Website Builder

The cost of a website always depends on how extensive it is. The more web design options and features you use, the more you'll need to budget for. If you want to create your own website with a website builder, you'll pay between $12 and $30 a month, depending on the plan you choose and the features you need. If you want a custom-made website or online store, you can expect to spend several hundred dollars.

The skills you need to create your own website depends on how you're creating your website, either the classic way or with a Content Management System (CMS).

The classic way with a HTML editor and CSS requires a lot of previous knowledge and experience of website design to make a professional and functional website.

However with a CMS, otherwise known as a site builder, even beginners can create a website with an easy-to-use interface. Although these tools have gotten more advanced over the years, you'll still face some limitations in terms of design options.

Yes. You don't need to spend tons of money to create a beautiful, feature-rich, and functional website for your business needs. Our website builder was created to help small businesses create their own website fast and without previous web design knowledge. IONOS makes it easy and affordable.

Yes, there are a few ways you can go about transferring your site. You can transfer the site yourself or let our professional web team take care of the whole process for you.

Do-it-yourself

1. Pick your plan.

Look through our plans and choose the one that fits your needs. The plans differ from the number of pages you can make, the number of useable designs, and a few other features. Also pick a contract term and payment schedule that works best for you.

1. Move your website and content to IONOS.

We make it easy to migrate your content to our servers and website templates. If you need support during the process, we're available 24/7.

1. Transfer your domain.

The last step is to transfer your existing domain to us and terminate your old contract. Once that's done, you're website is now hosted by IONOS.

No with our beginner-friendly website builder, you don't need any previous experience with any coding language. Our simple step-by-step approach will guide you through the creation of your website.

When you create a website with IONOS, you can expect unparalleled safety and security for both your data and your visitors. We protect against data loss, viruses, malware, and other threats.

For legal requirements needed for professional websites, IONOS can provide the necessary legal texts that deal with some issues. Finally, should you have any further questions or issues regarding security or legal operation, our experts are on hand 24/7 through telephone or email.

Blogs have become an integral part of many websites, because it provides current and meaningful content to your visitors. A blog provides content directly to your customers and allows you to regularly update them on business developments.

On a social aspect, blogs are great for sharing, networking, and creating a supportive digital community.

Blogs also help to organically increase your website traffic and Google ranking, which in turn help you sell more of your services or products.

Yes! IONOS offers valuable tools for lead nurturing and generating repeat business. Here's how we help our customers build relationships with their customers:

Step 1: Check Site Analytics

Use IONOS Site Analytics tools to learn more about your customers. You gleam important insights like where did customers find your website, which of your pages are most popular, where do you customers live, and more.

Step 2: Nurture leads

After understanding your customers create content for them. Make blog posts, marketing emails, downloadable e-books, and more.

Step 3: Make sales easy for everyone

Our Web Apps let customers book their appointments or make their online purchases with ease, helping you get more conversions and less drop offs.

Step 4: Maintain the relationships

Keep customers coming back by sending them coupons and notifications about new products or services. Connect with them on social media. Offer a section on your website featuring the latest industry news and trends. With IONOS, you're always providing value and staying connected with your customers.

Yes! IONOS isn't just in the business of offering free websites and affordable hosting. We offer several different options for attracting new customers to your site.

Get traffic from Google with search engine optimization (SEO)

Along with our website builder, IONOS offers a set of SEO tools. They're both beginner friendly and powerful for newbies and experts alike. Along with optimizing your site when you first build it, our SEO tools provide ongoing analysis of your site's text and structure to improve your Google rankings.

Attract visitors from social networks

Whether you're active on Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn, or other social networks, our web apps connect your social media accounts to your business website. If you own a restaurant, register your business with Foursquare so that guests can check in and find each other.

Take advantage of local search

IONOS can register local companies with Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) so that you're easy to find on Google Maps and Search. You'll be able to display the same address, phone number, hours of operation, and more across all of Google's services.

A free website builder is software that allows you to create a free website quickly online. These programs work in your browser, so you don't have to download additional software to your computer. You just need to log in and design your site.

Hosting

Free site builders let you create websites even without coding knowledge. However, the downside is that is that they rarely offer affordable hosting services. Plus, they make it difficult and complicated to use an external web hosting provider. Some that do offer free hosting, often do so at the expense of a full-feature list or offer hosting in exchange for placing ads on your site.

Templates

Templates are great for beginners. However, the design possibilities are limited with fixed templates, especially with free ones. There may also be other websites using the exact same template, making it difficult to stand out from the crowd.

Email

Many companies prefer their employees to have uniform email addresses, usually containing the company name for extra professionalism. However, free domain-specific email addresses aren’t possible with free website builders and some don’t even offer them for a fee. You may need to use a plugin, add an email function, or use an external service.