Do you want to build a website, but have no experience? Then you’ve probably heard of this platform called SimpleSite, which can create one for you within minutes. But, if you are anything like me, you are likely to try things out first before buying them. So, is SimpleSite free, and if it is, what kind of website can it offer for you? Let’s find out more about this review.
What Is SimpleSite and How Does It Work?
SimpleSite is a website builder and hosting company founded by Morten and Jacob Elk from Denmark in 2013. Their services are available in multiple languages and serve more than 18 million users online
To get started, you just need to select a theme, create a headline, and choose a (sub) domain name to launch the site. Since SimpleSite works on a What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get (WYSIWYG) kind of format, editing a site is intuitively easy. Each page is constructed with sections and each section come with editing commands for you to fill out text, add images, or insert relevant links.
Pretty straightforward, right? Now, let’s move on to answer the most important question.
Is SimpleSite Free?
Yes, SimpleSite is free, but with this account, you will only be allowed to publish;
- 15 web pages
- 300 images
- 600 video seconds (that’s approximately 10 minutes of streaming)
- Get limited design layouts
- 5 products (if you are planning to create an online store)
Of course, you can expand the features, but there would be add-on fees. To get unlimited features, you could choose either the Pro or eCommerce plan as shown below.
What Can You Do With The Free Website?
Unless you are creating a website for personal use, there’s nothing much you can do for this type of free account. From the perspective of the reader’s outreach;
- 15 webpages won’t produce enough content to get your site indexed and visible to online users. My blog has more than 100 pages and Google knows that I am adding fresh content on a regular basis.
- Although 300 images may seem a lot, it won’t be enough to create good and long term visual engagement (partly because you are limited to the number of webpages above). My blog has more than 1000 images and even they get indexed online.
- If you plan to create or embed multiple videos, 10 minutes of video streaming is actually very limited. In my blog, I am free to add as many YouTube videos as I want.
So generally, you would only get a basic website (that might not be seen by Google) with the SimpleSite free account.
What Website Should You Use Instead?
The site that you are reading right now was originally built on a free platform called SiteRubix. 2 years ago, I had no idea about website creation, so I didn’t know where to start. Fortunately, SiteRubix turns out to be really awesome, and here’s why I think you should try it out too.
- It works on WordPress, which is open-source software that allows users to publish their websites for free by utilizing resources contributed by professional software developers.
- It doesn’t limit the number of pages/posts that you can publish.
- You can upload as many images and video length as you want.
- You get access to more than 1000 free WordPress themes.
- WordPress has very powerful SEO features, so even a free website is search-engine friendly.
- Unlike other website builders, SiteRubix is linked to the training at Wealthy Affiliate University that teaches you how to build an online business through niche research, content creation and driving traffic to your site using the right way.
- When starting with SiteRubix, you can also try out the Jaaxy Keyword Tool which is very easy to use and time-saving.
The only time you need to upgrade is when you want to;
- Purchase a custom domain name for personal branding (Note that domain name is an asset that appreciates in value over time)
- Purchase the powerful and secured hosting service through SiteRubix that will also give you free access to the training within Wealthy Affiliate.
Create a Website That Thrives
Of all the website builders that I’ve reviewed, I find that SimpleSite still lacks many features that are much needed for building a proper website that can help you achieve your online goals. But at the very least, it’s not a company that would scam you with free sites.
Do you have a business/project idea that you want to expand online? Or, are you interested to make money from a website? Then SiteRubix is certainly worth the try. Find out how you can create a free WordPress website here, and if you need any help along the process, I’ll lend you a hand. I hope to connect with you soon.
Do you have any thoughts or questions regarding this topic? Just leave them in the comment below and I’ll get back to you.
I already have my website with Simplesite, but I want to upgrade it with my own domain name.
That’s a good idea Richy. With a custom domain, you can do much more with the branding of your blog. Please read this article to know where you can buy an affordable domain name.
Hi Cathy,
That’s a very interesting platform, good thing they’re offering a 28 days trial. Based on what you’ve written here I take it that Simplesite is more suitable for people who doesn’t aim to maintain a profitable business online. It’s for those who want to have a blog without too much trouble and doesn’t really care about SEO. At least it seems so for me.
Hi Dmitriy,
Yeah, it seems like SimpleSite is built for users who are not ready to handle the complexity that comes with online ranking and traffic. For the same amount of time, you can use the free SiteRubix and compare both the performance side-by-side to see which one works better.
This looks really good, actually. I was expecting it to be not as good as this, probably because of the name SimpleSite. But those example websites in that video look really professional. How do you think this compares to other website builders? Also, do they use WordPress to make these sites? I think WordPress is a great platform that is very easy to use.
Hi Marcus,
SimpleSite is just a simple website builder, not a content management system like WordPress. Both build websites but the traffic results and performance are different. In that sense of comparison, I personally prefer WordPress.
Great review Cathy,
I’ve always been curious on SImpleSite, glad I came across your review! I totally agree with you on the video streaming part, 10 minutes of video streaming per page in understandable but per site? That’s criminal, they are really going far to push you into spending money aren’t they?
Site Rubix is definitely way better, good thing I came across it first rather than SimpleSite. Awesome write-up as always Cathy, I’ve always enjoyed reading your articles.
I have people asking me all the time how I create my websites, and I always tell them that there are amazing programs out there nowadays that allow them to create something in a matter of seconds. I’m with you on WordPress being the tool every web novice should be using. Simplesite, lacking an SEO tool really is offputting since SEO is so important in ranking your website and that would singlehandedly make me go to WordPress which has SEO tools and so much more.
Hi Lad,
Many people especially beginners are easily misguided by what a website should look like instead of how a website should function. When you take the latter into consideration, it’s almost impossible not to ignore the importance of SEO. A good platform should come equipped with full (not partial) SEO tools like All in One SEO (in WordPress) that can work properly.
Having a good grasp of that can make your site perform far better than just a pretty look.
Hi Cathy, this is a really good review on SimpleSite.
I believe the simplicity of it will be attractive to the casual blogger or pure beginners. As you have point out, SimpleSite is so simple that it is not suitable for those who are looking to improve their website for SEO and online business.
WordPress is still one of the best around for building website for sure. It is simple to use, but have the capacity to be a full-blown e-commerce site.
Welcome to my blog, Dlansing.
As you have pointed out, WordPress is extremely flexible and customizable, largely due to the various plugins and widgets that you can add to your site. Without those elements, it can be quite challenging to optimize a site for traffic and SEO these days. I use SiteRubix to build my WordPress site and it comes with a powerful hosting too.
Hi Cathy,
This is a well researched article. It is a jungle out there when it comes to free site creators. Articles like this are very helpful when deciding which one to go with. Often time the “free” site creators are NOT really free, like this article shows, it is necessary to pay for the add-ons.
It is much more cost effective to set up your own domain for $10 yearly and then get premium hosting through Wealthy Affiliate or a hosting company for a few bucks monthly. SimpleSite sounds like a costly solution.
Welcome to my blog, Vicky.
The term ‘free’ on the internet can be quite ambiguous. Since most new owners aren’t aware of a web business components, they tend to lean towards any packages that offer to build and host at a cheaper option. And that’s where their problems start. You get un-optimized website, poor server and have absolutely no clue which direction you are heading online. It can be a complete waste of time and effort.
Therefore, always build your business on a solid platform and go from there. If anything goes wrong, at least you know you have reliable support.
Hi Cathy, I may have missed this, but what is the cost of Wealthy Affiliate? Thanks.
Welcome to my blog, Cent.
Wealthy Affiliate is free to join for Starters. It provides you with 2 free websites and some basic marketing training. If you are looking to build an online business, the Premium is a better option to gain full access to the tools and support. The cost of that is $47/month or $359/year.
Hope this information helps 🙂
I’ve never tried SimpleSite, but I have tried several other “free” site builders. I can see why they can appeal to someone with no experience because people love drag and drop features. This might make it easy to build something that looks great, but there isn’t enough emphasis on SEO.
This is why I will only build WordPress sites. If I want to build a free site for testing purposes I use SiteRubix (built on WordPress). There is a bit of learning curve with WordPress, but nothing that works well is going to be easy.
If you want to build sites that will bring organic traffic, make sales and increase in value over time, I think WordPress is the way to go. If you want the best possible training for building profitable websites, Wealthy Affiliate is the place to learn.
Good to hear from you again, Steve.
Having tried a few website builders, I must say they are pretty impressive at first sight. Lot’s of intuitive features, beautiful designs and of course, the simplicity of it. But that’s pretty much it. Many SEO techniques used for ranking can’t be applied to these builders and that is a major disadvantage if you are planning to build an online presence.
I use WordPress from the very beginning and although there’s a bit of learning to it, it pays to have my website rank. It is what I would use to build my online business going forward.