5 Tools to Create a Professional Website for Free

Most people would agree that creating a professional website either requires a lot of coding or a lot of money. However, with the emergence of website builders, you don’t need both. In fact, with the help of these tools, you can now create your own professional website without having to spend a single dime. In this post, I will share some of the most efficient website builders you can use to create your dream site – for free!

1. WordPress.com

WordPress.com is the number one platform for creating websites. It powers 25% of all websites today or more than 80 million blogs worldwide. The reason I like WordPress is because 1. it’s highly customizable and 2. it offers plenty of useful features like options to choose a personalized theme and the ability to increase the website’s functionality using plugins.

WordPress also offers a comment section and a feedback form which helps a lot when you want more reader engagement. On WordPress, I can browse through other people blogs and grow my network as I comment on other posts. WordPress is free but you can always change your domain name for a price so that it doesn’t read “yourbusinessname.wordpress.com”.

2. Blogger

Blogger, like WordPress, is another popular blogging site which can be used to create a professional website. When I first started a blog back in high school, I used Blogger. With Blogger, you can easily customize your website by using widgets and short codes.

Unlike other websites, blogger is hosted by Google, so you basically get your own space on the internet which is inside Google’s servers (so no need to pay for your own hosting). If you want a custom domain (without a blogspot.com after your site name) you only have to go to Settings and add a custom domain function under blog address.

If you’re looking to earn some cash, you can also monetize your website in Blogger using Google Ad sense. You may think this is easy, but it requires a lot of knowledge in internet marketing. Blogger is best used for niche-focused websites and for people who want to try their hands at blogging.

3. Tumblr

Tumblr is known for its ability to post multimedia content on its platform. It is a great place to start a personal blog or create your online portfolio. It is also known as the website for the artsy and creative posters. For the people with creative jobs – illustrator, graphic designer, photographer. And I must say it is the trendiest looking blogging site of all. You can use Tumblr to host a media rich website filled with content you and your followers love.

The best part about Tumblr is that when you like other websites, they will appear in your dashboard and you can re-blog them or share it with the community. This feature not only helps in promoting other good websites, you also get exposure to the community.

4. Weebly

If you are an artist and want a professional website that looks awesome, Weebly is the platform for you. Weebly offers aesthetically pleasing responsive designs that work well on laptops and hand-held devices alike. An average person who doesn’t have much understanding of coding can build a beautiful website in Weebly. I created my own website here in less than 30 minutes.

Weebly is one of the best e-commerce website builders for small business owners. Aside from DIY web building features, Weebly also offers the option to download the website code so that you can keep the formatting if you choose to move to a different platform.

5. Wix

Like Weebly, Wix is another free website builder that can be used to create neat looking websites without the need to learn to code. The themes on Wix are all responsive and they all look great on various devices. Despite being a free site builder, Wix themes doesn’t look cheap and outdated. It is one of the few site builders that offer a *really good* looking website for free.

Recommended for self-employed artists and entrepreneurs, Wix is a great site builder for musicians, artists, and writers who want to showcase their talent and share it with the world. You can create beautiful portfolios that will certainly resonate with potential clients and customers. And the best part – all this can be done for free!

Featured photo credit: Lee Campbell via unsplash.com

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