There are hundreds of website builders on the market, which can often send small business owners into a decision-making coma. In reality, a lot of the lesser-known website builders are lesser known for a reason, because they do not offer anything unique. However, we want to introduce you to four lesser-known website builders that do have something unique to offer. Maybe, just maybe, one of them will be exactly what you’re looking for.
1. Themify: The WordPress Builder for Non-Techies
WordPress has long been a big name in the blogging world. But it is also one of the most flexible and customizable website platforms on the market. Despite its awesome functionality, its reputation for technical sophistication has kept many non-tech-savvy business owners away. But Themify is changing that, making the WordPress learning curve much smaller, giving non-techie business owners a real option to design their own WordPress site.
The best way to explain it is that Themify gives you a black vertical space that you can just click on to add any variety of buttons/elements, such as text, a calendar, an image slider, and much more. Once you have added one item, you just click below it to add another, and you can rearrange elements at any time, either dragging and dropping one below/above the other, or arranging them side-by-side in columns.
Themify’s template builder works seamlessly with WordPress’s dashboard, adding a builder column at the bottom of each of your pages, allowing you to edit/customize each page either in the dashboard or from the front end of your site where you can see your changes in real time. The days of having to write code to get a WordPress site are gone. Learn more about Themify.
2. Ocoos: Caters to Service Businesses and Will Build Your Website for You
It is doubtful that you have heard of Ocoos, as it is probably the least well known of any of the four builders we discuss. But it is also one of the most unique, because it is all about providing a functional site for service businesses. There are quite a few things that Ocoos does that other builders do not.
For example, Ocoos offers is a variety of payment options tailored to service businesses. You can set up a payment plan with custom payment installments each month. Or, customers can pay a certain percentage upfront, and then the balance at the end of the job, all right from your website. Also, Ocoos has a built-in appointment scheduler/booking option, online customer document/contract signing, email newsletter capability, and more.
On top of all this, for around $35/month, Ocoos will update and manage your site for you, so all you have to do is run your business. To put the cherry on top, Ocoos offers a professional website build and domain name setup at one of the lowest website building costs on the market, at around $400. Ocoos is hard to beat if you are a service business that is looking for a no-nonsense/function-oriented business website. Here is more detailed review of Ocoos.
3. Jimdo: The Everyman Website Builder That's Hot in Germany
In Germany, there is a guy named Jim. Well, there are probably lots of guys named Jim, but this Jim is an "everyman" type. Jim is the inspiration behind this website builder. The idea was as follows: Create a website builder that’s so easy even Jim could do it. The name Jimdo was born.
Jimdo is all about making every website building task as easy as possible. The company's templates are easy to edit, its pricing is straightforward, and you can add items to sell on your website with just a click or two. I especially like how easy it is to add social media buttons to any page. You just drag and drop the social media bar where you want it to go, pick the social media sites you want to link to, add in your info, and you are good to go.
Best of all, in keeping with its everyman theme, Jimdo’s basic plan is free. Apparently, lots of people resonate with Jimdo’s vision, because the company is extremely popular in Germany as well as around the world, with over 12 million sites built using its system. In Jimdo’s case, relatively unknown does not mean unpopular. Check out Jimdo's website.
4 OnePagerApp: A Site Builder That Keeps It Simple
With OnePagerApp, the name really says it all. Basically, OnePager allows you to create a simple, classic-looking one-page site. Why would you want a one-page site? Well, reducing clicks is the key to increasing interaction with customers/visitors. The less times the customer has to click to see your info, the more likely they are to stay on your site and interact with more content. Enter OnePager.
OnePager, although only being one page, really puts the information that is important in front of the visitor. You can have your key business information, a little blurb about what you do and who you are, a contact form, and even sell products, all from one page. OnePager does lack a lot of customization options, but that is kind of the point. Keep it simple and keep visitors to your site engaged. Curiously, OnePager's website is more than one page!
