| Template Designer | Review & Highlights |
|---|---|
Web.com |
For $11.95/month, you get access to the easiest to use site builder that we have ever tested The site builder includes 300+ templates, which support personal, business (including e-commerce), and blog websites Web.com partners with some of the best e-commerce companies, so that you can start selling online fast (e.g., rapid upload of goods on pages to Amazon's merchant network and posting of easy posting of active eBay auctions on your pages Web.com also offers a world class hosting service with a 99.9% uptime guarantee 30 email addresses included Unlimited web pages 24 x 7, toll free customer support |
TemplateMonster |
TemplateMonster was the pioneer in creating high quality website templates Currently, TemplateMonster offers 5,500+ templates, the largest library of website templates online by far, and creates an additional 150-250 templates each month TemplateMonster offers HTML, Flash, SWiSH, E-Commerce (OS, CRE-Loaded and Zen) and CMS/Blog (Wordpress, PHP-Nuke, phpBB, Joomia! and Mambo) templates TemplateMonster offers the best Flash templates of all of the template designers Unlike Web.com and ProStores, Template Monster is strictly a template designer/reseller; it does not offer domain registration or web hosting services 24 x 7 toll free, customer support |
ProStores |
Free trial for 30 days and $29.95/month after that (you can receive 30% off if you are an eBay seller) We think that eBay's ProStores offers the best strictly e-commerce, web design service for small businesses It offers unlimited pages and product presentations, registration/hosting services, 50 email boxes, 5GB of storage, Quickbooks accounting integration, and the best all-around shopping cart package that we have seen Generate site maps automatically for submission to Google and Yahoo For $249.95/month, users can get integrate their e-store with their back-end, coordinate affiliate marketing programs, and support brick-and-mortar sales teams (this may be overkill for small businesses, but it might be a convenient, cheap solution for many medium size businesses) 24 x 7 toll free, customer support |
DreamTemplate |
DreamTemplate is a subscription-based, website and presentation template provider that has over 1800 professionally designed templates available for members Access to DreamTemplates template portfolio with unlimited template downloads, costs $59.95 per year DreamTemplates offers website templates, flash templates, Word templates, PowerPoint templates, corporate identity packages and logo design services According to management, DreamTemplate adds over 100 templates each month Unlike most template sites that charge per template, DreamTemplate charges a one-time fee and then give members full download access to all of its premium templates, so that you can test out a wide variety of templates for your site Similar to TemplateMonster, DreamTemplate does not offer domain registration or web hosting services |
| Custom Designer | Review & Highlights |
|---|---|
NetworkSolutions |
NetworkSolutions designs customized personal and business websites The firm offers two web design plans: the standard plan for $499 (basic website design) and the premium plan for $1399 (completely customized website) With the standard design plan, NetworkSolutions will deliver 10-15 pages that are based on your choice of sixty prefessionally designed templates With the standard plan, your website will be up and running in 10-15 business days with only a small time investment on your part With the premium plan, consumers receive multiple concepts and revisions for either a new website or an existing one, so that they get a more customized look and feel We would suggest that you choose the stanard plan, if you need to get a website up as quickly as possible and the premium plan, if you need to compete online with a robust e-commerce website |
Dotster |
Dotster specializes in designing customized business websites The firm offers four different standard business website design plans that range in price from $199 (for a signle customized page) to $1299 (for a customized site with a negotiated number of pages- usually between 8-12) Dotster support will give you a free quote as to what it will cost to build your site All business plan packages include your receiving a dedicated designer, email account creation (up to 10 accounts), training and consultation (so that you understand how to support your site) and manual search engine site submission If you buy a premium business package, then your plan may include logo design, e-commerce, community forums, advanced photo galleries, custom forms and lead collection, custom database development, Flash design, social media integration and more Dotster has accumulated a large library of website and logo templates, as well as stock photos, which dramatically accelerates the design process |
Aplus.Net |
Aplus.Net designs customized personal, business and e-commerce websites The firm offers two web design plans: the WebImage Design plan for $74.99/month, as well as custom design plans, which based on our research tend to cost between $800-3,000 (you can call for a free quote) The extremely popular WebImage plan offers seven custom built web pages, 5 email accounts, a free domain and free web hosting The WebImage plan has no set-up fee, and customers do not have to agree to a guaranteed contract duration Customers provide text and desired images There is no limit on external links on the site and customized rollovers are included Customer support is toll free and open from 9am-6pm CST, Monday through Friday |