Beginner’s Guide to Using the Weebly Website Builder
Creating a Free Website Using the Weebly Website Builder in Less Than 60 Minutes
Until recently, having a professional build your website could cost several thousand dollars. However, with today’s easy-to-use DIY free website builders like Weebly, you can now have a great small business site up and running in under an hour.
CLICK HERE TO VISIT WEEBLY OFFICIAL WEBSITE
Weebly remains one of the top free website builders available. It’s an excellent option for small business owners who want to create a website quickly, easily, and affordably.
Keep reading to discover the seven easy steps to create your free website using the Weebly site builder.
Step one is to visit Weebly.com To create your free website
When you click on sign up, you will be taken to a sign-up screen that looks like the one below.
Click on the “Sign up” button and you’ll be taken to a page that asks you if you would like to sell online or not.
If you’re not currently selling online but are open to the idea in the future, there’s no need to worry. You can always add an online store to your website later on. So, if you plan to use your Weebly free website primarily for blogging or other purposes, you can simply select “Not Now.”
Step Two: Select a Theme
The following step involves selecting the template or theme for your free website. Weebly offers a wide selection of modern and diverse themes suitable for various purposes. It’s important to choose a theme that aligns with your business’s identity and goals.
Several key considerations should be kept in mind when selecting a Template/Theme:
You have the flexibility to change themes anytime with the Weebly Site Builder, unlike its competitor Wix. When transitioning to a new theme, all your content seamlessly transfers to the new design, ensuring no vital information is lost. Therefore, the initial theme choice for your free website is inconsequential, as you can switch to a more preferable theme whenever you desire.
Weebly offers industry-specific themes, tailored to various markets. While all templates can be customized, industry-specific themes streamline the process. Minor adjustments, such as changing images, page names, and text, are typically all that’s needed, saving you time and effort.
Always consider your objectives when selecting a theme. Different websites excel at achieving specific goals. For instance, if your primary aim is lead generation through an action button, a theme optimized for conversions would be ideal.
Instead of having a variety of places to click, it just provides one option, “Plan Your Adventure,” and makes that the central focus.
If you’re searching for more of an informational Website, then you likely need a template such as the one below.
This theme showcases clear tabs at the top, facilitating easy navigation for your customers to explore various pages of your Weebly site and delve deeper into your small business offerings. As visitors scroll down the site, they encounter numerous hyperlinks to additional pages, encouraging further exploration and discovery of your products or services.
To preview any template you’re interested in, simply click on the theme picture, allowing you to assess its design and functionality before making a decision.
Once you have made up your mind on the theme you want to use, simply click “Start Editing” at the top right-hand corner of the Theme Preview page.
Step Three: Pick Your Domain Choice
The next thing you will notice is your domain option page. It looks like the image below:
If you opt for a free Weebly site, your only choice is to utilize the subdomain of weebly.com. While your domain won’t be as unique, you won’t incur any costs.
If you prefer to have your own unique domain name, you have three options:
Obtain one through Weebly—It’s complimentary for your initial year with a paid package and then approximately $20 per year thereafter.
Buy one through a third party and connect it to your account—I strongly suggest using Namecheap for domain name registration. You can register a domain name for as little as $5.68 per year by following this link Namecheap.com
Utilize an existing domain name—If you already have a unique domain name, you can link it to a Weebly site. While it may be a bit complex, many domain providers can assist you with this process upon request.
Please note that if you decide to use your own custom domain name, you’ll need to purchase a Weebly site premium package. All paid packages allow you to use your own unique domain name.
Step Four: Construct Your Weebly Site
Once you’ve selected your domain name, you’ll be directed to the Weebly site builder page, where you’ll carry out all the essential construction of your website.
Here’s an overview of the Weebly website builder:
Element Panel: Positioned on the left-hand side of the builder, as highlighted by the red box above, is the Element Panel. This section houses all the essential components, known as “Elements,” which you can utilize to construct your website. Adding an element to a page is a straightforward process. Simply click and hold on the desired element, then drag and drop it to the desired location on the right-hand side of the webpage.
Site Navigation Tabs: Similar to most website builders, the Weebly site builder features a navigation tab (yellow box) along the top of the page. The tabs include “Build,” “Pages,” “Theme,” “Store,” “Apps,” and “Settings.” To modify the major aspects of your website, simply click on the corresponding navigation tab to access the settings.
Site Preview: This provides a glimpse of the actual components of your website. Enclosed within the blue box, the site preview area displays the realistic representation of how your website will appear in practice.
Adding & Editing Pages
If you wish to add, remove, or modify any of your page settings, just click on the “Pages” tab located at the top of your Weebly website builder screen. This will navigate you to the pages screen.
Initially, you might have only a few active pages. In this theme, you’ll begin with a “Home,” “About,” “Services,” and “Contact” page, as depicted below.
To add a new page, click on the white “+” symbol positioned near the top left corner of the webpage (highlighted by the red box in the image below). If you want to edit or delete an existing page, click on the small folder icon next to the page name (highlighted by the blue box in the image below).
You can change the page sequence by simply dragging each page name above or under the other names.
There are several important points to note here:
Your website’s default homepage is indicated by a small home icon (highlighted with a yellow underline in the image above) located alongside the “Home” page folder icon at the top. This icon signifies that the designated “Homepage” is the page visitors will initially encounter when accessing your Weebly site (in most cases).
You can easily create a subpage by dragging and dropping a page to the right-hand side. Follow these steps to create a subpage that does not appear on your main pages tab:
1. Create the subpage as you would any regular page.
2. Position the subpage below the main page you want it to be linked to.
3. Drag the subpage to the right-hand side.
4. By following these steps, you can successfully create a subpage, as demonstrated below.
In this scenario, the “About” page has become a subpage of the “Home” page.
The navigation tabs visible on your website will include the most significant pages that visitors will access. As shown in the provided screenshot, the “Home” and “Contact” pages serve as the primary pages, while the “About” page functions as a subpage.
This arrangement ensures that only the essential pages are displayed on the navigation bar. When a visitor hovers over a main page, the associated subpages will appear in a dropdown menu. As illustrated in the image below, you can see that the main navigation bar displays only the “Home” and “Contact” pages. However, upon hovering over the main page (as shown in the screenshot), the “About” page is revealed in the dropdown menu.
It’s important to note that you can adjust the settings of each page by clicking on the small folder icon mentioned earlier.
Upon clicking, you’ll access a page where you can make several modifications. Here, you can opt to hide the page in navigation, customize the overall page design (such as landing, splash, title, etc.), and make edits to advanced settings like the page description and meta keywords.
Altering or Editing Text Using the Weebly Free Website Builder
Editing or modifying text within the Weebly free website builder is a simple process. Just click on the text box or element you want to edit. If you’re starting fresh and haven’t entered any text yet, clicking on the text box will clear it, and a text settings bar will appear (as shown below). However, if you’re editing existing text, you’ll need to delete it first before adding new content.
As illustrated in the image below, you can observe that I started typing “Thi” before taking the screenshot.
To edit text in a button, the process is slightly different. You need to click on the button, which will prompt a pop-up window. From there, click on the “Button text” tab.
Next, a window will pop up where you can input your desired text. Once you’ve entered your text, simply click outside the window, and the button should reflect the changes you’ve made. Below is the outcome after I edited the text.
Changing or Adding an Image
Let’s say you want to choose a background image that’s already included in your theme and replace it with something specific to your industry. It’s straightforward!
Just click on the image, and you’ll be presented with the options to either “Edit Background” or “Replace Header Layout.”
When you click the “Edit Background” button, you’ll be taken to a page where you can choose to either “Replace” or “Edit” the existing image. If you want to change the current image, you’ll be directed to the Picture Editor window. Here, you can upload an image from your computer or select from the pictures available in Weebly’s library.
In the scenario where you’re selecting a picture that’s part of a template’s page background, as shown in the current situation, a popup window will appear with the image below. To continue, click on the “Upload Picture” button.
Next, you’ll encounter this page, where you can either select a picture from your computer’s hard disk to upload or simply drag and drop a photo from your desktop.
In many cases, you’ll simply click on the “Upload a Photo from the personal computer” button to locate your picture on your personal computer, and then double click on it. Following that, you will be presented with a preview of how the photo will appear on the webpage. To finalize the changes, click on the “Save” button located in the top right corner. Additionally, you will be prompted to choose whether you want to save the photo only for this specific page or apply it to all pages within your Weebly site, especially when it pertains to a header or background image.
Adding a picture to a webpage without one is a straightforward process. Simply drag and drop the “Picture” section from the components tab of the Weebly site builder onto the desired webpage, as demonstrated below.
As Soon as You have done this, you simply click on the upload image box which appears.
After clicking, you will see the same window as shown in several slides earlier, with the green button that says “Upload a photo from your computer.”
In this scenario, all you need to do is click on the mentioned button, which will prompt you to locate the file on your computer. Simply double-click the desired image, and it will be automatically updated on your Weebly site. There’s no need to press “save” or perform any additional steps.
Step Five: Explore Extra Components & Options
The Weebly site builder offers a wide array of component choices.
For instance, you can:
– Change your theme/template at any time
– Add maps to any page
– Create a contact form
– Insert buttons or dividers
– Add various media, such as videos and audio files
– Embed a survey
And much more.
Most of these actions are quite straightforward once you become familiar with the web builder. However, if you encounter any difficulties or need further guidance, Weebly provides excellent tutorials for each of these activities in their Support Center. These tutorials closely resemble the information provided in this article, offering detailed instructions accompanied by screenshots to illustrate each step. The tutorials will assist you in understanding and executing the tasks effectively.
Step Six: Publish Your Weebly Website
Once you’ve completed all your initial edits, it’s time to publish your Weebly free website and make it accessible for people to visit. Remember that you can make further adjustments at any time by accessing the Weebly free website builder, so there’s no need to strive for perfection before going live.
To publish your Weebly free website, simply click on the orange “PUBLISH” button located at the top right-hand side of the editor.
If you are using the free version, it will bring up the domain name selection window again, just as it did earlier in the process.
The final step is to enter a code to verify that you are a human, and then click on the orange “Ok, Publish my website!” button.
Step Seven: Decide What Sort of Plan You Need To Move Ahead
The free package provided by Weebly caters to the fundamental requirements of a website at no cost. However, if you seek a more professional online presence, we advise against opting for the free option. With the free package, you are restricted from using a custom domain name, and Weebly advertisements will be visible on your web pages. Additionally, to access more advanced features or set up an online store, upgrading to a premium package is essential.
Here’s a breakdown of Weebly’s package and what attributes are included with every one of them.
Certainly, the Weebly free website builder comes bundled with each subscription tier.
– **Free Plan**: This includes unlimited pages, hosting, a Weebly subdomain, Weebly advertisements, a 500MB storage limit, a blog, email, and chat support service.
– **Starter Plan ($8/month)**: It offers a free domain for one year, hosting, no Weebly ads, unlimited storage, the ability to sell up to 10 products with a 3% transaction fee, along with email and chat support.
– **Pro Plan ($12/month)**: In addition to everything in the Starter Plan, the Pro Plan provides phone support, HD audio and video players, comprehensive site reporting, the capacity to sell up to 25 e-commerce products with a 3% transaction fee, site search functionality, and support for up to 100 members.
– **Business Plan ($25/month)**: This top-tier plan encompasses all features of the Pro Plan along with unlimited memberships, SSL security, unlimited e-commerce products, a 0% transaction fee on all sales, an integrated shopping cart on your domain, support for digital goods, inventory management, shipping and tax calculators, and coupon codes.
Overview
For small business owners seeking a cost-effective website solution, Weebly’s site builder stands out as an excellent choice. With its array of reliable features, user-friendly interface, and suitability for beginners, Weebly offers a compelling option for creating professional-looking websites at no cost. By following the step-by-step guide provided in this tutorial, you can have a polished Weebly site up and running in 60 minutes or less, without any financial investment. With Weebly, you can initiate your online presence and craft a website that caters to your business requirements.
Moreover, should you decide to upgrade to a premium plan at any point, Weebly facilitates a seamless transition, making it an ideal platform for scaling your business. Whether you require additional features, advanced functionality, or enhanced customization options, upgrading to a premium plan with Weebly ensures that your website can evolve alongside your business needs. With Weebly’s flexibility, you have the liberty to start with a free plan and effortlessly transition to a premium plan as your business grows.
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Thanks and regards all the way form
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