Create a Website For Free In South Africa
A free website builder is your easiest and quickest route to launching a site, or blog, that exudes the professionalism that can compete with the big brands.
Unless you’re a competent website designer, or have loads of money to spare, having a powerful website builder at your fingertips is by far the best option to create a website for free in South Africa.
Not only is it an affordable, quick & easy option, you have full control over the look & feel you would like for your professional looking website.
While not all DIY web builder platforms are equal, some are quietly becoming extremely powerful and more than capable of allowing anyone to build & publish their own professional sites with ease.
The options below also include a free eCommerce website builder in South Africa which you’ll need if you’re planning on building an online store.
Essential Features Of An Effective Website Builder
Should you expect to get all the awesome features & benefits with a free website builder compared to what you would get with a paid version?
Like anything that comes for free, you need to make sure that it’s the real deal and not something that’s light on quality & usability.
This is why it’s important to check that the free web builder you’re going to use is packed with the type of features you’ll need to create a quality website.
Furthermore, just because it’s free, you shouldn’t have to settle for a poor product as it will just make your job of creating a professional looking website harder.
Most decent web builders will also include a free eCommerce website builder in South Africa.
Lastly, it’s worth noting that Drew Thomas, an eCommerce expert, says that advanced web builders, such as Wix, produce sites that look and feel as though they were coded by humans.
He goes on to say that companies should use them and that eventually they’ll replace custom website development.
Good Free Web Builders Should Include All Of the Following
- A Wide Range Of Pro Designed Website Templates
- All Templates Should Be Mobile Friendly
- A Large Image Library As Well As eCommerce tools & Shopping Cart Functionality
- Allow You To Create Personal, Business & eCommerce Websites Without Needing To Code
- Drag & Drop Functionality To Allow You To Be Able To Select a Feature & Drag It To Your Web Page
2 Awesome Drag & Drop Web Builders
Having a “drag & drop” function is an important feature for your website builder to help you get your awesome site published quickly & easily.
In fact, it doesn’t get much easier than dragging & dropping your chosen features & images to build your site and establish a professional website quickly and effortlessly.
Furthermore, I wouldn’t be surprised if seasoned coders & professional website designers would choose this option to build their clients’ websites as it makes so much sense. Why do all the time consuming coding when you can achieve the same, if not better, result with a drag & drop website builder.
Not only are these free web builders such a time saver, but they don’t compromise the website’s professionalism, looks or functionality.
1. Hostgator - Free Website Builder & Domain Name Included
With Hostgator’s “Gator Website Builder“, not only will you get all of the features that are essential for a professional online presence, but you will also get a free domain name*
- Website Builder
- Website Templates (Fully Customisable)
- Free Image Library
- Free Domain Name (Paid For the First Year)
- eCommerce Friendly (Free eCommerce Website Builder South Africa)
- Free SSL certificate
- Website Analytics
- Responsive Support 24/7
- And Much More...
* The Terms Of This Offer Could Change Without Notice
This website builder provides you with a one-stop-shop to easily establish a website that is not only functional & effective, but looks so good that you’ll be dying to show it off.
Sign up here and you could have your business, or blog, online today….
While the domain is free, you will however, have to choose a hosting plan for your website which starts from $3.84 per month – it’s well worth it when you consider everything that comes with it, including great support. If you’ve no idea which one to choose, read this article on choosing the right hosting plan for you.
Another option is to try a totally free package which, you’ll find, usually comes on a trial basis.
Furthermore, after 3 months or so of using a trial version, you’ll either have to purchase one of the company’s hosting packages (which often aren’t that competitive or of a high quality), or you’ll have to start all over again with a reputable web hosting company like Hostgator.
I recommend starting with a mainstream hosting company from the outset, you cannot get the professionalism from a trial version that locks you into an expensive contract eventually.
2. Wix Website Builder - Includes a 100% Free Version
I felt it would be remiss of me not to include the Wix website builder which is an advanced option used to create really awesome websites.
This is the Rolls Royce of website builders and surprisingly the Wix pricing starts with a free version, including a free Wix domain.
While you can create your Wix website with their free version, you will have to use a Wix domain that will look like this: yourname.wixsite.com/siteadress
Having the free domain option may seem like a benefit, but I wouldn’t recommend it as a long term business strategy as most of your site visitors will spot the freebie domain immediately which looks unprofessional.
However, using the free Wix version to get the feel of the software & see if it lives up to your expectations, I would recommend getting the paid version with which you can use your own domain name.
Wix Website Builder Features
Some of the awesome features you’ll get with a Wix account, which you need to build a professional online presence
- Hundreds of awesome, fully customizable templates
- Access to a massive collection of quality images, clip arts & icons
- Build your online presence with free and secure web hosting
- Marketing solutions to promote your business - email marketing, SEO assistance, etc
- A mobile optimized version of your site
- Use hundreds of free apps in the Wix App Market
- 500MB storage and 1GB bandwidth to host your site
- 24/7 support in our Help Center
- Free Wix domain (free version)
