7 Best Website Builders For Designers To Showcase Their Work

Building a stunning online portfolio is essential for designers, and we’ve curated a list of the 7 best website builders to help you do just that.

What Makes a Great Website Builder for Designers?

A great website builder for designers typically possesses several key features:

• Intuitive Interface: A great website builder for designers should offer an easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface, allowing them to arrange and customize elements effortlessly without coding skills.
• Design Templates: It should provide a diverse selection of professionally designed templates that cater to various design niches and styles, saving time and effort.
• Responsive Design: Ensuring that the website looks and functions seamlessly on all devices is crucial, allowing designers to showcase their work effectively to a broader audience.
• Customization Options: A good website builder should offer extensive customization options, including font choices, color schemes, and the ability to add custom CSS for designers to express their creativity truly.
• Image and Media Support: It should support high-quality image and media uploads, allowing designers to showcase their portfolios best.
• SEO-Friendly Features: Effective SEO tools and features such as meta tags, alt text, and clean URL structures help designers optimize their websites for search engines, increasing discoverability.
• E-commerce Integration: For designers selling their work or services, e-commerce capabilities within the website builder can be a valuable addition, facilitating online transactions and expanding their client base.

Top 7 Best Website Builders For Designers

After exploring the key features that make a great website builder for designers, let’s focus on the 7 top options available in the market.

Shopify

Overview:

Shopify is a robust ecommerce platform that’s particularly appealing for designers looking to create and manage an online store.

Specific web-building key features for designers:

• Customizable Templates: Shopify offers a variety of themes, both free and paid. Designers can select a theme that aligns with their brand and modify it to fit their needs.
• Section-Based Editor: Shopify’s section-based editor helps maintain structured and organized page layouts. This feature is handy for designers prioritizing a clean and consistent look for their online stores.
• SEO and Marketing Tools: Shopify includes built-in SEO features to enhance the visibility of online stores in search engine results. It also provides email marketing integrations and social media connectivity to help designers market their products effectively.
• Mobile Optimization: Shopify ensures that online stores are fully responsive and optimized for mobile devices
• Advanced Analytics and Reporting: Shopify provides detailed insights into store performance, customer behavior, and sales data, which is crucial for designers to understand their market and optimize their sales strategies.
• App Integrations: The platform allows integration with a wide range of third-party apps, extending its functionality in analytics, customer service, and additional marketing tools.
• 24/7 support: Shopify offers round-the-clock support to help solve any problems with website building for ecommerce on your website.

Cost:

Shopify offers 4 plans to create a stunning website, starting from $39/month.

Who is Shopify best for:

• Designers who are either starting a new ecommerce venture or have a growing online business
• Designers with a focus on branding
• Designers who produce and sell their artworks, crafts, or products
• Designers who sell digital products, like graphics, templates, or digital art
• Designers seeking global reach

Wix

Overview:

Wix is a powerful website builder trusted by over 250 million users worldwide, making it an excellent choice for designers looking to showcase their work. With a wide range of features and tools, Wix offers endless possibilities for creating visually stunning websites.

Specific web-building key features for designers:

• Smart Drag and Drop Editor: Wix’s intuitive editor allows designers to customize their websites easily without coding knowledge.
• Wix ADI: This AI tool simplifies the process of creating custom websites, making it accessible even for those with minimal web design experience​
• 900+ Free Templates: Designers can kickstart their projects with professionally designed templates tailored for various industries.
• Customization and Full-Stack Dev Tools: Wix offers extensive customization options and even allows designers to add their code for complete design control.
• SEO Optimization: Built-in SEO capabilities help designers optimize their websites for search engines, ensuring maximum visibility.
• eCommerce Solutions: Wix supports online selling, making it ideal for designers in the e-commerce industry.

Cost: Wix offers 5 subscription plans, starting at $16/month.

Who is Wix best for:

• Designers or small businesses who want to create visually compelling websites without extensive coding knowledge.
• Designers focusing on e-commerce
• Designers aiming to boost their website’s online presence and engage in effective digital marketing

Squarespace

Overview

Squarespace is a versatile website builder that caters to a wide range of industries and businesses, making it a top choice for designers looking to create a stunning online presence.

Specific Web-Building Key Features for Designers

• Templates: Squarespace offers over 100 website templates, designer fonts, and customizable color palettes, allowing designers to create unique and visually appealing websites.
• E-commerce Capabilities: Designers can set up e-commerce stores, book appointments, or sell their skills effortlessly using Squarespace’s all-in-one platform.
• Marketing Tools: Squarespace provides on-brand email campaigns and social tools, simplifying customer retention and business growth for designers.
• Responsive Design: Focusing on mobile optimization, Squarespace ensures that websites look and function seamlessly on all devices, enhancing user experience and reach.
• Customization: Designers can customize their websites with hundreds of fonts, colors, and stock photos using Squarespace’s user-friendly drag-and-drop website builder.
• Video Backgrounds: Squarespace allows the use of video backgrounds, which can significantly enhance the aesthetic appeal of a website. Designers can use YouTube or Vimeo URLs to create looped video backgrounds.
• AMP Integration: Squarespace supports AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) for blog posts, which helps speed up content delivery on mobile devices and can improve search engine rankings.
• Event Planning and Scheduling: Squarespace Scheduling is a feature that simplifies the process of booking appointments and classes on your website.

Cost: Squarespace offers 4 pricing plans, starting at $16/month.

Squarespace is suitable for

• Designers who prioritize the visual aspect of their websites, such as graphic designers, photographers, and artists.
• Small to medium-sized business owners, including those in retail or creative services.
• Bloggers and content creators who want to create an engaging online platform to share their work.

Webflow

Overview:

Webflow is a cutting-edge website builder that empowers designers to create visually stunning websites while maintaining control over the underlying code.

Specific web-building key features for designers:

• Code Control: Webflow lets designers work with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript visually, generating clean, semantic code that’s developer-ready.
• Customization: Designers can fully customize page structures, style their sites, and create complex animations, ensuring their work stands out.
• Responsive Design: Webflow ensures websites look great on all devices, which is vital for showcasing design portfolios.
• E-commerce Integration: Ideal for designers selling their creations, Webflow offers e-commerce capabilities to facilitate online transactions.
• Extensive Template Library: Webflow provides a vast selection of over 2,000 templates, including both free and paid options.
• Powerful Designer Interface: The Webflow Designer is a sophisticated tool that enables the construction and design of site structure, content, animations, and interactions.

Cost: Webflow offers a free plan and 4 subscription plans, starting at $18/month.

Who it’s best for 

• Graphic designers who want to showcase their portfolios.
• Web design agencies
• E-commerce stores selling designer products.
• Photographers who need visually engaging websites to display their work with ease.
• Creative studios looking to impress clients with their online presence.

WordPress

Overview

WordPress is a versatile website builder for designers that offers lightning-fast hosting, flexible editing, and essential tools to grow their online presence.

Specific web-building key features for designers

• Customization and Flexibility: WordPress offers unparalleled customization options. Designers can choose from thousands of themes and extend the functionality with over 50,000 plugins. 
• SEO Friendly: WordPress is known for being SEO-friendly. Many themes are optimized for search engines, and numerous SEO plugins (like Yoast SEO) make it easier to optimize site content and technical SEO aspects.
• Responsive Design: Most WordPress themes are responsive, ensuring that websites look great and function well on all devices.
• Community Support: WordPress has a large and active community. Designers can access a wealth of resources, tutorials, forums, and guides, which is invaluable for troubleshooting and learning
• E-commerce Solutions: With plugins like WooCommerce, WordPress can easily be turned into a full-fledged e-commerce platform, allowing designers to create online stores with various features and integrations

Cost: WordPress offers a free plan and 5 other paid ones, starting at $9 per month.

WordPress is best suited for:

• Freelance designers who want to create a professional portfolio to attract clients.
• Creative agencies to showcase their diverse projects.
• Artists and photographers display artwork and photos in high resolution.
• Bloggers

GoDaddy

Overview

GoDaddy is a renowned name in domain registration and web hosting services. However, it also offers a website builder that caters to designers and businesses looking to create an online presence.

Specific web-building key features for designers

• User-Friendly Interface: GoDaddy’s platform offers a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface and Go Daddy, making it easy for designers to create and customize their websites without coding skills.
• Professional Templates: The builder provides a selection of professional website templates that designers can customize to match their unique style and branding.
• SEO Tools: It includes built-in SEO tools to help designers optimize their websites for better search engine visibility and ranking.
• E-commerce Integration: GoDaddy’s website builder allows designers to set up online stores, making it suitable for those in the e-commerce industry.
• Responsive Design: Designers can ensure their websites look great on all devices, ensuring a seamless user experience.

Cost: GoDaddy offers 3 pricing plans for its website builder, starting at $9.99 per month 

GoDaddy’s website builder is suitable for

• Freelance designers and individual designers who want to showcase their portfolios and attract clients online.
• Small businesses looking to establish an online presence and promote their products or services.
• Designers aiming to sell products online with built-in e-commerce capabilities.
• Artists, photographers, and creatives can display their work effectively.
• Local businesses like restaurants or salons who want to connect with customers.

Site123

Overview:

SITE123 is an intuitive and user-friendly website builder that simplifies the web-building process for designers. It offers a range of features tailored to help designers create and showcase their work effectively.

Specific web-building key features for designers:

• User-Friendly Interface: Site123 offers a highly intuitive interface, ideal for beginners or designers who prefer a more straightforward, no-fuss approach to website building..
• Responsive Design Templates: The platform provides various responsive design templates, ensuring that websites look good and function well across all devices. This is crucial for modern web design, where mobile compatibility is essential.
• E-commerce Functionality: Site123 includes e-commerce capabilities, allowing designers to create online stores. This feature benefits designers looking to sell products or services directly from their website.
• SEO Tools: The platform offers basic SEO tools to help optimize websites for search engines, which is important for improving online visibility and attracting more visitors.
• Multilingual Support: Site123 supports website creation in multiple languages, a significant advantage for designers looking to reach a global audience or cater to multilingual users.

Cost: SITE123 offers a free plan and a paid plan priced at $12.80 per month

SITE123 is ideal for:

• Small businesses looking for an affordable web solution.
• Designers and artists showcasing their portfolios.
• E-commerce businesses aiming to sell products online.
• Bloggers and content creators build an online presence.
• Event organizers promote their events and services.

5 Tips for Maximizing These Website Builders For Designers

• Prioritize Visuals: Make the most of website builders by focusing on high-quality visuals. Use stunning images and graphics to showcase your design work effectively.
• Mobile Optimization: Ensure your website is fully optimized for mobile devices. Most users access websites on smartphones, so a responsive design is crucial for a great user experience.
• SEO Optimization: Use the built-in SEO tools and features website builders provide to improve your website’s search engine ranking. Pay attention to meta tags, alt text, and keyword optimization.
• Regular Updates: Keep your website fresh by updating your portfolio regularly. Showcase your latest projects and accomplishments to engage visitors and demonstrate your growth as a designer.
• User-Friendly Navigation: Design an intuitive and easy-to-navigate website. Visitors should quickly find what they’re looking for, whether it’s your portfolio, contact information, or services.

3 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Building A Designer Website

• Neglecting Mobile Responsiveness: Failing to ensure your designer website is mobile-friendly can alienate a significant portion of your audience in today’s mobile-centric world.
• Overcomplicating Design: Avoid overcrowding your website with too many design elements, as simplicity often leads to better user experience and faster loading times.
• Ignoring SEO Optimization: Neglecting search engine optimization can result in your designer website not reaching its full potential audience, so optimizing content and structure for search engines is crucial.

Bottom Line

Now that you know 7 website builders for designers. You should start trying these platforms the right platform for your business.

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