How Do Free Website Builders Make Money

Posted in Advice on May 4, 2021 by Simon

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You may think that if you sign up to a free web builder it might just seems too good to be true. You may wonder what their model is because they are not making money out of you and therefore you may wonder why they bother. It is worth understanding a bit more about free web builders and then you will get a better understanding of the reasoning for this.

The Free Plan Gets People Interested

Many companies will offer a free plan to draw people in. They will want people to take a look at what they have to offer and to think about whether they would like to go ahead and use the company. Many people get interested when they see something being offered for free and so this will encourage their interest. The free plans do vary a lot though. They might offer a very simplified version for you to try out or a limited-time trial.

Gives People a Chance to Try It Out

Many people like the opportunity to try something out before they buy. This is why quite a few web builders offer a free trial. This means that you will be able to have a go at building a website with it and see what you think. Of course, after the trial is up you will need to start paying for it and this is where they start to make money from you.

Has Adverts

The free website builders tend to have adverts on them for themselves. This means that you website will perhaps not look quite as professional because the advert will be present. Some can be pretty large as well and could distract people looking at the site from the content that you have put on there. It will also encourage others to have a look at the web builder and consider using them.

Have a Subdomain of Theirs

Often you will not be able to use your own domain but it will be a subdomain of the web building company. This will look unprofessional and so is something many people will not want and so it will make them keen to upgrade to a version that can have your own domain on. Starting with a different domain name can be problematic because you will get put onto search engines and people will get to learn the original domain and then when you change it you will have to let everyone know that it has changed. Therefore, it is better to start with your own form the start. Web builders will often offer a free one for a year when you sign up to a paid plan, which gives people further incentive to pay rather than just using the free trial.

Can Be Upgraded

All website builders will allow the users to be able to pay money to upgrade their plan. They offer all sorts of additional features for those that pay. This will change, depending on the specific web builder. Often you will find that it will mean you will no longer have adverts for the web builder and you will be able use your own domain. You will often have access to a lot more features as well. They all have pricing plans with different levels and so the more money you pay, the more you will have access to, but if you only need a simple web site, then you will still not have to pay out very much money. However, even if you just upgrade to the cheapest plan, they will still start making some money from you and therefore it would have been worth their while offering the free plan, to get your interest, knowing that many people will then upgrade because they are interested in features that are not offered for free.

About Simon

Hello! My name is Simon and I'm a full-stack web developer from Bristol. I've put together MYOW to help people learn about web design from the ground up as well as provide access to all the tools required to create an awesome first website.