers hundreds of website themes. Having so many templates to choose from might feel intimidating to a fledgling website builder interested in creating their first website. However, the templates available with Website.com all share a similar simplicity and uniformity of functionality while maintaining a thoroughly professional appearance. Elements formerly not customizable in Google Sites are now yours to tweak and even delete as per your preferences.

Contact forms work like professional contact forms and even integrate maps to better enable your site visitors to determine if your services are more likely to be available in their area. The templates at Website.com just look slicker and more professional than Google Sites as well. No visitor to your site will be getting the impression that you're anything less than professional from your website when using Website.com. Whereas with a Google Site -- with very rare exceptions (yours truly included ;-) --, it's kind of an obvious given you are just throwing up a website in the easiest and quickest manner possible.

One Thing To Note

Keep in mind, however, I only recommend Website.com for any of the paid plans and not their free plan. For a free plan I refer the reader back to Google Sites, which has a less intrusive banner advertisement than Website.com.

Final Assessment of Website.com

It's right there in the name - Website.com. Website.com's website just looks like they should be selling websites...and of course with that domain name, they are in the right business. Getting started is easy. You browse through their templates, choose one that looks good to you and you make your purchase. There's no questionnaires to fill out before they'll show you a template. All available templates are presented with no restrictions or limitations. You look. You choose. You buy. Once you buy, the wheels behind the service are set in motion. Full support will be available at any point should you need it. But the entire point of an all-in-one website builder is to make it less likely you will need assistance while building and launching your website. Everything is designed for simplicity and ease of use. Contrary to Google sites, all the basics of professional and presentable website design are covered here and at a price that is extremely competitive for this quality of service. This all allows for that pain-free website-building experience.

CLICK HERE NOW TO QUICKLY SETUP A WEBSITE AT WEBSITE.COM

Final Words

You don't have to feel lost when it comes to setting up a quick website for your small business anymore. Most of these online website services integrate setup, design management and domain name registration in one place. Find one that looks good, pick a plan that meets your needs that you can afford and sign up.

Google Sites is a great starter website builder if you want to quickly get the ball rolling and if your budget is minimal and your patience is low.