Today, we are going to look into yet another website building service that goes by a very cute name. If you are a business owner based in the UK or have been doing online marketing for a while, you’ve probably heard of them. In this Moonfruit website builder review, we are going to see how things are set up behind the scene and find out if this is the right solution for growing your online presence.
How Does It Work?
Moonfruit is a what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) type of builder. The layout is pretty much preset and all you need to do is just to add the visual elements and content using a few simple clicks. There are four types of plans available and their pricing details are as follows;
- Lite – $9/month
- Standard – $12/month
- Plus – $20/month
- Max – $35/month
For the annual subscription, you are entitled to 25% off and a free domain. Now, let’s see what are the advantages of using this website builder.
The Pros
1) Like the others, the software is generally simple and easy to understand. With good intuition, you can create a website without having to learn any codes. This is great for people who are totally new to this set of skill.
2) All the plans come with an online store so this is definitely great for small business owners that have a retail set up. Besides that, I am happy to see that they have a blog section and it’s good to know that the company consider the importance of blogging in the business world since web content is what really drives traffic to one’s site. On top of that, there are also no Moonfruit ads to overlap with your brand logo so the site will appear more professional.
3) Each product listing (as well as blog posts) has its own meta tags, specifically called meta-title and meta description. This is important for search engine to identify and display your product when someone is searching for something similar online. It also helps your store to stand out amid a crowded marketplace.
4) In terms of pricing, the Standard package which costs about $9 to $12/month is quite affordable for a small sized business. This takes away the burden of having to hire professionals to set thing up for you.
5) Other features that I find convenient is the in-house domain which helps to quickly link a site and membership sites which is great for growing your customer base. Also, I like to see that they offer customer support for all four plans and not just the higher paying ones.
But as I was testing out, I found a few problems that need to be mentioned.
The Cons
1) Despite the intuitiveness, the Moonfruit user dashboard is not navigational-friendly. You get new windows popping out at different times and it could get very annoying when trying to return to the previous screen. This made me very clueless.
2) The other technical hiccup that I experience is that the editor is slow to load whenever I make any changes or save something. It took so long that I had to reload the browser and start everything all over again.
3) I am a blogger so having my content organized is a priority. However, the blog editor is not the easiest to use. There’s no clear command for adding videos or adjust image placements to compliment your content. There are also several editing layers to the blog that makes the whole writing process quite confusing.
4) Apparently, at this point of writing, the mobile responsiveness is currently in beta testing, which means, some features will be limited until their system is fully developed. As of when, we don’t really know. That seems a bit lag, considering the huge number of website templates out there that are ALREADY responsive from the very start.
5) Last but not least, the knowledge base is very brief. They don’t offer information about backups, how to export your website if you decide to change hosting company and most importantly, how to get traffic to your site.
At the end of the day, you’d be left with a site that you don’t know how to optimize and generate profit from.
So, If Moonfruit Worthy of Your Time?
For me, this software is just ‘okay’ – good for testing out and feel what a basic business website should be like, but not that great when you use it for a long term. In regard to that, I would always recommend using WordPress as the publishing platform.
Not only does the blogging feature rocks, it can also be converted to a very powerful eCommerce site by using the latest plugins and themes. Best of all, there’s a special SEO plugin to help your business get noticed by the search engines as well as the online audience. In other words, WordPress will give you more exposure.
There might be a little learning curve involved – after all, it’s not an intuitive builder – but that can be overcome when you have a sound training on the basics of online marketing AND keyword research. I created my first WordPress website using the tools and resources from Wealthy Affiliate and I think that will benefit your online business too.
I do hope that this Moonfruit website builder review has given some insights on what to expect with simple solutions. If you need any help getting started with an online business, do check out my recommended hosting and training platform or leave your questions below and I’ll get back to you as soon.
You may also be interested to read;
My Remixer Website Builder Review
How to Get Customers to Say Good Things about Your Online Business
The question I would have when it comes to using a website builder like Moonfriut (no matter how cute the name may be) would be wondering if the “drag and drop” style of website building would produce a lot of similar looking sites?
I have visited several blogs that look almost exactly the same, however, the person running it is different. I wonder how hard it would be to “stand out” with Moonfruit?
The pricing doesn’t seem too bad, but if the navigation system isn’t user friendly, I think I would have to pass on this host. I agree that WordPress is my #1 go to for website building – their options are endless.
Hi Kayla, getting your business to stand out with the Moonfruit platform can be quite challenging as most templates are limiting and not easy to custom design. I haven’t seen a more diverse template collection like the one on WordPress so that’s definitely a better choice.
This is an interesting review. I never heard about Moonfruit before, but in my earlier research for a website builder, WIX often came into my radar because they are also actively being advertised on YouTube. Do you have any review on WIX, by any chance? Just curious to know how good it is.
Hey Jude (love the name),
Here’s a review about Wix that I wrote. It’s been a while and I do hope that some features have improved. I wasn’t too impress with their template choices and package plans the last time though.
Moonfruit strikes me as not as competitive as other similar services I’ve seen for less money. Perhaps later on they will add more value. Time will tell. I have experience with a few of these other services and Wealthy Affiliate as well. I can tell you this much – nothing compares to the value you get with them. And that’s not taking into account the free training they offer. Great post.
I heard about Moonfruit before but didn’t have any interest on starting a business with them because I was looking for a complete platform that has support, tutorial, courses, and people sharing real results.
I want to ask if aside from the tools you used inside Wealthy Affiliate, what website builder would recommend me? Thanks.
Hi Anfernee, if I have to choose one, it would probably be Squarespace. They are the more established platform in terms of simple web builders, professional looking and I’ve personally seen some very successful bloggers use them. They do, however, charge transaction fees for the lower plans if you are planning to sell your own products online.