Duda Review 2021

Is Duda the best website builder? Find out below.

Overview

Duda is a web builder which specialises in mobile websites. However, the sites are also suitable for PC’s but you can be sure that they will also look good on mobile devices as well. They have a lot of other features as well though, which means that they can compete with the other main web builders on the market as well. They allow you to make multilingual websites and have a personalisation tool which means that you can send visitors customised offers and these two features are not often available with other web builders which is what makes it stand out from those. It is relatively expensive though, but the free 30-day trial will allow you to try it out first and see whether it will suit your needs.

Plans & Pricing

There is a free plan but it is just a 30-day trial which means that after this you will have to pay if you want to continue using it. Some other web builders have completely free forever plans, so if you do not want to pay, this will not be for you. However, free plans are always basic so it is important to look at what they do offer to see whether you feel it would be better to pay so that you can get a much better website.

The basic plan is $14 and you can use your own domain with it and complete multilingual websites. The price of the domain is not included in this, so you will have to buy this separately. The $22 plan is called team and will allow you to build online stores where you can sell more than ten products. In the $44 plan which is called Agency you will be able to create up to 8 websites and you can have 10 team members using it. All of the plans are ad free and will provide increasingly accessible customer support.

It is worth noting that these monthly prices are based on a yearly payment option. If you opt to pay monthly, you may end up paying more.

Tools & Features

• There is a language feature where you can add additional languages. This is one of the best features of this web builder. It uses a folder system and is SEO friendly, which quite a few competitors are not. It supports all major languages including Asian characters so is extremely flexible and this function is available in all plans.
• The sites are good where SEO is concerned. Not only can you adjust settings to match your needs, it is SSL encrypted which Google favours and will benefit your rankings. Pages also load quickly which is something that Google likes as well. This means that if it is important to you to be able to get high in search engines, then this web builder will be useful for you.
• There is a blog feature that is easy to add with a single click and includes RSS. You can tag on a blog you already have or start up a new one. Commenting is also allowed on the blog articles but only via Facebook.
• There is a visitor analysis tool that is useful, but you can incorporate Google Analytics if you prefer. It is important to do this so that when you try different marketing techniques you will be able to track how useful they have been.
• Individual pages can be password protected, but you cannot create several accounts so if you want multiple people to have access they will need to all share a login and password and you will have to allow them access by giving them the passwords to the sections that they need to get to. This could be a bit complex and messy, but if you just have a small number of you working on it or just one person, then it will not be important.
• You can add HTML code which means that it is flexible and it is easy to be able to make the site look unique and add additional features if you want to. You can also edit the templates themselves too. This allows for creativity and because the editor does not require programming, it means that if you do not know code, then this will not be a problem for your either.
• There is unlimited storage space, which can be especially useful for sites with a lot of content. Some sites do not have unlimited storage or you have to pay for an expensive package to be able to get it, so it could be a big advantage for some people.
• You can backup and restore your website. Each time the site is published it will be backed up automatically. This means that if something goes wrong, then you will be able to roll it back to a previously saved version.
• There is support available. There are some videos that you can watch and FAQs. You will also have access to different levels of support depending on your plan. There is chat, email and telephone support available to the highest-level payers and support is available in varying degrees to all.
• The app store is quite limited but does actually have good opportunities to enhance the features of your website. You can add in Google Maps, for example and OpenTable integration which is useful for restaurant reservations. You can also integrate social media sites such as Facebook.

Themes

There are lots of modern designs included in the different templates which means that you will be able to choose something which will look up to date. There are also empty templates and so those people that want to program and have creative ideas will be able to do something themselves and just start from scratch. All templates are optimised for mobile devices which means that they are responsive and you will be able to see previews of how they look on different devices.

There are 27 options available and six templated with no content and basic layout so that you can design your own. The themes are not really that modern but are well laid out with a good selection of menus and pages and cover the basics such as hotels, restaurants and cafes which most websites are likely to be about.

There are three levels of navigation available which could be suitable for most people, although some may want to be able to go deeper than this. It is worth thinking beforehand whether this will be enough for you.

There is a website personalisation tool where an information var, pop-ups, special offers and things like this can be added. There is an app store as well, but it is rather limited in what is available.

It is possible to monetise by adding adverts such as banners on to the website in all of the theme options.

Pros & Cons

If you are looking for multilingual websites then this web builder could be one of the best available. It has a powerful system but there are drawbacks in that you cannot translate blog articles or ecommerce products, but you can translate everything else.

The website personalisation tools are very useful and powerful. It is possible to send specific messages to website visitors based on the time of day, their location etc. This can be an extremely useful marketing tool.

There is a very easy drag and drop editor which means that it is straightforward to create a design and therefore especially useful for anyone that is short of time or is not used to using this sort of software and not good at programming.

There is a backup and restore feature as well. This means that if you make a major change and something goes wrong, you will be able to restore it again.

The app store is quite limited though, compared to some other web builders. This means that you will not be able to personalise the site quite as much or add on extra features.

It can be pretty expensive. Not only is there no free plan, only the 30-day trial you will find that the prices are a lot more expensive than some close competitors.

Domain Names

Domain names are not included but you will be able to register a domain through Duda if you wish to. However, if you have your own you can link to that as well. You may want to buy one elsewhere and then link to it, if you find that Duda are too expensive for you. There is SSL encryption also available in all paid plans which can be very useful.

Ecommerce

There is ecommerce and it is based on Ecwid’s shop system. It is easy to use and SEO friendly. It allows you to embed videos and photos to show off your products and visitors can add multiple items to their cart. There are 50+ possible payment options so you can pick one that you like, currently use or that you feel will appeal to your customers and you will be able to offer a selection of you want to. Digital goods can be handled and there is SSL encryption. There is the option of customer accounts and you can add coupon codes as well. There are ten products available with each plan and if you want to be able to sell more, you will need to upgrade and you can choose 100 or 2500 items.

Conclusion

The web builder seems good for small to medium-sized businesses. It has nice templates and they can be easily customised without the need to program. However, once a theme s chosen it cannot be changed so you will have to pick carefully. You can customise visitors experiences which is really interesting and useful. For example, a first-time visitor can be shown a video or information which will not be shown again. There might be offers for visitors from certain locations or things like this and so this could be handy if it is something that you think that you will make use of. Its multilingual options do outshine other web builders though and so if you need something which works internationally, both with language tools as well as SEO then this will be good. However, it is pricey compared to other options.