The past year at trade shows I have found a lot of people asking me how they can build a website for free. There are a lot of options out there to do exactly that. Here are 8 ways to build a website for free.
1. WordPress
There are various free platforms out there which you can use to build a website but nothing beats WordPress. It’s usability is by far the best and creates a great looking website. The basic WordPress layouts are free however, if you want one of the premium themes, you will have to pay for it. For a business I am involved in called Social Media eLearning, we built the website in WordPress.
2. PayPal
Once you have built your website you will need to integrate various free tools to help you complete the overall look, one of them being PayPal. Using this payment platform will allow you to sell products on your website. The setup for this is free and they will only take a small percentage of each sale.
3. Eventbrite
If you are a business that holds events, then you can use Eventbrite to do this. You will be able to create an event page for free and take payments. This tool will only take a small percentage of each ticket sale and is a great way to reach people you would never have been able to. When we hold Social Media Training days, we use Eventbrite to do this as it is easy and very simple to integrate into your website.
4. Pic Monkey
Pic Monkey is one of the best free image tools on the internet. You can do all of the usual image adjustments plus more complexed adjustments like retouching and adding text. Once making changes to your image, you can save it to your desktop, free of charge. Be careful, Pic Monkey can become very addictive!
5. YouTube
YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world. It is not only great for viewing videos but also using it to host video’s for free then integrating them into your website. For Social Media eLearning we have our own Youtube channel where various videos are held which can be viewed inside of YouTube but also on our website.
6. Facebook
Facebook is not only a social network, but also a great place to sell your products. A new feature Facebook added earlier this year was their Store. If your business has less than 2,000 likes on its page, you are able to have a Facebook Store completely free of charge. Using a tool called Payvment will help you do this.
7. Pinterest
The newest social network on the block, Pinterest has proved to be a big hit with a lot of users, with each share worth around 48p. Just like Facebook, you can sell your products inside of Pinterest by using Pin2Sell.
8. Ebay & Amazon
One of the most well known websites in the world; Ebay is a great way to sell products. There are some small fees around eBay but overall, you are able to make a profit if you are selling at the right price. Amazon is also a great place to sell products. Again, you will only incur a small fee for doing this.
I hope these 8 ways to help build a website for free will help you do exactly that.