Create A Website For Free Online With Weebly

I have seen Weebly described as “the best website builder for small business sites” and you can create a “stylish and functional site with Weebly”. This platform is also known for providing all the tools you will need to build your business site or even an online store. The reports I have read on Weebly sound great. Let’s go have a look for ourselves, how about we Create A Website For Free Online With Weebly?

Weebly Review 2019

Introduction and Summary

Weebly themselves promote their platform as one where you can “Build A Free Website That Grows With Your Business”

and go further to say

“Get access to customizable web page designs and useful tools to build your website and grow your ideal business. Easily build a free website to help you get discovered and grow your customer base in style. Start today with our powerful free website builder.”

Having had a quick look through the site, I do like the offers that Weebly makes, they appear to cover all the bases from beautiful design to hosting to site security (which is vital) and domain management. They certainly do put their best foot forward.

Let’s Get Into It & Create A Website For Free Online With Weebly

I went into the Weebly platform and began the process of building a website with them, here is how it played out:

The first page is clearly laid out, easy to read and follow with a clear call to action button in the middle “Create Your Website” which I was very obliging about and clicked on that button. You will notice that they have other entry points on their menu at the top, including Search Domains, Log In (if you are already a member) and Sign Up. Nice, simple to follow page whether you are an experienced website builder or not:

The same page takes you through the beautiful layouts they have to offer:

Plus encouragement to “Get Going” and the process that you can expect to follow, which is quite correct, just a very simplified version and one that doesn’t really reveal how long it can all take to get your online business up and running profitably.

Once you have decided that you definitely would like to build your website, the next page you land on offers some options. “I Just need a website” or “I need a website with an online store”. I decided on the latter:

My new store name would be Late Bloomers, pretty cute. Not selling bloomers mind you, but rather something more crafty than that.

Knowing how quickly one can acquire products to sell through various Affiliate Networks, I selected 0-3 months for when I am planning to start selling:

Here is where I reveal my crafty plans … Arts and Crafts (lol, sorry to disappoint):

Next you have the opportunity to load your stores address, which I skipped as I do not have a store, at least you can skip and come back to this later:

At the next step you have a breakdown of how your new business has done over the past 7 days including sales, page views and unique visits. Very nicely laid out and easy to read.

This page is pretty cool because it offers you feedback on how you are doing and also access to the Inspiration Center should you be in need of it.

I continued through to choosing my layout and adding the brand colours into my site:

Surprisingly, I struggled to find the theme that would suit Late Bloomers Arts and crafts, that interested me because Weebly offer the selection of Arts and crafts but nothing in the themes struck me as particularly “artsy”. So I selected a simple layout after deciding that I could probably make it more artsy with my choice of colours, logo and display of products:

Along comes the time to select your domain name. Latebloomersarts.com was available but as I am demonstrating building a free website with Weebly, I opted for their sub domain which is laterbloomersarts.weebly.com.

It’s not necessarily a bad thing to have a sub domain but if you are planning to showcase a professional site, it would be preferable to have your own dotcom domain. With Weebly, that necessitates going with a 1-year plan – the domain would be free but not the 1-year plan, I don’t think.

Then you move onto choosing the different aspects of your site from the gallery to contact page, Menu, Featured products and of course the team who work within the company. Very clearly laid out, simple to follow. Makes life nice and easy.

Here you have it – lift off – you site will be available after you hit publish!

The process is very simple to follow, I am sure you will agree. A beginner could create a site like this with absolute ease. The biggest challenge for me was selecting the perfect theme, but that is not an issue with Weebly because you can change themes easily too. Unlike SimpleSite where it requires a whole rebuilt of your site from scratch. SiteRubix also has the facility for you to change themes without a complete rebuild.

As you can see, the Weebly system is well-thought-out and is perfect for beginners. Each step of the way you are prompted and the system offered takes all the guess work out of the process for you. I really appreciate being able to follow a well-designed process that is intuitive and easy to grasp.

Weebly Theme Gallery – You Can Have A Look for Yourself

Overview: Weebly At A Glance:

The Good & the Bad

The Good:

Pro #1 Perfect for beginners who are not tech savvy

Pro #2 Well designed system and processes, easy to follow

Pro #3 Great App Center available

Pro #4 Great for small businesses, entrepreneurs and hobbyists

Pro #5 Gorgeous customizable templates, they are also responsive and you can change themes seamlessly

Pro #6 Weebly offers great SEO guides and advice on coding, keyword selection and tips to assist you with site ranking

The Bad:

Con #1 Lower volume of themes available when compared to competitors (ie SiteRubix and Wix)

Con #2 Customization of your site is limited unless you are experienced with the use of code. Weebly could become frustrating with the lack of creative freedom

Con #3 In the context of this review, Weebly enables you to build a free website, but you would need to spend money to make money with a website built at Weebly

Who is Weebly For?

Weebly is perfect for newcomers to the online world, beginners, small business, hobbyists and the like. The following are ideas of who could make use of a Weebly site (not a free version however) for business ventures:

• Affiliate Marketers,
• eCommerce Businesses,
• Bloggers,
• Content Marketers,
• PPC and Online Advertisers,
• Local marketers and businesses

Here are some additional ideas of who could use a free Weebly site:

• Family sites for special occasions, i.e. 21st celebrations, weddings, birth of babies etc
• Hobbyists, arts and crafts
• Community Centers & Local Sports Clubs
• Local Libraries, NPO’s etc

As you have seen, there are themes for almost every business type imaginable. Just keep in mind that although Weebly are working hard to offer more advanced features, at this stage the offering is better suited to beginners. Advanced webmasters are likely to become frustrated with the lack of flexibility.

Weebly Tools & Training

The user-friendliness of the Weebly system means that a new user does not need extensive training to get up and running quickly. Weebly does offer a range of articles in their support section where you can read up on almost everything to do with creating your website.

In addition, Weebly offers a Knowledge Base where they offer access to the following information:

• Your Account (28 articles);
• Building Your Website (109 articles),
• Domains and Email (21 articles);
• eCommerce (49 articles);
• Email Marketing (29 articles) (with their system known as Platform),
• Weebly for Web Designers (30 articles) and
• Weebly Mobile Apps (21 articles)

Weebly also offer:

• expert tips and tools with the Weebly Blog,
• an Inspiration Center where you benefit from seeing what the experts are doing and finally
• the Community where you can collaborate with and learn from other Weebly users.

Weebly App Center

Weebly offer a range of almost 400 apps for you to choose from depending on the needs and requirements of your site. These apps can be connected to your website with just a click. This is great because you have access to the options without having to overload your site with everything they have to offer. To give you an idea, here is a list of some the Apps on offer, split into the categories allocated by Weebly themselves. You will notice that some are available on the free membership, others on Premium and some are paid for separately:

“Boost Traffic”

• Promote Forms (Free/Premium)
• Google Ads by Kliken (Free/Premium)
• MarketGood (Free/Premium)
• Site Booster (Free/Premium)
• Privy (Free/Premium)
• Positionly (Premium)
• Super Titles (Premium)
• rankingCoach (Premium)
• Welcome Bar (Free/Premium)
• Traffic Booster (Premium)

“Spike Your Sales”

• Boost Sales (Premium)
• Sales Pop (Free)
• Checkout Boost (Premium)
• Printful (Free)
• Promo Bar (Premium)
• Testimonials (Premium)
• Price Chart (Free)
• StoreMetrics (Free/Premium)
• Promote Forms (Free/Premium)
• McAfee SECURE (Free/Premium)
• Testimonial Builder (Free/Premium)

“Made by Weebly”

• GSuite (Premium)
• Call Out Box (Free)
• Team Cards (Free)
• Price Chart (Free)
• Code Block (Free)
• Counter (Free)
• Eventbrite (Free)
• Tabs (Free)
• Accordian (Free)
• Promote Forms (Free/Premium)
• FAQ (Free)
• SimpleTable (Free)
• SimpleChat (Premium)

“Get Social”

“Become a social media machine with these apps”

• Social Sharing (Premium)
• Dockvine ($0 – $4)
• Instagram Feed (Free/Premium)
• Social Media Grid (Free/Premium)
• Better Coupon Box (Free/Premium)
• Testimonials (Premium)
• Facebook Like (Free)
• Comments Plus+ (Free/ Premium)
• eClincher (Premium)
• Social Media Stream (Free/Premium)

What this means is that Weebly keeps the tools to a minimum and in the process, offer you the option of more advanced tools. Great idea. To give you some insight into the power these tools pack, you can easily stream your Instagram posts” and even connect Facebook messenger to your website, this enables you to interact with your visitors more efficiently.

Support is offered during standard business hours or you can email them and they will respond during business hours.

Weebly Pricing Options – find One That Fits Your Budget

Weebly has two different options when it comes to their selection, one is for Websites and the other is for Online stores.  so there are different pricing offers per option, and then further broken down offers from Basic use to Business or Business Plus.

Websites Pricing with Weebly

Basic Use – US$0; Connect US$5 / year; Pro US$12 / mo; Business US$25 / mo (WHEN PAID ANNUALLY)

Online Stores Pricing With Weebly

Pro – US$12 / mo; Business US$25 / mo; Business Plus US$38 / mo (WHEN PAID ANUALLY)

Compare Weebly Plans

What does each of the Weebly options offer?

WEBSITE OPTIONS

WEBSITES BASIC USE OPTION

• SELECT
• No Free Domain
• No Google Ads Credit
• SITE FEATURES
• Free SSL Security
• 500MG Storage
• Domain with Weebly Branding
• MARKETING
• Search Engine Optimization
• Lead Capture and Contact Forms
• SUPPORT
• Community Forum
• Chat & Email Support

WEBSITES CONNECT OPTION (Connect A Domain)

• SELECT
• Free Domain
• SITE FEATURES
• Free SSL Security
• 500MG Storage
• Connect a Custom Domain
• MARKETING
• Search Engine Optimization
• Lead Capture and Contact Forms
• SUPPORT
• Community Forum
• Chat & Email Support

WEBSITE PRO OPTION (recommended for Groups & Organizations by Weebly)

• SELECT
• Free Domain
• Google Ads ($100 credit)
• SITE FEATURES
• Free SSL Security
• 500MG Storage
• Connect a Custom Domain
• Remove Weebly Ads
• Site Search
• eCOMMERCE
• Shopping Carts
• Accept Payments through Square
• Accept Payments through 3rd Party Providers
• MARKETING
• Search Engine Optimization
• Lead Capture and Contact Forms
• Advanced Site Stats
• SUPPORT
• Community Forum
• Chat & Email Support
• Phone Support

WEBSITE BUSINESS OPTION (recommended for Small Businesses & Stores by Weebly)

• SELECT
• Free Domain
• Google Ads ($100 credit)
• SITE FEATURES
• Free SSL Security
• 500MG Storage
• Connect a Custom Domain
• Remove Weebly Ads
• Site Search
• eCOMMERCE
• Shopping Carts
• Accept Payments through Square
• Accept Payments through 3rd Party Providers
• Product Badges
• Product Options
• Inventory Management
• Automatic Tax Calculator
• Coupon Codes
• Square Gift Cards
• Product Reviews
• Shipping Calculator
• MARKETING
• Search Engine Optimization
• Lead Capture and Contact Forms
• Advanced Site Stats
• Pop-up Notifications
• Integrated Facebook Ads
• Advanced eCommerce Statistics
• SUPPORT
• Community Forum
• Chat & Email Support
• Phone Support

Check out Weebly’s features!

ONLINE STORE OPTIONS

ONLINE STORES PRO OPTION (recommended for Groups & Organizations by Weebly) offer the following:

• SELECT
• Free domain ($20 value)
• Google Ads ($100 credit
• SITE FEATURES
• Free SSL Security
• Unlimited Storage
• connect a Custom Domain
• Remove Weebly Ads
• Site Search
• eCOMMERCE
• Shopping Cart
• Accept Payments through Square
• Accept Payments thorough 3rd Party Providers

BUSINESS OPTION (recommended for Small Businesses & Stores by Weebly) offers the following:

• SELECT
• Free Domain ($20 value)
• Google Ads ($100 credit)
• SITE FEATURES:
• Free SSL
• Unlimited Storage
• Connect a Custom Domain
• Remove Weebly Ads
• Site Search
• eCOMMERCE
• Shopping Cart
• Accept Payments through 3rd Party Providers
• Product Badges
• Product Options
• Inventory Management
• automatic Tax Calculator
• Coupon Codes
• Square Gift Cards
• Product Reviews
• Shipping Calculator
• Integrated Shipping Lebels
• Good Shipping Discounts
• MARKETING
• Search Engine Optimization
• Lead Capture and Contact Forms
• Addvanced Site Stats
• Pop-up Notifications
• Integrated Facebook Ads
• Advanced eCommerce Statistics
• SUPPORT
• Community Forum
• Chat & Email Support
• Phone Support

BUSINESS PLUS (is recommended for Power Sellers by Weebly)

• SELECT:
• Free Domain ($20 value)
• Google Ads ($100 credit)
• eMAIL mARKETING ($96 value)
• SITE FEATURES:
• Free SSL
• Unlimited Storage
• Connect a Custom Domain
• Remove Weebly Ads
• Site Search
• eCOMMERCE:
• Shopping Cart
• Accept Payments through 3rd Party Providers
• Product Badges
• Product Options
• Inventory Management
• automatic Tax Calculator
• Coupon Codes
• Square Gift Cards
• Product Reviews
• Shipping Calculator
• Integrated Shipping Lebels
• Best Shipping Discounts
• Abandoned Cart emails
• Real-time shipping
• MARKETING
• Search Engine Optimization
• Lead Capture and Contact Forms
• Addvanced Site Stats
• Pop-up Notifications
• Integrated Facebook Ads
• Advanced eCommerce Statistics
• SUPPORT
• Community Forum
• Chat & Email Support
• Phone Support

Overview: Weebly At A Glance:

My Final Opinion of WEEBLY

I do believe that Weebly delivers on their promises in terms of providing all the tools and facilities you would need to build your website and online business. However, we started out with the question of can we Create A Website For Free Online With Weebly. The answer to that question is yes, we can, however, when it comes to building an online business, I would not say it is possible to do that with your Weebly website for free. You would definitely need to upgrade to the paid for options to create a profitable and successful website.

If you are looking for an opportunity to get your feet wet and try out building a website, Weebly would be a great space to start. A website for your personal blog, family holiday albums, projects, hobbies, civic centers etc., would work well on the free option.

When it comes to finding an online platform which provides you with all the tools you will need to create a successful online business, I still lean towards my My Number One Recommendation where you can access everything that Weebly offers and more – not only building your website but how to build your online business and be a part of an awesome community of successful online entreprenuers.

I encourage you to investigate more than one option before committing yourself to a platform. I have done that and continue to investigate other options by conducting reviews such as this. My Number One Recommendation is still number one for very good reason. Have a look and compare for yourself.

Once you have had a look, I would love to hear from you – please let me know your thoughts and findings in the comments section below.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Blessings always