Bluehost Website Builder Review

Bluehost doesn’t have a proprietary website builder like Wix or Squarespace, but it does offer both WordPress and Weebly on all of its plans. I’d argue that this is actually a better setup because Bluehost websites are faster, and they give you more creative freedom. More details below.

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Author Kevin Ngure
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Bluehost is like Beyond Meat for the dev world – easy to make, affordable, incredibly tasty, and guilt-free. If you’ve been thinking about building your own website and got to do even the tiniest bit of research, you’ve probably stumbled across Bluehost as one of the best and easiest ways to get online.

I also think that the Bluehost website builder is a remarkably powerful web development tool that anybody – literally anybody who can open a browser – can use to their advantage. Not having to pay the premium price of a programmer is, by far, their most alluring pitch. To put it differently, we can’t eat out at a high-end restaurant every day, so a comfortable, DIY gourmet option is something we desperately need.

In this Bluehost website builder review, you’ll become acquainted with some of their best features and tools. You can instantly launch a WordPress page or add Weebly, set-up an eCommerce platform, integrate databases, expand your website’s functionality with tens of thousands of free scripts, and much more.

Before we begin, it’s worth noting that we have separate guides for building band websites and building photography websites, so go check them out if you’re interested in those niches. This will be a more general review of website building using Bluehost.

Why Bluehost?

When the list of the best web hosts is usually drawn up, Bluehost almost automatically comes out on top. And it rightly is among the greatest web hosting services providers in the world today, considering that this giant sits among the top 10 hosts.

According to Web Hosting Statistics of 2020, it powers over 2 million websites and commands a further 2.2% of all hosting clients worldwide. But what the majority would probably never know is that this web host is also a well-known site builder. It is many people’s favorite choice, including those who prefer to build their websites from scratch, but lack the necessary programming skills.

Indeed, Bluehost website builder is one of the few alternative site builders that have simplified the art of building beautiful sites without necessarily touching a single line of code. And even for a dummy who’s probably never built one before, this builder makes the entire process last a little less than an hour.

Bluehost as a Site Builder

The popularity of Bluehost amongst the best-rated site builders is growing, all because it has revolutionized the ease of building great websites. It now offers a couple of terrific website builders and effectively helps thousands craft professional-looking blogs and websites.

As a matter of fact, Bluehost is just one of the many hosts that also offer mainstream website building services, according to statistics from HRank, which paint a clear picture of this new trend. Of the 232 hosts, over 150 are into site-building.

Furthermore, this hosting giant is one of the greatest 50 hosting service providers with trusted site building services. That only goes to show how quickly this new idea is gaining in popularity and how it could replace the traditional way of creating websites.

But Bluehost, in itself, isn’t a fully-fledged builder. It basically heavily relies upon WordPress and the Weebly Website Builder, two trusted names in the game, which can be accessed by the cPanel’s Website section. 

Weebly and WordPress Web Builders on Bluehost

Bluehost chose Weebly mainly because of the sheer number of websites it powers today – over 40 million of them. According to Statistica, it is one of the greatest platforms for building websites – a great all-in-one solution that can build all kinds of websites, including professional business sites, blogs, and e-commerce stores.

As a side note, we wouldn’t necessarily recommend Weebly as a hosting service even though we do like it as a website builder. You can learn more about what that is by reading our Weebly vs Bluehost comparison.

Apart from Weebly, Bluehost has another DIY website builder that really needs no introduction. WordPress is probably the most admired open source CMS platform that bloggers rush to when they need to create blogs, forum sites, and the likes.

Many admire WordPress because it makes everything a lot simpler, even for a beginner. First, it comes with thousands of themes, a majority of them available for free. It also simplifies the whole process, ensuring that an individual can understand everything, right from the first step to hitting the ‘Publish’ tab. And, of course, WP is FREE!

To avoid any potential confusion, it’s worth mentioning that we’re only talking about the WordPress CSM (Content Management System) in this article. For information regarding the WordPress.com hosting service, make sure to check out our Bluehost vs WordPress comparison.

Why Weebly and WordPress?

They are the future

It is not rocket science to understand why CMSes and site builders could be marking the end of mainstream web development. With all the facts and statistics highlighting why many are opting for it, going for this DIY website building tool is a great idea.

Advanced market practices and improved browser technologies nowadays allow site builders to deliver products that are as unique, professional, and exciting as ordinary websites. One can use WordPress and create a site that is SEO-compliant, responsive, and has all the key professional visual representations, thanks to the plugins it comes with.

The decision boils down to numbers

Yet, apart from that, site builders like Weebly or Squarespace command a vast customer base. Weebly already has millions of users spreading its gospel, much like WordPress whose numbers are staggering. The fact that over 40 million websites rely on Weebly, including some stunning real-life websites, tells a lot about the amount of trust it enjoys.

Weebly and WordPress are different and parallel to one another, but they both enjoy a mammoth following. The former is an ideal site builder, while the latter is firstly, a popular content management system. This essentially means that, even with their diversity, they still have a massive customer base.

Lots of designs; simple ease of use

It’s easy to see why Bluehost had to settle for Weebly and WordPress. The two offer over-the-top themes and templates to help those without technical skills and knowledge to design their websites. Weebly website builder is arguably the greatest after WordPress and comes in two versions: Basic and Pro.

With the two, anyone can create any type of website; from a simple personal blog to a full-featured, multi-page website. You will construct your website using pre-made templates, tweak and twist everything until you are happy about the final piece.

Themes and designs are very customizable, easy to choose (Weebly has a drag-and-drop editor), and come with a one-click install. The best part of it always is the countless different design templates one can choose from. If you’re familiar with services like Wix, you’ll know exactly what to expect here.

It gets even better that, while WordPress is different, it comes with more themes than the designs that Weebly has. The convenient drag and drop feature, plus the ease of creating a site without coding is their greatest selling point.

They are FREE to use

In an ideal world, nobody would be willing to help you design a killer website for FREE. You will have to fork out a fee, sometimes in thousands of dollars.

Unlike similar platforms like Squarespace or Shopify, Weebly and WordPress can be used for FREE. Signing up is free, and from the moment you choose a particular design to the last step of having a site, you may not pay a single cent. The same is true with WP, whose themes don’t necessarily cost a dime.

The best part of it all is that anyone, anywhere, and at any time can get started. No credit cards required, no prior coding expertise, no nothing; just effortless web site creation.

But just how good is the Bluehost Site Builder?

As much as the Bluehost website builder is founded on the power of Weebly and WordPress, it also gives a host of free website scripts that help design a cool site from scratch. The scripts help design a professional and engaging website.

They also help create a well-thought-out website that looks unique, interesting, and responsive. Some of the scripts include social media scripts, photo galleries, blog support, survey software, and message forums.

Bluehost further helps enhance the security of the websites. For websites that usually require high levels of security, it gives them SSL encryption and certificates. This, of course, is on top of the common database technologies on e-commerce sites. You can read more about all these features and more in our extensive Bluehost review.

In the end, a website built under Bluehost often functions excellently in all aspects. It usually even comes with an intuitive, easy-to-navigate cPanel with all the core aspects of the website, including a simple maintenance and monitoring feature intuitively placed.

The greatness of Bluehost doesn’t end there, though!

Bluehost is one of the web hosts embraced for offering the best services. This host manages to maintain 99.98% uptime and great page load-times, essentially helping sites remain live, online, and always accessible.

The power behind all this lies with their state-of-the-art hosting service, which also features around-the-clock network monitoring systems, power backup sources, and super-fast processors. These all aspects work well with websites built per Bluehost. For more information related to the company’s performance, we recommend checking out our dedicated Bluehost hub.

Remember, Bluehost also has one of the most responsive, multi-channel customer support departments in the industry today. It is a subtle feature that rests at the center of most of their clients’ decisions.

Is Bluehost site builder easy to use?

As mentioned in this post, building a website with Bluehost can be the easiest job in the world. No programming skills are required and on top of that, it may take you an hour to have a full website up and running.

The first thing is to know what you would like your site to be about – its niche. It is only from its niche that you will choose from an array of pre-made templates that closely correspond to it.

With that done, the next step usually is to pick a perfect name for the site, name it, and choose a cover photo. If you also have a logo, you may have to upload it during the preliminary stages of creation.

A few moments later and with all the specific areas customized, your website should be ready to go live. You might need to preview it and correct any minor details before hitting the ‘Publish’ button.

Weebly has a few differences, compared to WordPress

WordPress is probably the easiest to use platform for creating websites, especially when paired with Bluehost. It is the best for literally every website and comes with countless themes and plugins, which can either be free or paid. It is a CMS, not a DIY website builder like Weebly.

And whereas WordPress is totally free, the Weebly site builder comes in two forms: Basic and Pro.

  • The Basic edition is free to use and limits the number of web pages one can create to six. However, it still comes with YouTube and Adobe Flash video support features. Every successfully created website comes with free maintenance, which also includes basic SEO and RSS feed.
  • The Pro version is a more advanced package. It is a paid-for version that comes with several advanced features, including the freedom to create unlimited web pages, set passwords, and freely change and customize templates. Under this, one can also upload their favorite favicon, embed files that visitors can download, and even integrate an image editor.

Conclusion

There is no denying the fact that the Bluehost website builder is one of the most dynamic and impressive tools of its kind. Whether you’re an established business transitioning to the digital world or an independent contractor seeking more visibility, Bluehost will not only help keep your web development costs low but also guarantee your page looks fresh and professional.

The only problem with this Bluehost site builder is the fact that it doesn’t come with extra features outside of those provided by WordPress and Weebly. So, as much as no coding skills are required to use it, the eventual website is a product of the actual builder used.

The good thing with this extremely popular builder is its relationship with WordPress – the greatest CMS in the world, and Weebly. One can choose from any of the two and simply build a fully-fledged website. The Weebly Basic plan is free, much like WP, while the Pro plan must be paid for.

For reviews related to web hosting services, including Bluehost, Weebly, WordPress.com, Squarespace and many more, we recommend visiting our reviews hub at this link.

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