Creating and hosting a website: Part 1 — Website builders

The easiest way to get a website is to build it with a website builder. A website builder is an online service where pages are assembled from pre-built blocks: text, images, galleries, forms, and buttons. No programming is required, and hosting is included.

In Russia, Tilda and the T-Bank website builder are common. Since September 12, 2024, Wix does not serve users from Russia: their accounts are blocked and sites are hidden.

Advantages

• Simplicity and speed. A simple website can be built in a few hours without experience.
• Visual editor. The result of each edit is visible immediately.
• Built-in features. Contact forms, payment processing, an e-commerce cart, basic SEO settings, and mobile responsiveness are usually built in.
• Hosting included. You don’t need to rent or configure a server.
• Technical support. In difficult situations you can contact the service’s specialists.

Disadvantages

• Limited flexibility. A site’s capabilities are limited to what the builder’s developers provided. Implementing non-standard features is difficult or impossible.
• Platform lock-in. Moving the site to another platform is generally not possible without a complete rebuild.
• SEO limitations. Basic settings are sufficient for a small site, but they may be inadequate for fine-tuning and serious promotion.
• Cost. The full feature set is available only via subscription, and over several years it can cost more than self-hosting.
• Dependence on the service. If the platform changes its terms or leaves the market, the site will have to be recreated.

Free plans

Many builders offer a free plan with limitations: the site runs on the platform’s subdomain, the number of pages and features is reduced, and sometimes ads or the service logo are shown. The T-Bank builder is free, including for individuals; payment processing on it is set up via T-Bank acquiring. For a site intended to bring customers, you usually have to switch to a paid plan.

Required skills and difficulty

• Skills. Being reasonably comfortable with a computer is sufficient. A sense of composition and the ability to prepare images will help make the site look neater, but this task does not require programming.
• Difficulty — low.

A website builder is suitable for a business-card website, a landing page, a small online store, or for testing an idea when it’s more important to launch quickly than to have full control over the site.