It’s no secret that the internet is where it’s at. And it’s also no secret that there are a lot of web hosting companies – cheap hosting or not – competing for the attention of the thousands of businesses that are flocking to the web to get a piece of the pie. In other words, it’s a Buyer’s Market. As eMerchants all over the world know, consumers are always looking for bargains. And as our tastes change and our palates become healthier, we’re looking for more and more value from the companies that provide it at less and less cost to us. As a result, today’s web hosting companies can’t afford to be “cheap”
In order to stand out from the crowd, cheap hosting companies must offer a wide range of tools and services. Website design and building is the least of these, and if your cheap hosting company isn’t able to help you design, build, publish, edit and maintain your site, then it’s too cheap. In this article, we’ll cover some of the most popular and useful features you can expect from a good cheap hosting company’s website builder/editor.
In order for cheap hosting companies to compete, they must offer a range of tools to make their services stand out from the crowd. Website design and building is the least of these services, and if your cheapest hosting company can’t help you design, build, publish and maintain your site, then it’s just too cheap. In this article, we’ll look at some of the best and most common features you can expect from a good cheap hosting company’s website builder / editor. What is a website builder? A website builder (or website editor, depending on the cheap hosting company you’re working with) is a program that allows you to design and build a website. It’s been around for so long that it’s now so easy that a retired grandma could do it! (You thought “a child”, didn’t you?)
The software exists and has been around for a long time to allow anyone at any time to design, create, and publish a website that’s not just a site, but a site that works. A site that’s fault-free, search-engine-compliant, visually appealing, easy to navigate, and drives traffic. And it doesn’t require a lick of HTML code! The basis of any site builder/editor is pre-made web pages, designed around certain themes or categories (sales, member organizations, service providers, internal, family scrapbooks, etc.) that you can use as you please. Just fill in the blank with your own data, and you’re good to go!
A template is just a stepping stone for your website. You can use it as-is; that’s fine if it’s a personal website for yourself and your friends. However, don’t expect to get a lot of business from an unoptimized template. A template is designed to be completely customizable. This includes everything from background colors and fonts to text sizes and graphics, backgrounds and borders, page layout and more. You should make the most of this facility. Cheap hosting company’s website builder/editor should offer not only a wide range of templates in wide range of themes and categories, but also a wide range of color sets and fonts, graphics, clip art, photo databases, backgrounds and borders.
Many of the most popular and widely used website tools, such as photo album, event calendar, feedback form, and user forum, may also have templates. Today’s cheap hosting companies not only need to turn your vision into smart HTML code, they also need to give you the power to write Javascript and Flash based content. These may not seem like important features at first, but if you don’t have them, you’ll be stuck building websites that your visitors will find boring, unimpressive, and uninteresting. A good website builder should also have a proper Preview feature, so you can see your website’s progress at every step. You’ll want to know exactly what your website visitors will see when your cheap hosting companies get your site up and running. Last but not least, if you’re going to have a website that’s not just for your personal use – which is probably the case with most of the websites on the planet – you need to make a sale. If there’s one thing that every cheap hosting company’s website builder needs, it’s a shopping cart.
Check the shopping cart offered by the cheap hosting company you are considering. Is it customizable? Is it user-friendly? Is it complicated to use? Does it accept all major payment methods, including credit cards and PayPal, both online and offline? These tips will help you make an informed decision when selecting a cheap web hosting provider.