Newfangled Competitors?

This week I took a look at some simple online website creation tools that were mentioned by the Web Worker Daily. They included Weebly, SiteKreator, and SynthaSite.

I'd like to start off by saying that my title for this post is a bit tongue-in-cheek. I don't actually think that these tools present competition to Newfangled. While they do make putting a website together simple and cheap, they represent a fundamentally different web philosophy than the one we espouse. We believe that good web development is achieved through the cooperation of many talented parties- developers, designers, project managers, marketing strategists, etc. - that create the best solution for a very particular set of requirements, which always includes custom programming and unique design. Another facet of what we do is provide information to our clients that empowers them to utilize the web to strengthen their business. This requires a strong support base as well as a knowledge of technological trends that can be shared through a personal (actual human to human contact) relationship. However, if inexpensive templates and FAQ's are what you are looking for, press on.

Weebly has been called the "greatest thing ever" by one blogger who sees its potential being realized in the rapid creation of landing pages for PPC. Another blogger notes how Weebly would be a good solution for niche sites. The bottom line is that while there is definitely potential to harness the simplicity of Weebly's platform for profit, serious businesses that want to utilize their website in a more in-depth manner will see more limitations than possibilities.

SiteKreator is also a template-based tool that allows you to choose from 62 templates and 20 visual styles. It has some 'web 2.0' attributes and has a three-tiered storage plan ranging from $95/year to $199/year. Again, this is a very limited platform, but for a web novice exploring site building, whether for business or personal use, it could be a viable start.

Synthasite is in beta right now, but has some available slots for user sign-ups. Like the other two, it allows for simple website creation using an Ajax-base online application. It has been noted for its simple and user-friendly design and integration with third-party web services like AdSense.