PLEASE NOTE: Since this article was first written, I’ve added BizZites to my list of recommended Site Builders, especially for affiliate marketers who want to easily incorporate datafeeds into their sites. Read my BizZites review here.
During a recent telephone consultation, my client mentioned that she was having a problem changing the background color of her site, so I offered to show her how to change the color on the cascading stylesheet (CSS) that I saw referenced on her pages.
Well, that was easier said than done, as my client was using GoDaddy’s “WebSite Tonight® Site Builder” package, which does not permit FTP access.
Furthermore, the stylesheet wasn’t accessible through the online interface, so I couldn’t amend the code.
Delving a little deeper, I saw that WebSite Tonight® offers a limited number of template choices. If none of those is to your liking, or if you want to get a little more creative with your design, there is no option other than to upgrade to another hosting package or change hosting companies.
Most site builder packages are similarly limited in scope and functionality.
They are perhaps best suited to those who want to build a ‘business card’ site consisting of only a few pages; but as an an affiliate who wants to build a big content site that includes a blog, a newsletter signup form and other – what I call ‘basic’ features – you’d be out of luck.
I do recommend one site builder in the Super Affiliate Handbook, and that is SBI!, or SiteBuildiT!
Regarding SBI!, David, who recently read the handbook, asked:
“I have never delved into the realms of HTML and now find I have a good excuse to do so. SiteBuildiT! looks like a very good option, however my only concern is further done the track would I have control over the development of the site(s) or otherwise, in respect to alterations using my own HTML experience?”
That is such a great question, as we should always be anticipating future expansion of our sites and businesses.
In a previous version of the Super Affiliate Handbook I made the comment, “As a webmaster with reasonably good knowledge of HTML and graphic design, I found the SBI! interface a little clunky and frustrating to use.”
That was because SiteBuildiT! sites historically had an “SBI! look-and-feel” about them. Each had the same two-column, left-side navigation format, and like many site builders there were a limited number of styles from which to choose. Because I believe that affiliate sites should be as unique as the individuals creating them, I saw this as a drawback.
Why was I still recommending SBI! if I thought it had limitations?
Well, first of all, nothing is ever perfect.
Secondly, as I also mention in the SAH, “I can overlook this downside to take advantage of the amazing topic research and search engine optimization tools that SBI! offers”. Total newbies are able to do research from within the SBI! interface and then build sites in profitable niche markets.
Better yet, these SBI! sites get traffic very, very quickly.
Furthermore, Ken Evoy (the founder of SiteBuildiT!, SiteSell and a host of other online services and infoproducts) changed the SBI! structure to allow webmasters with HTML knowledge to use their creativity on their SBI! sites.
If you visit the SBI site, go to the bottom of the homepage and click on “Client Sites” to see a variety of sample sites. Some use the SBI templates, while others obviously create their own designs.
And although I’ve been recommending hosts that use a CPanel interface with Fantastico for the ease of WordPress Blog and CMS (content management system) installations; I see that SBI! has also built Easy Blogging capabilities into their ecommerce package.
More than any other site builder of which I am aware, SBI! has a features list that could choke an elephant.
Best of all, the price is SO reasonable.
The regular price is $299/year – which works out to $24.92 per month. Ken has figured out that if you were to purchase all the tools included included in the SBI! package separately, it would cost you more than 5 grand a year.
Even if you only wanted just the basics – such as domain registration, web hosting, an autoresponder service and web site statistics – it would cost much more than the $24.92 a month that SBI! costs.
Lastly, Ken doesn’t charge a set-up fee.
(I was appalled to learn that some site builder web hosts charge 1500 bucks to ‘set-up’ their clients’ accounts. Seriously, all it takes to set up a new web hosting account is about five form blanks and 2 minutes of their time. There’s absolutely no excuse for that sort of gouging.)
In summary, most site builders are limited in scope and don’t allow for future site expansion. If you are looking for a web host that has an site builder interface, review all the features thoroughly before you purchase an account.
SBI! is still a good option for new webmasters and affiliates who are looking for an easy site builder.
Cheers,
Ros
About Rosalind Gardner
Rosalind,
I second that for sure. The trouble with those website packages is that they use proprietary “stuff”. So if you ever want to take your website with you, you can’t. Plus, you can’t ftp in as you said and just “fix” things the way you like. You are limited to the functions that they allow you to have.
Even GoDaddy’s regular hosting packages don’t allow you to have a contact form.
I also have some web design clients using 1and1.com. Great cheap hosting. They offer you a “free Word Press blog” that is crap. You get like 3 templates to choose from and can’t customize it to save your life. So I hired a blog expert to come and install a full functioning version of Word Press on there.
But 1and1.com does have hosting for as cheap as $2/mo. That’s perfect for those 1 page salesletter websites.
Hi Kristietam,
Hmmm… your comment about 1nad1 offering a ‘ “free Word Press blog” that is crap’ should be a huge caution to most.
We love our blogs, considering they send us so much good free traffic… so no crap blogs for us!
Cheers,
Ros
Rosalind, the link “Beware of Some Site Builder Packages” leads to your the “edit post” option in your WP-Admin area …
(and why do I have to type my name and email in the comments even when I’m logged in already
) Keep up the good work!
Stenko
Hey Stenko,
Yup… hundreds of folks tried to login (or signed up unecessarily) for my blog today. Wish they’d all posted nice comments while they were here though.
)
Oh well, just proves I’m still human despite what my cat thinks.
Cheers,
Ros
I’d like to just add that while I’m no professional web designer, I can attest to the fact that SBI (Site Build It) is completely CSS/HTML friendly.
As I’m still working on the site, I will not give the domain name, but I will tell you that I was able to design a very nice looking three column layout using CSS/XHTML.
The SBI interface let me upload these files directly from my computer without any FTP software. The code was rendered perfectly without any glitches.
In conclusion, if you have CSS skills, SBI will certainly let you take advantage of them instead of relying on the SBI templates (which are a little modifiable). I don’t use SBI templates on my site at all.
Hope this helps.
Hey Superlative,
Fabulous… and CSS is definitely the way to go. Save yourself hours and hours of fiddly font coding for sure.
Thanks for contributing and best of luck/success with your site!
Cheers,
Ros
Rosalind,
While I’m a big fan of SBI! I found out, after my purchase, that they strongly discourage you from transferring an existing domain by using all sorts of scary disclaimer language.
In my opinion SBI! is best utilized when starting from scratch.
Cynthia
Hi Cynthia,
You are absolutely correct! SBI! makes it almost impossible to ‘port’ a domain over, so it’s best that you start a completely brand-new domain with them. OR, copy pages from another site and just register a new domain name… although that’s a big drag if you are already getting good traffic to your first domain.
Once again, nothing is perfect.
Cheers,
Ros
While I started out on SBI and it was generally a good experience, I am not a huge fan. They’re very expensive and even though they tout their keyword research tool, autoresponder and newsletter as a good deal for the money, you can do much better using free or low cost tools. They’re a bit behind the times and SBI can cause you to be very lazy about keeping up to date with the latest in the IM world.
Just my .02.
Eunice
Hi Eunice,
Sorry to hear that your experience with SBI wasn’t the best… but great to see that you’ve kept moving along and learned from the experience.
As to SBI being expensive, it costs about the same as buying hosting and an autoresponder service separately — with all the other tools thrown in, so I definitely think it’s a great deal.
My .02.
Cheers,
Ros
I used SBI for my first venture into building sites and can honestly say that I learnt so much from them as a newbie, especially how to write pages that are good for the SE’s and humans, but as you said it is hard if you want to move the site away at a later date. I started to but then gave up as I realised I could use their tools to help my other ventures. I see you don’t mention XSitePro, I also use them and just wondered what your thoughts were on that package?