Free website templates

When you Google 'create a free website' so many options come up, so don't think the 3 I am comparing are the only ones out there. When creating a website it's important to look at several options, and base your final decision on what you like, and what is right for your work. 

Webs

Top on the list when I Googled 'create a free website'. Webs lists its main website features as:

• Drag and drop sitebuilder.
• Professionally designed templates.
• A premium service that allows you to create a domain name.
• Ecommerce - for selling your work.
• Search Engine Optimization - your webpage will be higher when certain keywords and tags are searched for.
• Adding photos, slideshows and videos.
• Being able to create blogs and forums.
• Putting social networking icons on your website.
• Free mobile site.
• Visitor stats.
• WebsApps - you can download different apps to suit your specific needs.
• Support portal if you have any questions.

Wix

With a very happy looking man it's homepage. First impressions of Wix were certainly better than Webs, as I just preferred the cleaner look of the homepage. Wix lists it's main features as follows:

• Hundreds of beautiful designs.
• Top industry hosting.
• Drag and drop website builder.
• 24/7 support centre.
• Offers visitor stats and helps bring more visitors to your website from the search engines.
• Wix app market.
• The ability to set up an online store.
• Links to social networking.
• Wix learning centre if you get stuck.
• The ability to have a personal domain name.
• Mobile and fan page.
• Amazing videos and galleries.
• Premium account allows more storage and bandwidth.
• Free content - such as fonts, music, pictures, menus.
• The ability to hire a professional to help design your website.

Moonfruit

I seem to remember Moonfruit was a website template that my lecturer mentioned. Moonfruit lists its main features as:

• Automatic mobile optimization. Your website will look the same no matter where you access it from.
• Automatic link to Facebook with just a few clicks.
• Enormous library of backgrounds, images, templates and animations.
• Complete image control - layering, animating etc.
• Premium service comes with Getty images.
• The ability to set up an online shop, that automatically gets published to Facebook/eBay/Etsy.
• The ability to set up a blog to bring more traffic to your website and shop.
• Add content without coding.
• Search engine friendly, automatically marking up all content so it's easy for search engines to read and understand.
• Google Analytics - viewing stats.
• Lots of package options if you want more than the free account can offer.

Comparison

From looking further into all of the websites, firstly I noticed that Webs is American (the domain prices are in dollars), whereas Wix and Moonfruit are both British (at least they offer to buy things in pound sterling). This means you would have to consider the exchange rate if you're going to buy domain packages from Webs. This is the sort of thing that would put me off automatically. The second thing that I noticed, is that all three have similar features. There isn't really one that stands out as offering more than the other, which is kind of unhelpful. Wix does say it offers you the opportunity to work with a professional web designer to create your page - however I am guessing you have to pay for this, and I don't necessarily think working with a web designer would give you any advantages. It's your website at the end of the day and it should be a product of your own creativity. I get the impression that Moonfruit is more helpful when it comes to setting up a shop, something I've never really thought about. If you were a graphic designer or independent artist, that is the sort of feature that would draw you in. Moonfruit also offers more packages than Wix and Webs, of many different price ranges. I personally don't know anyone who uses Webs, or Moonfruit, however I have heard a classmate mention Wix before. Recommendation and having a general nose around is a good thing too.