Best Website Builders for Features

If you've ever shopped for a new car, you understand the different trim levels offered. Some models come with the latest cutting-edge technology and luxury features, while others simply give you what's essential to move from point A to point B. In much the same way, the complexity of the features you need when building a website largely depends on your specific goals.

As a prospective website creator or owner, your concern might be navigating the saturated website building market. You're possibly haunted by pertinent questions like, "Which builder will allow me to build this?” Well, we're here to calm those doubts for you.

We will walk you through various points that make a top-tier website builder. Just like those car trims are perfect for different drivers, we believe there's a solution that exactly meets your needs.

What Makes the Best Website Builder for Features?

Before diving into the deep end, allow us to share the secret to how we gauge each feature's value. We're all about comprehensive research and have crafted an in-depth system that analyzes every detail. Our criteria have been carefully weighed depending on their importance and relevance in building all kinds of websites.

Here's a nifty breakdown explaining how much weight falls on each feature:

While each item listed is significant in its own way, that doesn't mean they're all essential for every user or situation (remember our car analogy?) Keep reading as we outline why these features matter and discuss how each one factors into picking out your ideal provider.

Drag & Drop Builder

Simplicity and functionality merge in this first feature: the drag-and-drop editor. Think of this as your toolbox during the site-building process, where every tool comes intuitively and is within easy reach. With it, you neither need prior experience in coding nor an extensive lesson in website design.

It's as straightforward as dragging an item (text boxes, images, buttons, etc.) from a defined menu and then dropping it onto your page wherever it seems pleasing to your eye. If creativity runs through your veins or you've got a particular layout etched into your mind, this feature allows you to go wild and build a website extremely fast.

Visual editors like these make website creation effortless, efficient, and hassle-free. Plus, you tend to enjoy the peace of mind that comes with knowing your design will look professional - no matter how inexperienced you may be.

Website Templates

Website templates offer a shortcut in your website-building journey. They are professionally designed layouts you can select and customize according to your brand and content, almost like a prefabricated house. The fundamental structure is already built; all you need to do is paint the walls with your brand colors and customize the fine details.

Templates are an excellent way to jumpstart a website and get it running quickly. They're also self-explanatory so you don't have to learn HTML or CSS, which can be intimidating for beginners. That said, seasoned users may want more control over the look and feel of their site, in which case they may opt for website builders that offer more extensive design customization.

When we evaluate templates, the critical aspect we consider is the variety and quality of templates provided. More templates typically mean better chances of finding one that suits your intended site perfectly. However, a multitude of poorly designed templates isn't useful, so quality takes precedence over quantity.

Number of Users

The number of users refers to how many people can access your website builder with varying levels of permission, from administrators and editors to contributors and subscribers. This feature becomes crucial if you plan to build a platform involving multiple team members or a membership-based site.

Understanding the usage is simple. You assign specific roles to individuals that align with their duties on the website. An editor, for instance, wouldn't need the same access as an administrator.

The ability to have an unlimited number of users is a gold star in our book. It opens doors for collaborative efforts, no matter how big your team is. It also enhances flexibility, making room for expansion as your business or project grows over time. However, not all website builders are so generous and often limit the number of users to a single one or make it dependent on the plans they offer.

Roles & Permissions

Remember those different user roles we just talked about? Website builders need to offer different roles and permissions so that you can manage your users effectively.

Roles and permissions are like giving each team member a key that opens only certain doors within the management of your website. An Administrator has access to everything; an Editor can access and make changes to content, whereas a Proofreader can only view content. This is what an example setup could look like. Ideally, a website builder lets you set up custom rules to decide for yourself who can do what with your website.

An organized setup of roles and permissions promotes efficiency by ensuring that everyone knows their scope within the project. It also protects sensitive areas of your website from unwanted alterations.

We believe a good website builder should provide this feature to its users as it sets boundaries and maintains order, which can be a crucial component for clarity and smooth operation.

Domain Connection

One of the foremost steps in creating your online identity is acquiring a domain name, the unique address where internet users can reach your website. Think of it as your home address on the internet. Connecting this domain to your website builder is a necessary feature allowing the world to access what you created.

The process generally involves configuring DNS (Domain Name System) settings, which might sound technical, but most website builders offer guidance. Once successfully set up, any user typing your domain name into their browser will land on your website. Some website builders have built-in domain connection solutions that make this process easier.

If you are serious about your website, then connecting a custom domain is an absolute must. Even though it is such a standard, we still included this feature separately in our ranking, because especially free website builders often don't offer connecting a custom domain until you switch to a paid plan.

Language Switching

In an increasingly globalized world, making your website available in multiple languages could significantly broaden your audience base and enhance user engagement. That's where the feature of language switching swoops in, bridging language barriers.

The concept is quite self-explanatory. With language switching, users can change the website content to a language they're comfortable with, usually through a drop-down menu on your site. Translations still have to be done by yourself, of course, unless you integrate software for that.

A multilingual site not only displays cultural sensitivity but also boosts SEO. Therefore, providing language-switching capability can be a selling point for global businesses or services targeting multicultural communities.

Forms

A website that just displays information is like a one-way street. To convert it into a two-way interaction, we have the feature of forms. These digital gateways allow your web visitors to communicate with you or provide important information.

Whether it's subscribing to a newsletter, filling out a survey, or placing an order for your products or services. forms play a significant role. They gather the required details from users in an organized manner so you can respond to their needs effectively.

While evaluating website builders, we consider the provision of customizable forms. Not only should they be easy to create and embed, but they should also align with the site's look and feel, making them a valuable feature to consider when selecting your website building platform.

LMS Capabilities

Unless you've used it before, there's a strong chance you're unfamiliar with the term LMS. It stands for Learning Management System. This feature becomes crucial if your website's purpose is e-learning, coaching, or offering digital courses. LMS capabilities in a website builder allow you to upload course content, handle subscriptions, and manage user progress.

This feature is only useful in specific cases but is nice if it fits your website needs.

Ecommerce Capabilities

If you're venturing into online sales, you'll need a website builder with robust ecommerce capabilities. This feature equips your website to:

• Showcase your products or services
• Manage inventory
• Process payments securely
• Fulfill orders
• Handle shipping and taxes
• And much more.

In simpler terms, it's like setting up an online version of a brick-and-mortar store, minus the additional expense and logistics of maintaining a physical shop. It should deliver a smooth shopping experience for your customers, from browsing products to making purchases.

Blog Capabilities

If disseminating ideas, sharing updates, or engaging with your audience through written content is part of your plan, then blog capabilities are going to be your best friend. This feature lets you easily create and publish blog posts on your website.

Not just that, but a good blogging platform supports managing different categories, drafting posts for future publishing, adding media elements like photos or videos, and integrating comment sections for valuable customer feedback and engagement.

SEO-friendly blog capabilities are a great bonus, allowing you to optimize content for search engines by implementing meta tags, keyword research, and other SEO best practices. This increases your chances of appearing in the SERPs and driving organic traffic to your website.

10 Best Website Builders for Features

How to Choose a Website Builder with Great Features?

Now that you're familiar with the various components that should be considered when looking at website builders, how do you choose the right one? The answer lies in identifying and cross-referencing your needs with what each platform offers.

For example, ecommerce capabilities should be at the top of your list if you're planning to start an online store. If you're creating a team project or collaborative site, consider the "Number of Users" and "Roles & Permissions" features.

For a proper match to your needs, we strongly advise you to use our Finder Tool, which will take you directly to the best website builder for your project in just a few steps.

You can also check out our overall Best Picks to get a more general overview of the best website builders across the other criteria we evaluated. And don't forget our Comparison Tool if you are between several website builders and want to compare them in more detail before making your final decision.