Web site builders are a relatively new addition to the web hosting company's mix of products and services. Website builders have been introduced mainly to service the majority who don't know how to program in HTML or any other programming knowledge but still want to control and flexibility that comes from creating and maintain your own website. Using a good web site builder can make your life much easier.
How can you find a web site builder that meets your needs? First, you have to know what you really need. What are you planning to do with your website? If it is just simple stuff like putting up a personal website and throwing a few pictures up for friends and family to see, you won't need too much. It is a safe bet that pretty much any web site builder will work for you. If on the other hand, you plan on making sales from your website and doing some serious business and traffic from it, you'll want to be sure that the site builder you choose will be up to the challenge.
Look for a free trial or a free demo you can use to test out the functionality of the site builder. Most companies will let you take their website builder for a spin before you buy. Having the chance to work with the web site builder before you commit to it can make a big difference as to your comfort level before you buy. You'll get a chance to put the site builder through its paces and decide whether it meets your needs.
Are you locked in to their templates or can you build your own from scratch? Many web site builders out there will force you to use their templates and not allow you to make any significant changes to the template. If you can't find a template from their selection that you like, you'll simply have to deal with it. Know though, that there are some site builders out there that will allow you to strip the template right down to bare bones and build your own custom graphics, headers and footers to create almost any kind of look you want while retaining the easy to use aspect of the site builder.
What else do you get with the web site builder besides a template and some easy to edit text? Do they offer a free domain name? Do they give you enough disk space to host lots of images and pages? How many pages do they let you create? How many sites can you create with their web site builder? If there is a limit, what does it cost to raise the limit on any of these options? Knowing the answers to these and other important questions will allow you to compare apples with apples and oranges with oranges. Two companies may seem to offer the same price point and the same features but you will often find major differences in pricing between the two of them to accomplish what you need.
Do your research and you will be well on your way to a web site builder that meets your needs and gives you quality, professional results at a reasonable price.