Everyone wants a great website. 

The sleek, professional and efficient websites that used to seem so elusive and difficult to create are now within your reach. You don’t have to be super creative, a designer, coder, or even technically proficient to create a brilliant website. 

But how? 

Artificial intelligence (AI), simplified into website builders and templates that can be used by anyone, anywhere, at any time – made within literally hours (or minutes!).

Traditionally, websites have been created with HTML; but code has changed, become more sophisticated, and as a result, sites have become more visually appealing. Applying AI to design = ADI (artificial design intelligence), which is used for web development and design.

There are three options for web design at the moment, which are:

1. Learning code and starting from scratch, though this isn’t easy and takes time, effort, and a lot of trial and error. 
2. Using the website builders and templates (we’ll come to more of that in a moment). While these don’t require coding knowledge, they still take up some time and effort to look professional. 
3. If you don’t have the time or skills in professional design, you can hire a developer/designer like our digital marketing agency to handle it for you. 

Website builders are a boon, but the Internet has a lot of them, often claiming to be the easiest to use, most efficient, etc. As a rule of thumb, you should look for builders who are: 

• Customer support and experience. 
• How easy is it to use? You shouldn’t have to need professional experience or other people’s help in making your website. 
• High-quality final product. The final website should reflect your business and what it stands for. Can you add things later? Is it customisable with menus and widgets? 
• Price. A lot of website builders are for free, but paying means more than just asking for a price. When will you need to upgrade? Do you get your own email address and domain? 

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We’ve outlined some of the best website builders out there to get you started, so you can hit the ground running: 

WordPress

With no subscription fee required and a near-limitless website, WordPress runs one-third of the Internet. It has a great content management system and a free open-source software. However, you’ll need to buy a domain name, hosting, and the not-basic themes. Some big brands like Vogue and Beyonce’s own website use WordPress to run their websites. 

SquareSpace

With gorgeous, sleek templates, SquareSpace is the builder to go to if you’re looking for an unforgettable-looking website. With a free 14-day trial period, their plans start at USD $12/month. SquareSpace’s interface is takes some time to figure out where everything is on the editor and there isn’t much of a community to ask for help, but it’s still a good way to build a beautiful and modern-looking website.

Wix

This builder uses AI to literally build your website before you by automating the difficult choices – by asking you things like your business type, a colour palette, preferred design, etc. If you have a vision but don’t know how to express it yet, Wix will help you out. They even have a lot of variety to their themes, but editing the desktop version takes some time and patience.

We don’t recommend using the free version though, because of its frustrating domain structuring and auto-renewal of its plans. While this is something you can turn off, you need to do so 14 days before your plan expires, and if you do it during your two week trial period, your plan gets automatically cancelled.

Ucraft

For something simple, Ucraft has free one-page sites, it’s mobile-ready, has a free 14-day trial period, and plans start at USD $10/month. It has elegant themes, and the one-pagers are a long scroll divided into sections. The free version doesn’t get rid of Ucraft’s branding, but it’s non-invasive and minimalistic.

Vistaprint

Though with limited design options under “digital marketing”, Vistaprint specialises in business cards and other merchandise, which is also one of its major selling points. 

OnePager

A surprise for the end, OnePager is a treasure find. Though it has basic templates and prioritises publishing over perfection, it’s super easy to use. We can tend to get distracted by all the options and colours and features to perfect our website, but OnePager is great for small businesses who want to mark out an online presence over creating an online empire. 

Like the above graph shows, you can design a website in any way, as long as it’s clean, efficient, and easy to navigate. AI is the future, but that doesn’t mean you have to go out of your way to use ADI. 

Staying open-minded and up-to-date is the best practice, and Tribe of Brands can help you stay on top of trends to effectively navigate the complex waters of the internet. Our marketing agency can help you with further ideas on how to design world-class websites, seamless user journeys and digital marketing campaigns.