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Is Bluehost’s Website Builder Any Good For Creating an Online Store?

in Web Hosting

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Bluehost’s website builder is the easiest way to build a website. It makes building websites as easy as choosing a business category and answering a couple of questions. But.. is Bluehost’s Website Builder any good?

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It automatically generates your website from your answers and then lets you edit everything using a simple drag-and-drop interface. At a glance, it looks like the best option for building a website

BUT… Is it worth your hard-earned money? Or are you better off with good ol’ WordPress on a shared hosting plan?

Does it have any limitations?

In this article, I will guide you through everything the Bluehost Website Builder has to offer. By the end, you will know beyond the shadow of a doubt whether or not it’s worth investing your money in.

bluehost website builder any good

What is Bluehost’s Website Builder?

Bluehost offers a quick and easy tool to build your website called the Website Builder. 

It’s an AI-driven tool that helps you quickly build and launch a professional-looking website without any technical knowledge (a.k.a. “no-code”).

Bluehost is one of the best web hosts for beginners wanting to start a site.

The way the Bluehost website builder works is that it asks you a couple of questions regarding the category of your website and what type of a website you are building:

bluehost website builder choose category

It then designs a website based on your answer.

It couldn’t be easier than that! You just have to answer a couple of questions and then the AI tool builds your website for you in almost an instant.

If you build a website on your own, it would take you well over a month to finish it. But with the Bluehost website builder tool you can build, customize, and launch your website within minutes.

The best part about this website builder is that it offers a simple design interface that lets you customize all aspects of your website’s design:

bluehost website builder designer interface

At a glance, it can look a little complicated. But is built for beginners and is really easy to use.

If you have never heard of Bluehost before, read my review of Bluehost to find out its pros and cons.

Now that you know what it is, let’s get to the meat of the story:

Website Building Features

Before you make your decision on whether or not the Bluehost website builder is any good for your business, you should be aware of everything that you get with it.

First off, Bluehost Website Builder is an all-in-one solution for building a website. It includes almost everything that is included with a shared web hosting package.

Even the pricing is similar to Shared Hosting, albeit a bit more expensive.

This is what the pricing plans look like for Bluehost’s website builder:

pricing

For a small monthly price, you get access to 300+ design templates, a free domain name, free email marketing, and a free SSL certificate.

But that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

You are allowed to host an unlimited number of websites on a single account. Web Hosting is also included with all the plans.

And because this website builder is built on top of WordPress, you can sell your products online and take payments using the free WooCommerce plugin for WordPress.

If you want a better overview of the pricing plans, take a look at my overview of Bluehost’s pricing plans.

If you are building your first website, I can’t imagine how or why you would need anything more than all the features that are included with the Bluehost Website Builder:

AI-Driven Automatic Website Builder

Most website builders on the market offer dozens of templates but they are also very difficult to learn. 

If you don’t have a lot of experience with website design tools, you will have a hard time learning the ropes.

But with this AI-driven website building tool, there is no learning curve. All you have to do is fill out a couple of details about your website and viola! Your website is ready!

To get started, all you have to do is select a category and a name for your website:

bluehost ai website builder

Then, you get to pick the font pairs that you like:

web fonts

And then you also get to choose the color scheme for your website:

color schemes

The best part about this tool is that all the changes you make are reflected live.

Simple Drag-And-Drop Design Interface

Once you are done answering the quick questions, you are taken to the designer interface that lets you customize all aspects of your website:

drag and drop interface

The best part about this design interface is that it is really intuitive and makes editing anything as easy as clicking a few buttons.

If you want to add additional content to your website, all you have to do is click the Sections button on the top left and select a new section to add. 

There are dozens of content sections to choose from with many different design variations:

design variations

Any new section you add will follow the color scheme and font pairings you have already selected. 

This makes adding new content to your website really fast. You don’t need to customize the colors of every new section you add.

The Website Builder’s design tool also makes it really easy to edit the copy of your website. Just click the text you want to edit and make the changes:

edit any text

It’s Built on WordPress

This is the best part about using the Website Builder. Most website builders are very limited in functionality because they are built from the ground up using new technologies.

The Bluehost Website Builder is built on the other hand is built on top of WordPress.

That means you get access to all the good stuff that comes with WordPress:

wordpress dashboard

Under the hood, you get a WordPress installation. So, you can install whatever WordPress plugins you want to add new functionality to your website.

You also get to use WordPress to manage your website’s content. 

This makes it really easy to hire editors and writers when your website starts to gain some traction. Most editors and writers are already familiar with WordPress.

Add a Shop To Your Website With WooCommerce!

WooCommerce is a free WordPress plugin that lets you sell physical and digital products on your website.

Because the Website Builder runs WordPress under the hood, you can install WooCommerce if you want to sell your products online.

WooCommerce support is only available on the Pro plan and the Online Store plan. But if you have it, all you have to do is click a couple of buttons to create an online store:

woocommerce

Best Support In The Industry

bluehost support

Any article about Bluehost is incomplete if it doesn’t talk about their incredible support team.

Bluehost’s support team is one of the best in the industry.

… and they are available 24/7.

You can get in touch with them within a couple of minutes and they are technical enough to be able to answer most of your questions.

Their support team is rated 5 stars by most of their customers and review websites. So, if you get stuck anywhere, or want to cancel your Bluehost plan you can connect with a support superstar and get help 24/7.

Is the Bluehost Website Builder Any Good?

Bluehost’s website builder is great for almost any type of website.

Whether you are running a small business or just building your first website, it’s an easy place to start.

It gives you all the tools and features you will need as a beginner.

And the best part is that it runs on WordPress.

That means you can add new functionality to your website by installing plugins that are available for WordPress. And there’s a free plugin for every feature you can think of:

wordpress plugins

If you can’t find a free plugin for any feature you might want to add to your website, there are thousands of paid plugins available for WordPress.

And if you looked above and beyond, and still can’t find a plugin that fulfills your needs, you can hire someone to build one for you.

Bluehost’s website builder is for you if:

  • You want to build your website quickly: Bluehost website builder can help you build and launch your website within minutes.
  • You don’t want to deal with the Web Hosting part: Bluehost manages the technical web hosting part behind the scenes so you can focus on creating content and managing your business.
  • You don’t have a lot of experience building websites: If you are a beginner, there’s nothing better for you out there. This website builder is the easiest and feature-rich on the market.

BUT it’s not for you if you want complete control over your website’s server.

When you choose Bluehost’s website builder, you don’t get access to some of the technical features you get with Shared Hosting such as PHPMyAdmin, SSH, FTP access, etc.

If you are wondering what these features are, then you don’t need them.

If you want complete control over your website, you might want to sign up for Bluehost and read my instructions on how to install WordPress.

Our Verdict

I think Bluehost’s website builder is one of the best and most beginner-friendly on the market.

It’s easy to use and comes with over 300 professional templates. It can help you design and launch a website that stands out in under 30 minutes.

And unlike other website builders, it’s built on top of WordPress. That means you can add new functionality to your website by just installing a plugin.

With Bluehost’s website builder, you get an easy tool to customize your website without losing out on any of the amazing features that come with WordPress.

Recent Improvements & Updates

Bluehost constantly improves its hosting services with faster speeds, better security, and enhanced customer support. Here are just some of the recent improvements (last checked November 2024):

  • iPage is now partnered with Bluehost! This collaboration brings together two giants in the web hosting industry, combining their strengths to offer you an unparalleled service.
  • Launch of Bluehost Professional Email service. This new solution and Google Workspace are designed to elevate your business communications to new heights, enhancing your brand’s image and boosting customer confidence. 
  • Free WordPress Migration plugin for any WordPress user can be downloaded directly to a customer’s Bluehost cPanel or WordPress admin dashboard at no cost.
  • New Bluehost Control Panel that lets you manage your Bluehost servers and hosting services. Users can use both the new Account Manager and the old Bluerock control panel. Find out what the differences are here.
  • Launch of Bluehost WonderSuite, which consists of: 
    • WonderStart: A user-friendly and personalized onboarding experience that accelerates the website creation process.
    • WonderTheme: A versatile WordPress theme developed by YITH that empowers users to showcase their websites effectively.
    • WonderBlocks: A comprehensive library of block patterns and page templates enriched with images and suggested text.
    • WonderHelp: An AI-powered, actionable guide accompanying users throughout the WordPress site-building journey.
    • WonderCart: An eCommerce feature designed to empower entrepreneurs and maximize online sales. 
  • Now offering the advanced PHP 8.2 for improved performance.
  • Implementing LSPHP a handler to accelerate PHP script processing, enhancing website performance by optimizing PHP execution. 
  • Enabled OPCache a PHP extension that stores precompiled script bytecode in memory, reducing repeated compilation and resulting in faster PHP execution.

Reviewing Bluehost: Our Methodology

When we review web hosts, our evaluation is based on these criteria:

  1. Value for Money: What types of web hosting plans are on offer, and are they good value for money?
  2. User Friendliness: How user-friendly is the signup process, the onboarding, the dashboard? and so on.
  3. Customer Support: When we need help, how quickly can we get it, and is the support effective and helpful?
  4. Hosting Features: What unique features does the web host provide, and how do they stack up against competitors?
  5. Security: Are essential security measures like SSL certificates, DDoS protection, backup services, and malware/virus scans included?
  6. Speed and Uptime: Is the hosting service fast and reliable? What types of servers do they use, and how do they perform in tests?

For more details on our review process, click here.

About Author

Matt Ahlgren

Mathias Ahlgren is the CEO and founder of Website Rating, steering a global team of editors and writers. He holds a master's in information science and management. His career pivoted to SEO after early web development experiences during university. With over 15 years in SEO, digital marketing, and web developmens. His focus also includes website security, evidenced by a certificate in Cyber Security. This diverse expertise underpins his leadership at Website Rating.

WSR Team

The "WSR Team" is the collective group of expert editors and writers specializing in technology, internet security, digital marketing, and web development. Passionate about the digital realm, they produce well-researched, insightful, and accessible content. Their commitment to accuracy and clarity makes Website Rating a trusted resource for staying informed in the dynamic digital world.

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