WWW.THEDILLDESIGN.COM

By Chris Dill

Today, web design is a complex, fast-paced business where not only are great looking, great running websites key, but getting completewebsites online is key as well. Never has the old adage “strike while the iron is hot” more prevalent than it is in today’s marketplace. Notonly are new ideas and new products hitting store shelves with increasing frequency, the need to get information, availability, salesinformation and support for these products to the internet is increasing in frequency as well.

With the array of website design tools available, finding the best, most flexible and most productive design package for your needs is moreconfusing than ever. Granted, there is a vast array of tools, piece/parts and modules available for free, but when speed, thoroughness andproductivity are paramount, finding a design package that hits all the bases is what you need.

10 Great Packages

Here are 10 great packages from the ~$50 to $150 that will have you producing professional grade websites within hours.

10 – SiteSpinner – $49 – Main weaknesses are a very weak supply of templates, a lack of scripting supportand few image manipulation tools. Main strengths are price and multimedia support.

9 – Web Creator Pro – $120 – Main weaknesses are a weak supply of templates, weak multimedia supportand weak user support. Main strengths are good graphics tools and great user tools such as Find &Replace and Social Media Integration support.

8 – EZGenerator – $130 – Main weaknesses are weak user support and a lack of mobile templates. Mainstrengths are full multimedia support, great graphics and image tools and a great array of included templates

7 – Yola Silver – $100/yr – Main weakness is a severe lack of design tools including no rollover support, noscripting support and no sitemap assistant. Main strengths are lots of mobile templates and a full array ofgraphics and image tools.

6 – Xara Web Designer Premium – $100 – Few weaknesses but a lack of included images and somewhatlimited user support options. Lots of strengths including lots of included templates, mobile templates, decent multimedia support and a fullarray of image and graphics tools.

5 – Web Plus – $120 – Main weakness is no support for Windows 8. Strong in all other areas including templates, multimedia support,

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design tools and graphics/image tools.

4 – WebAcapella – $110 – Strong in most areas. Main weakness is user support. Does lack a couple of key features such as rollovercreation, thumbnail creation and a Find & Replace function found in most other packages.

3 – Web Studio – $159 – Main weakness is price and a lack of mobile templates. Strong features in all other areas includingimage/graphics tools and design tools.

2 – Homestead – $5/mo – Main drawback is subscription based, but the price is right. Does lack scripting support but comes with tons oftemplates for both browsers and portable devices (2000+).

and last but not least

1 – WebEasy Professional – $49 – Hits all the bases with a couple of minor flaws. Nothumbnail creator and no automatic page naming. Other than that, full design toolkit, fullimage/graphics toolkit, awesome user support and for $50, you still get a ton of templates, bothweb based as well as portable devices.

While web design tools are easy to come by, finding a package that delivers everything youneed can still be tricky. Granted, you don’t mind spending money on great web design softwarebut when you can get everything you need (and could want) for $50? That’s the deal to get.

About the author

Christopher is a web developer, designer, and SEO specialist. He runs a SEO specificcompany at https://www.virginiaseo.org and really enjoys design and marketing.

September 7, 2014

August 24, 2014

July 9, 2014

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