Creating a website is a challenging proposition. There are many things to look into before you can bring the vision of your brand or business to life. From creating a website to deciding what fonts and colors should be used, we have created a list of tools to help you create your ideal website.
But before you start building your website, you must ensure you are using dependable internet service, like Windstream.
Here is a list of over 30 free or cheap tools to help you build your website. Depending on your requirements, some of these websites will be better than others. Use this list as a starting point for your website.
Get a Domain Name
You would ideally want a dedicated domain name for your website. You do not want your brand or product to be tied to any other platform or service. Register your domain name with Hover. You can then use it with all social media platforms where you do your promotion. Hover will give you the option to move across multiple platforms without going through the trouble of changing your domain name.
Build a Website
A website builder is an extremely handy tool for anyone looking to boost their online presence. They help build your website from scratch. Website builders have built-in templates and other tools to create your ideal website. Here are some of the website builders we recommend:
Wix
This is a fairly well-known free website builder. It is primarily a drag-and-drop builder. Premium features will cost you extra. Basic upgrades start at $5 a month. If you want to build a website that requires video capability, logo design, large storage, and elimination of Wix ads, you will have to spend up to $30 a month.
Webflow
This builder has over a hundred templates that can be customized. It has many useful features like customized SEO, on-page editing, and auto-updates. Webflow will allow you to personalize your website as much as you want and that too without needing to have any coding skills.
Squarespace
This is another popular website builder. It has drag-and-drop features with stylish customizable themes and a free logo maker. A basic plan on Squarespace will cost you $12 a month. To get all the marketing and e-commerce features, you will need to spend up to $40 a month.
Weebly
This is a free drag-and-drop website builder. Weebly will allow you to add a shopping cart to your website. In addition to SEO, it also has email and chat support options to incorporate into your website. You can get premium features like e-commerce, online security, unlimited storage, and priority assistance for between $7 and $30 a month.
Pixpa
This is a website builder designed for posting portfolios. The features include blogs, e-commerce, client galleries, and round-the-clock assistance. You can get additional services like inventory management, advanced mailing lists, and unlimited pages for between $7 and $16 a month.
Pixieset
This is a freemium website builder that lets you get image-based templates. Subscription costs up to $40 a month. The higher the subscription, the more storage space you will be offered.
Design Your Website
These tools are meant for people who like to put in an effort to build their website. You can customize your website by abandoning templates and using your coding skills.
Color Schemes
These color wheels will help you in deciding what color schemes will be suitable for your website.
Adobe Color
This is an advanced tool. It has a host of options and moving parts to help you get the best color combinations.
Paletton
This color wheel has a simple and easy-to-use interface.
Coolors
This tool will allow you to generate random colors. You can lock colors in to add to your choices. You can also remove those you don’t find appealing. Coolors can also be used on all iOS devices.
Colourcode
This tool is free to use. It has some excellent patterns, color schemes, and unique images.
Fonts
Fonts can be used to make your website look unique. Here are a few tools to help you select from a variety of diverse font types:
Font Squirrel
This tool has a wide collection of high-quality fonts. It is free to use.
MyFonts
This is another useful tool that can help you identify a font that you come across online but don’t know what it is called. All you have to do is upload a screenshot from the website and paste it into the search box of the tool.
GoogleFonts
This tool will allow you to customize fonts and incorporate them into your website. It is another free service. There are nearly a thousand font options to choose from.
Typetester
This is a useful tool that will allow you to make side-by-side comparisons of different fonts. You can narrow down your font options, design new fonts, and see which font combinations go well with each other.
Stock Images and Vectors
Using icons and images will make your website stand out among the crowd. Here are some sources you can use to find quality images:
Pixabay
You will find a wide variety of vectors, videos, stock images, and illustrations on this tool. The tool creators claim they have nearly 2 million images. It is free to use.
NounProject
This tool provides vector icons. It is a community-based tool. You can use icons without any charges if you mention the artist’s name on your website otherwise you would have to pay $1 royalty for every icon used. You can choose from over a million icons. The collection is updated every day.
Vecteezy
This tool has a wide variety of stock images you can use for your website. You can use these images for free but you will have to attribute them to the artist who created those images.
Findicons
Findicons has over 500,000 free icons to choose from. It also comes with a free icon converter so you may change an icon to any format you wish.
Nappy
This is your go-to platform if you are looking for visually appealing high-resolution images. The collection is free to use, although it is not very extensive yet.
Pexels
Pexels is a website with a good selection of modern and trendy images you can use for your website. You can use the images for free as long as you attribute the photographer. You can download all images in multiple sizes as per your requirement.
Unsplash
This is a community-based photography platform. There are over a million high-quality images to choose from. The tool will let you download images in multiple sizes. It is another free-to-use tool.
Image Editing
Photoshop/Lightroom
This is the premier tool used by professional website creators. It costs a fairly affordable $10 a month so it is accessible to use for many people. It comes bundled with Adobe Creative Cloud.
Gimp
Gimp is a good alternative to Photoshop. It has an open-source editor and is free to use. It can be used on all Windows, Linux, and Mac devices.
Pixlr
This is a web-based image editor that can be used for free. For $4 per month, you can get 3,000 overlays in addition to texts and stickers. For $15 a month, you can use the service without any ads. You will also get to choose from 28,000 overlays and will be offered round-the-clock customer support.
Canva
Canva is another browser-based image editor. It has drag-and-drop features and is a good tool to use for people with poor designing skills. You can choose from a wide selection of background images, layouts, and texts. You can even upload your own images on the website. If you purchase a premium account, you will get additional high-quality images.
BeFunky
This is another web-based image editor. It is easy to use. You can use it to create collages and templates for marketing purposes. You can use it for free but if you purchase a subscription, you will get an ad-free experience.
Content for Your Website
What good is a website without content? Since you use tools for images and fonts, you might as well use tools for creating content. Here are some tools you may use:
Blogging
WordPress
WordPress is without a doubt the go-to platform for creating blogs on your website. It is free and simple to use. There are a wide variety of plugins to choose from.
Tumblr
This is a good option for micro-bloggers. They can use it to quickly share video, images, audio, and text content with your blog readers. It is free to use.
Svbtle
This has a stripped-down user interface. It lets you concentrate on writing rather than distracting you with widgets and menus. You can subscribe to this service for $6 per month.
Ghost
Ghost is another distraction-free platform for blogging. You can get a side-by-side view of your text and a preview of your final product. If you are hosting your own website, you can use it for free. Otherwise, you will need to subscribe. Subscription starts at $30 a month. It includes plugins for subscriptions, security, newsletters, and memberships.
Posthaven
Posthaven is a very simple tool to use. It has a unique feature where you can post content to your blog through email. Just write your content and email it to Posthaven as an attachment. At $5 a month, it is a fairly affordable service.
Postach.io
You can use this tool to post content from other applications that you may be using like Evernote, Pocket, and Dropbox. The basic version is free to use. For $5 a month, you can utilize additional features such as secure websites, multiple sites, and multiple authors.
Forms
For survey and data collection purposes, you may use any of the following form-creating tools:
Reformed
This is a very basic form-editing tool. You can generate forms in HTML format. If you are proficient at using HTML, you can customize your forms.
Google Forms
Like most Google services, this one too is available for free. You can use it to create polls and quizzes. You can also collect email addresses to update your mailing list. It has a very simple user interface.
pForm
This is a useful tool for creating HTML forms. You can select the style and elements you wish to include and then download the forms in HTML format. You can use the basic version for free. For premium services, you will need to pay $15 per month. These services include auto email form results, auto email responses, PayPal payments, and file uploads.
Wufoo
Wufoo has a wide selection of form templates to choose from. You can even customize your forms with this tool. It integrates with MailChimp, WordPress, and Twitter and it comes with analysis and reporting features. You can use it for free for a single user for up to three reports and forms each, and 10 fields. Premium services start at $15 a month.
Summing Up
A lot of effort goes into making a website. You may have some great ideas for your business or brand, but they will go to waste if they can’t be articulated on a website. Use the tools mentioned here to make your website stand out. You would also make your life easy if you use a reliable internet connection before you launch your website. Get your desired reliability with Windstream internet.
