✓ If, When & Why You Need a Website
SoloCreator #96
Brought to you by The Medium Blueprint* by Eve Arnold
Hi friends
If you need or want a website, it’s a tough choice 2023. A gazillion platforms offer website builders of all types, shapes, and forms.
It’s overwhelming for beginners. And even advanced users have trouble deciding.
So, here’s a quick list of website builders and tips.
FREE → WordPress.org: The free WordPress version is still my go-to website builder. I am old school. It’s not the easiest to understand, but it’s free, comes with millions of themes, add-ons, plugins, and widgets, and works for pretty much any use case. If you’re not afraid to get a little technical, it’s the best starting point. Most others will cost you (a lot).
FREE → No traditional website builder: If you want to publish stuff or represent yourself and your work, you may not need a website builder at all. Just use a link in bio tool (like Linktree, Link in Bio, Bento, etc.), use a writing platform like Substack* (which is essentially a free blog), or something like Carrd*, a light website builder which starts free & has ridiculously affordable pro plans.
FREE → Easy (and uncommon) website builders: For a little more flexibility, use Payhip*. This Gumroad competitor is mainly a shop platform, but it comes with a great and easy-to-use website builder for free (with custom domain support. Payhip is a super cool tool since you can create landing pages, blogs, and a shop with one tool for no cost at all. You could use Gumroad as well, but it doesn’t give you any design choices. Payhip* offers a variety of free themes.
PAID → Drag & drop builders: Platforms like Squarespace, Typedream, Framer, Webflow, Wix, etc. offer a lot of functionality, features, drag & drop interfaces, and more to create fully custom and gorgeous websites. But those come at a price, usually a monthly or yearly subscription, starting at well above $10 per month for most platforms (and good plans). If you’re keen on designing the perfect website for you, with a unique layout, those are your best options. For beginners, Squarespace and Typedream make more sense, pros can go with Framer and Webflow.
If you’re not sure
I have a lot of further reading about websites, what to use, how to create, if you need one, when you need one, and more. See a handy list below ↓
Sponsored by The Medium Blueprint*
by Eve Arnold
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Must-Reads
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WordPress is amazing