Just starting a new online venture? Maybe your site has become outdated and you need a more attractive site to provide a more professional look. A website builder may be your answer.

What is a Website Builder?

A website builder is a web-based application that allows you to build a website in no time flat. Website builders have been around for several years on the Internet but were for the most part unpopular due to the finished product. Most site builders provided a very cheesy look with huge navigation buttons and large header banners and a very primitive layout. This made for a very unprofessional site that screamed 'amateur'. Those days have since changed. With the advancement of development languages site builders can now produce very professional and jazzy designs.

Do I have to know HTML?

This is the great thing about website builders. You need not be a web designer or a programmer. If you can follow simple instructions and feel fairly comfortable typing, you can have a website online in a few hours. A website builder comes with complete instructions to guide you in real-time as you build your website thus taking the guesswork out of site development.

How much does it cost?

Many website builders can be purchased as a package with web hosting. This is especially appealing as it assures compatibility of your website building application with your web hosting. It can be very frustrating to have to purchase a website builder application and install it on your web host and that is assuming that all goes well.

Most web hosting/site builder packages start at $4.95 per month with support if you have problems while building your website. You can also add eCommerce capabilities to your website which would allow you to sell products or services online but this will cost you a whopping $9.95 per month for an entry level package! Website builders are worth a long hard look if you are on a budget and cannot afford the services of a web design company.

What happens when I want to change the look of my web site?

Another advantage of website builders is that they come with from 100 to 10,000 preinstalled templates that allow you to change the look and feel of your website whenever you like. You may need to change your pictures in some instances but this generally takes little time.

Can I modify my website without using site builder?

After your site has been completed your web pages are transferred to your web directory in the form of HTML documents for viewing by visitors on the Internet. Most companies that provide site builders allow you to edit your pages with a standard HTML editor. This gives you a lot of flexibility in the event that you would like to add a feature(s) to your pages that are not offered in the site builder.

If you are on a budget and don't want to risk investing a lot of money by having your site developed by a web design company then maybe you should consider a website builder. You invest a total of $10.00 to start and if you don't like it in most cases you can cancel your account at any time.