Today’s review is of Jimdo, a free website builder tool. In its opening slide show it touts being “free, fast, professional.” Is it really free? Is it only free for bare minimum features? We shall find out.
At first glance, this looks promising. I suspect the tool isn’t totally free. That would be silly unless they make money off of their users in other ways. But what is promising is an easy-to-navigate toolbar with lots of things I am interested in looking at, like “pricing,” and “tour.” There’s other compelling callouts on the home page as well, so no matter what your research style is, there should be something on this page for you to help you find out more about their website builder product.
Industry Specific?
Jimdo’s website builder tool is good for any industry. If you look at their design page, you will see there is a very friendly and short video that demonstrates what is involved in choosing a layout. Also, they have over 120 layouts that are appropriate for pretty much any industry.
Pricing
Guess what? They really are free… But (you knew it was coming, right?) you can’t have your own domain or email account and you do have to show ads on your site. They give you lots of things for free, like a password-protected area, photo galleries, and a tiny shopping cart. They have two other pricing tiers, Pro and Business. Pro runs $90 a year and Business runs $240 a year. They let you keep your free account as long as you would like and you can upgrade at any time. Fair enough. For more Jimdo pricing plan details, check out their lovely pricing page (nice job laying out all the details, Jimdo!).
Would you like some free help preparing for your site? Cool. Here’s a free download I created just for you.
Mobile?
Yes! And they have a nifty page dedicated to their mobile features, including a video with catchy music. They don’t just talk about the site converting automatically to mobile, they also point out its three main features: 1) It is optimized for smartphone layout, 2) You can have your Jimdo online store fully functional in mobile view, and 3) There’s integration with other apps (they give an example of what they mean on the page). Very nice, Jimdo, very nice.
In What Browser Does the Website Builder Work?
It doesn’t say. As usual, I’ll go with the assumption that it works in the most modern browsers, like Chrome, Firefox, and IE 10.
Search Engine Optimization?
Yes! They have lots of features that make me very happy, like custom meta tags and the ability to add image alt information and custom page titles. They don’t brag that they let you put in your own tracking stats (boo!) but they do have statistics available. Of course, again, they have a page dedicated to the seo features in their builder. But wait! They go even further and provide an online SEO tutorial page as well. Jimdo, you rock.
Blog Features?
Yes, blogging is available for all tiers. YAY!
Ease of Use
They, again, have a nicely-produced video showing their tool in action. It isn’t drag and drop like most tools, but it has the ability to move elements up and down or add and delete elements with a user-friendly dialog box. Looks just as easy to use as drag and drop.
Use Your Own URL?
Yes, if you have a paid account.
My Initial Impression
I was hopeful upon first glance at their home page and I am now totally looking forward to digging into this tool more after looking around the site to do this review. This is one of the most user-friendly sites I have reviewed so far. Because of how thoughtful they were with presenting every aspect of their website building tool, I feel very confident I will have a very positive experience building a website.
Click here to grab my free download to help you get all your ducks in a row before your build your site.
Even though I made it for people who are getting ready to hire a web pro, 80% of it will help you if you are building your site on your own.
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