Site Build It Page Builder Review
This is a review of the Site
Build It!
web page builder including a
description of how it works, pros and cons, who
it's for, features, how easy it is to use, and the learning curve
required.
Site Build It
(SBI) contains a lot more than just a page builder. It is a complete
suite of website building tools and website marketing advice.
SBI is
from SiteSell,
created by Ken
Evoy, whose team is constantly updating and improving it.
How It Works
The Site Build It page builder uses a unique approach.
All
the various parts of the page including page information that goes in
the meta tags, navigation options and actual page content are entered
into blocks.
Users follow the prompts so the technical know-how needed is kept to a
minimum.
For
example, if you want to insert an image, in the graphic block you're
prompted for the image file (that you've already uploaded into a
graphics library), the image alignment (none, left, center, right), and
alt text.
If you want the image to be a link, you're prompted
for the page to link to, also the mouseover text (to be shown
in
the status bar at the bottom of the web page), and whether or not the
link should be shown in a new window.
Every block works the
same way with a series of text boxes and prompts to enter the needed
information. The entire web page is built up block by block.
Other Features
The Site Build It page builder has some great features.
There is a template library, where the user can choose a template and
customize it they want to.
A
very useful feature that I haven't seen integrated with any other web
page builder is the page analyzer. This checks that the page is
optimized for the search engines by checking the main keyword for its
frequency and position on the page.
If the keyword isn't used
often enough, or too often, or it's not included in the right places
the user is prompted to make changes. This is an important part of
getting free traffic from the search engines.
The page submitter
is another unique feature. Site Build It automatically submits pages to
the four major search engines in accordance with their submission
guidelines. It is a convenience and a time saver.
It's also easy to add RSS and social bookmarking links so visitors can
subscribe to your feed, or share your pages.
Who It's For
Site
Build It as a whole is for newbies and veteran web site builders alike.
The page builder is mainly for newbies. Experienced
webmasters
can use their favorite page building software and upload those pages to
Site Build It.
Having said that, some experienced users still
like to use the page builder because they can stay more focused on the
all important content creation.
How Easy Is It?
The first time I used wysiwyg page building software it took a
while to learn about web page building and how to use the software.
There was a considerable learning curve, and I spent a lot of time in
the help files.
By contrast, I found the SBI page builder quite straight-forward to
use. It was more like follow the dots. Of course I did have the
advantage of already knowing how to build web pages by then, but I do
believe a first time web site builder will find it considerably easier
to learn and easier to use than a wysiwyg software program.
Pros
What's good about the page builder?
- It's easy to learn, and easy to use.
- You don't need to be a techie to do the
technical bits of page building.
- It teaches the basics of good web page design
to suit visitors and search engines alike.
- It produces search engine optimized pages.
- It automates the tedious parts of web page
building.
- It saves time.
- There is an abundance of helpful information
included, plus access to the forums.
- It is regularly improved.
- Minimal learning curve required.
Cons
Nothing is perfect, so what's wrong with the Site Build It page builder?
- It's a little bit clunky, like riding a bike
with training wheels.
- You do need a small amount of HTML knowledge,
though I'd say less than you'd need even with a wysiwyg website
building program.
- You can't use virtual includes, but it's
still easy to do most of the things you'd want virtual includes for.
Features
Just what do you get in Site Build It's page builder? Here's a review
of what's included.
- Domain Name
- Hosting
- Customizable templates
- Block by block page builder
- Page analyzer
- Automated Page submitter
- Automatic notification to Search engines of
updated pages
- Domain name parking
- Automated XML site map maker
- Automated blogging
- Easy insertion of RSS and social bookmarking
tools
- Traffic stats
- Quality site building information
- Access to SBI forums for more help
Many of the technical Site Build It page building features are
automated so that not much time and technical knowledge are
needed for them.
Note that the features here only relate to page building. See
a complete
list of SBI tools here.
Price
The page builder is only available as part of the complete suite of
tools, currently $299/year or $29.99/month.
Return Policy
SiteSell.com will refund you 100% within the first 30 days of purchase,
and on a pro-rata basis after that, for whatever part of the year
remains.
Questions About Site Build It?
Go to the official Site Build It Summary Page
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