The face of education is changing, with Internet being right at the core of this change, and teachers and students have a lot to benefit from this fact. There are so many ways to use the web for education, and one of these is creating a school website.
A school website is not a whim or a tribute to fashion nowadays. A school is a kind of an ecosystem with lots of constituents. Information published at the website is an effective tool for the organization of the working process of any educational establishment. It is oriented towards the vast audience, which includes teachers, pupils, parents and school administration. A website can effectively contribute to the fruitful cooperation between these groups of people.
What is the purpose of creation of a teacher website? The image and activity of a contemporary teacher have changed a lot lately. In the XXI century, competition is not limited to trading only. Apart from the products and services that require active promotion, a teacher’s image and skills also prove to be an indispensable part of the contemporary process of education. A teacher, who has a personal website, has more chances to expand the field of activity, grow the reputation and recognition among the pupils, their parents and the colleagues.
How is it possible to create a school or a teacher website? What features should a website builder have to ideally cope with the task? School and teacher websites launched with website builders feature the best correlation of convenience, ease of use and functionality.
Being initially oriented on the needs of non-techies, these services provide a broad range of niche-focused elements, features, tools and characteristics that can help you create, customize and then manage a decent website for teachers and students.
Are you right about to launch a school or a teacher website with a website builder? Then you’ll certainly need valuable info on how to choose the best service. Read on to explore the reviews of the best platforms and their major parameters to finally proceed to your website creation!
1. Wix
| Product Name: | WIX |
| Official Website: | wix.com |
| Founded: | 2006 |
| Number of Websites: | 4,565,423 |
| Complexity: | Very easy |
| Free plan: | Yes |
| Paid plan: | From $13/mo |
Wix – is the best website builder to create a school or a teacher website. When it comes to building websites for teachers, Wix does not seem to have any competitors at all – so simple, intuitive and feature-rich it is. Have a look at some of the most outstanding parameters of the website builder now:
- Membership Feature. It is possible to manage your contacts directly from Wix backend to approve/reject new user registrations, create membership areas, sell Wix courses and bookings, set recurring payments, let users sign up with the system with their Facebook/Google credentials ir email. Membership feature additionally allows expanding the capabilities of your Wix Membership site with extra features and tools like Wix Code etc. There are two options to create the membership area, namely individual members-only pages and full-featured members’ area.
- Education and Culture Templates. Wix lets you browse its extensive “Education and Culture” templates category to pick the one that corresponds to your website specialization most of all. This is where you can come across mobile-ready templates for a private elementary school, fundraising foundation, community center, kindergarten, schools and classes, graduate parties, music schools, university landing pages, language schools etc.
- Forum. By using the website builder, you can add a forum to your website to grow the audience and provide them with useful information they might be looking for. A forum is the place, where you can communicate with visitors, share your opinion on a variety of topics, join the discussions and stay aware of the recent news.
- Blogging. Wix allows creating a multifunctional blog or adding it to your website (if you have the one already) with a few clicks only. This is needed to post and manage niche-related articles, staying in touch with the target audience.
- Wix ADI. The Artificial Design Intelligence tool will be a powerful feature for students and teachers, who lack coding skills to design a website on their own. The system will automatically create a website for you, using the content you’ll submit upon its request.
Cost: Wix pricing policy will come up to the needs and financial abilities of all user categories. For those, who are just planning to test the system or practice web design skills, the website builder offers a free plan that never expires. As soon as you are ready to proceed to the web design process, you’ll be able to choose between several paid options.
Currently, Wix offers two types of plans to fit versatile web design needs. These include Standard and Business/eCommerce subscriptions. Each group of plans, in its turn, comprises several more plans, including more specific features, tools and parameters. The cost of standard subscriptions starts with $13/mo. The prices are not only versatile, but they are also quite affordable even for teachers and students, who can pick the most suitable plan to come up to their web design needs.
2. Weebly
| Product Name: | Weebly |
| Official Website: | weebly.com |
| Founded: | 2006 |
| Number of Websites: | 1,033,781 |
| Complexity: | Medium |
| Free plan: | Yes |
| Paid plan: | From $4/mo |
Weebly – is the most specialized website builder for schools and universities. It provides useful tools and features to let you start and effectively manage projects for students and teachers. Among the features you might be interested in, the following ones should be the first to mention:
- Weebly for Education. This is a superb tool you can use to launch educative websites, student portfolios and project websites. Whether you are a student or a teacher, this tool will make it possible for you to reveal your creative abilities via the use of multimedia features. You’ll be in charge of the process, while all your data provided will remain secure and confidential.
- Weebly Campus Edition. The tool is applicable for schools and districts, making it possible to create a professional campus website. Project administrators will be able to manage student and teacher accounts from the only integrated dashboard.
- Safety of Student Accounts. The website builder allows setting passwords to all student accounts and it’s up to a teacher to decide, what information will be presented to the public and what will remain confidential. Each student account is safely protected from unauthorized access.
- Flexible Blogging Options. Being one of the best blogging systems, Weebly allows adding a blog to a teacher’s website. This is where you’ll be able to publish your class news, info about the upcoming events, home assignments and other information meant for parents. What’s more, your students will also be able to express their opinions in different blog topics, share their ideas and get comments from other users. Weebly supports the unlimited number of blogs that can be connected to your website, making it possible to manage comments and create open/close dialogues.
Cost: Weebly has a free plan that lets you find out the major highlights of the system and test them on practice. Paid plans for launching ordinary sites start with $4/mo to reach $38/mo. What’s important, Weebly for Education is absolutely free allowing you to create a website with up to 5 pages. If you need a more complex educational project, you should upgrade to the Pro Plan that lets you publish up to 10 websites with unlimited number of pages for $12/mo.
Weebly Campus Edition, in its turn, will cost you $499/year, offering a free 30-day trial to explore it powerful options.
3. WordPress
| Product Name: | WordPress |
| Official Website: | wordpress.org |
| Founded: | 2003 |
| Number of Websites: | 28,183,568 |
| Complexity: | Complex |
| Free plan: | Completely free |
| Paid plan: | Paid themes and hosting |
WordPress – is a stunningly-popular and full-featured Content Management System used across the globe. The platform allows creating any type of website absolutely for free – everything depends upon the expertise level and coding proficiency of a web designer. This also concerns school and teacher websites. Additionally, the CMS grants access to multiple plugins and add-ons that make it possible to start feature-laden projects in the visual mode without any programming knowledge at all. It’s high time to enlist the major advantages of the system now:
- Web Design Plugins and Add-Ons – The CMS allows choosing and integrating plugins that simplify the process of website development and make it easy and hassle-free at a time. Some of these plugins include Elementor, DragDropr – Visual Editor, Jetpack, Gallery by Envira, Yoast, Slider Plugin, Everest Forms, Ultimate Sharing, WP Mush and many more;
- WordPress Education Plugins – There are multiple plugins and add-ons you can pick and integrate while creating your school or teacher website. Some of the most popular plugins are as follows: WP Education, WP Courseware, Sensei, LearnDash, BuddyPress, Flashcard for WordPress, Google Drive Embedder, Campus Directory etc.;
- Education WordPress Templates – WordPress template collection encompasses high quality customizable education themes, which are used to develop professional WP websites. The template list is regularly updated with new designs to provide freedom of choice. Some of the trendiest WP themes encompass Academica Pro, Education WP, Edumodo, Kingster, School, eSmarts, Lincoln, Capital, Ivy School, Academist, Course Builder, Educon, Edukare, Education Pack, Masterstudy, Ed School, Invent and Education Pro to mention a few.
As a CMS, WordPress is initially free for download and installation. As your website is ready, however, you will have to pick reliable hosting to publish it on the web. WordPress officially recommends Bluehost as a trusted hosting for websites launched with the platform. The hosting already comes with pre-installed WordPress available even on the cheapest plan.
This eliminates the need to bother about CMS installation, which also saves your effort and time, Additionally, Bluehost offers professional online support and affordable plans to fit any budget and web development needs.
4. SITE123
| Product Name: | SITE123 |
| Official Website: | site123.com |
| Founded: | 2015 |
| Number of Websites: | 27,209 |
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Free plan: | Yes |
| Paid plan: | From $10.80/mo |
SITE123 – is a simple and intuitive classroom website builder, which comes up to any education needs. Teachers may use the system to start and independently run their web projects, while students can master it, while getting ready for their classes, presentations and other related purposes. What distinguishes the platform from its multiple competitors is its initial focus on the needs of non-techies. There is absolutely no need to learn coding basics to launch websites with the website builder. This is what makes it applicable for diverse user categories. Other high end SITE123 features are as follows:
- Multilingual Support. The system allows starting web projects in different languages, which makes it a good pick for your educational needs. Whether you need a website for your goreign languages classes or any other purposes, creating it with SITE123 will be a piece of cake.
- App Market. The system grants access to numerous widgets and applications available in its App Market. they are free and paid, coming up to the needs of teachers and students worldwide.
- Blogging Platform. Starting a blog with SITE123 is easy and fast due to its integrated blogging engine. This will be a helpful tool in your professional training and education.
- Online Form Builder. The system unveils an opportunity to create numerous polls, web forms, questionnaires, tests etc. via the Online Form Builder integration. This will certainly add functionality and visual appeal to your classroom project.
- Logo Maker. Due to the availability of the Logo Maker available in stock, you can easily design and integrate a unique logo of your educational establishment, course, class etc. into your website. This will surely make it stand out from the crowd.
Simplicity and convenience are not the only advantages SITE123 is known for. The website builder also offers one of the most affordable pricing options in the modern web design niche. The system has a free plan, which lets you explore its integrated functionality provided by default. There are also several premium subscriptions, the cost of which starts from $10.80/mo only. That’s more than a reasonable offer for teachers and students.
5. uCoz
| Product Name: | uCoz |
| Official Website: | ucoz.com |
| Founded: | 2005 |
| Number of Websites: | 30,581 |
| Complexity: | Average |
| Free plan: | Yes |
| Paid plan: | From $3/mo |
uCoz – is a quality website builder for education portal, which has a long history of development and thousands of users across the globe. The multi-purpose platform works great for all user categories, including first-timers and web experts. And it is also a nice pick for teachers and students, willing to use it for educational purposes. uCoz can be chosen for blog, forum and portal development yet it is also a worthy solution for other types of web projects. Have a look at the basic system advantages below:
- Module-Based Structure. The website builder comes with a pack of integrable modules, each of which delivers exceptional functionality. you can use these modules to start your educational website. Some of the most suitable solutions include Portal, Forum, Blog, Social Media Publisher, Web Polls, Tests and more.
- Responsive Designs. The website builder comes with a collection of responsive templates. They are available both in stock and in the system’s marketplace, where you can purchase a suitable theme to comply with your needs. The cost of premium designs starts from $12 yet free themes are quite stylish, quality and up-to-date as well.
- Social Networking Buttons. You can personally create a social network button to share your educational website with other users. This contributes to easier project sharing and lets more people browse your new project.
The software is one of the most affordable systems out there. The website builder has a free version, which lets users explore the integrated functionality available by default. However, it comes with a custom uCoz domain, ad banners, limited disk storage space and other restrictions. To get access to the advanced features and tools, uCoz makes it possible to upgrade to one of its 4 premium plans. Their cost starts from $3/mo.
6. Squarespace
| Product Name: | Squarespace |
| Official Website: | squarespace.com |
| Founded: | 2003 |
| Number of Websites: | 2,536,744 |
| Complexity: | Medium |
| Free plan: | No, free 14-day trial |
| Paid plan: | From $12/mo |
Squarespace – is a quality website builder for students, who have an intention to launch educational projects. The system can also be used by teachers, willing to present information on their subjects to the target audience. The platform is quite easy to use for everyone, irrespective of the web design expertise and programming skills. To help you get started with ease, there is access to the collection of free responsive designs you can choose from with regard to the topic you are interested in. To see what exactly the system has in stock, have a look at the features and tools it offers:
- Blogging. Due to the integrated feature-rich website builder, everyone can publish a quality blog to further update it with topic-related posts. In addition to article publishing feature, it is also possible to assign several authors to work on the same project.
- Shared Project Access. The website builder allows granting shared access rights to several contributors at a time. This is a handy option for students developing a certain educational project together.
- Unfold Storytelling Tool. This is an advanced Squarespace app, which allows creating and sharing posts in social networks to boost user interest. This is how you can effectively design an educational project and share it with co-thinkers.
- Logo Maker. Squarespace Logo Maker makes it possible to design and integrate an individual logo into your website. This is done with a few clicks only yet allows presenting your ideas to the target audience.
- Social Widget Integration. The software allows sharing and updating your educational website info in popular social networks (Yelp, Tumblr, Instagram, Dribbble, Twitter, Facebook, SoundCloud, Behance, Twitch, Google+, Linkedin, Pinterest, Dropbox, etc.). This attracts more users to the content you wish to convey.
Squarespace offers a 14-day free trial to test its integrated functionality. To get access to more advanced features and tools, you may choose from 4 paid subscriptions. Their cost starts from $12/mo.
7. Mobirise
| Product Name: | Mobirise |
| Official Website: | mobirise.com |
| Founded: | 2015 |
| Number of Websites: | 293,247 |
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Free plan: | Free Software |
| Paid plan: | Hosting and premium themes |
Mobirise – is a modern and easy-to-use free website builder for school projects. The major distinction of the system from its niche competitors is that this is a downloadable software. You need to install it before using it for website development goals. You can use Mobirise to create blogs, portfolios, forums and other personal educational projects. At the same time, the system is so easy to use that even a student with little or no web design background can work with it without any preliminary preparation at all. Here is the list of the most impressive Mobirise merits:
- Block Selection. The website builder comprises a collection of content blocks you can pick and arrange on a web page as you need. There are over 800 elements there and you may choose those that comply with your education website needs and objectives.
- AMP Website Builder. The software comes with an advanced AMP feature that allows starting accelerated Mobile Pages to make your project viewable both on desktop and mobile devices and to contribute to its load speed and display efficacy.
- Hosting Choice. As the downloadable software, Mobirise implies the need to look for a hosting provider to host a ready-made project. There is also an opportunity to pick a domain name with regard to your website specialization.
Mobirise is a free offline web design software. This allows downloading and installing it at no cost at all. To go live with your web project, though, you will have to invest into hosting and domain. Additionally, you may get premium integrations, widgets and applications with regard to your project topic. If you plan to use the system for further website development purposes, you may get a Mobirise Premium Pack that comes with extra high end designs and extensions. The cost of the kit currently constitutes $129.
8. Educator Pages
| Product Name: | Educator Pages |
| Official Website: | educatorpages.com |
| Founded: | 2007 |
| Number of Websites: | - |
| Complexity: | Easy |
| Free plan: | Yes |
| Paid plan: | Contact a manager |
Educator Pages – is a free teacher website builder, which allows creating high quality educational websites without any tech knowledge and skills required.There is no need to possess coding knowledge and master complex programs to start and update projects with the system. The entire process of project development takes a couple of minutes only. Just sign up for your free account and proceed to creating website pages. This is what makes the system popular with teachers across the globe. The list of the most impressive Educator Pages advantages includes:
- Stunning Simplicity. Due to its intuitive web design approach and no coding awareness required, the website builder is stunningly simple for everyone. It comes with intuitive dashboard, simple design customization process, handy tools and other merits.
- Easy Sharing. It is easy to share ready-made projects with colleagues, students and parents to establish effective communication. What’s more, it is possible to make updates in your project in the real-time mode to make them accessible to everyone, who views your website.
- Unlimited Page Number. Your website is not limited to a certain number of pages. You can create and customize as many web pages as needed.
- Niche Templates. As a specialized website builder for teachers, Educator Pages comes with a collection of professional ready-made designs to comply with a broad range of educational needs.
- Specific Functionality. The website builder abounds in niche-specific features that will contribute to your teacher website development. When using the system, you will get access to the premium file upload feature, opportunity to work with a rich media gallery that comprises over a million images, create custom domain names with regard to your website specialization and topic etc.
Educator Pages is absolutely free to use. Teachers can start projects with it for the unlimited period of time. To get access to extra features and tools, however, you may upgrade to the premium subscription. What you will get in this case is the opportunity to use a free image library, custom domain name support, file and image upload, absence of ad banners, premium designs, private page creation, premium email support etc. To find out the cost of the paid plan, contact the system manager or support team.
Bottom Line
Creation of a school website implies the boost of its image in the eyes of pupils, parents and potential investors. A teacher website can help solve lots of tasks. It can notably contribute to the professional activity of its owner, making it more productive, interesting and even profitable.
By getting a website, you or your school will be able to attract the attention of colleagues, pupils and their parents. This is not to mention the recognition of other educational establishments. A website of this type doesn’t need any extra promotion. As soon as the target audience gets to know about it, it will start visiting it on a regular basis.
This ensures organic traffic and quick progress without any promotion at all. If you realize all the advantages of having an educational website and are ready to launch the one of your own, using a website builder will be the best solution. These systems correspond to all the requirements of non-tech savvy users and don’t require the awareness of coding basics. They usually come with templates optimized for mobile viewing, rich choice of design customization tools, features and SEO optimization parameters.
Building an educational website shouldn’t be difficult and this is one of the main requirements for this type of websites. Wix and Weebly are two website builders that come up to the completion of any tasks. WordPress is a trusted full-featured CMS that comes with extensive integration options that allow for effective website development. SITE123, uCoz and Squarespace work better for the development of personal and private educational projects.
Mobirise is a downloadable software, the module-based structure of which allows for the development of quality teacher websites. Educator Pages, in its turn, is a specialized website builder for teachers, which is a great pick for starting, customizing and sharing feature-rich educational projects. To decide on the best solution, take your time to test each system and make the right choice.
