It’s almost impossible to think of having a successful business without a website to support it. Whether the site is purely informational or it’s an online store, large, medium-sized, and even small business owners try to have something up on the internet for potential and existing stakeholders to see.
There was a time where website building required knowledge of a web programming language, such as HTML. While it’s still possible to build your website that way, people have largely gone the route of using a site builder. Having a drag and drop interface at your disposal beats typing lines of code and hoping it goes right. That’s assuming you even can draft the said lines of code.
Even people who are not technical gurus can use their desktop, tablet, or mobile device to put websites together without too much administrative overhead if they can do so with a graphical user interface. Many different platforms offer website building service to potential clients. This is a full duda website builder review, which gives you all the details you need to understand what the platform offers and if it may be for you.
The best part is you don’t need to spend anything to discover what the Duda platform has to offer, thanks to a free trial offer with a great mix of features. What more could you ask for?
What Is Duda Website Builder?
As indicated above, there is a wide variety of choices where website building platforms are concerned. However, many of them leave you feeling like they do one thing very well and fall elsewhere. It’s almost like you need to decide what features matter to you while being comfortable with not getting the rest. Duda’s design goes against the stereotype by attempting to give you all you could ever need in a website building solution. Apart from the creative suite of tools, there are also features to help you grow your platform.
In many other cases, you would need to pay for the elements of your website separately. So, you would buy the software from one provider, the hosting from someone else, and the domain name elsewhere. As you can imagine, costs begin mounting when you go about it that way.
The best part is with all the features you get access to, the platform still manages the overhead behind the scene. Here is a good way to think about it. Imagine that your favorite car is a Lamborghini Aventador. If you can afford to buy one, you soon understand all the maintenance costs and processes of owning the vehicle.
So, while you have a lot of fun driving it, taking care of it can be dull and costly. Now imagine that you could pay a reasonable weekly fee to drive someone else’s Aventador. All you’d need to do is think about filling up at gas stations when your fuel level gets low. However, the owner would be responsible for maintenance tasks.
Duda works similarly by allowing you control over the things that matter to you. Site infrastructure, security, etc., are not things you need to think about in your web design process when using Duda.
The Duda website builder platform prioritizes responsive design, ease of use, and speed. It also recognizes the importance of accessibility on multiple device types. Therefore, there’s no need for you to be concerned about ensuring that your website is mobile device friendly. Not only does Duda have a series of customizable and intuitively designed templates, but it also allows you to start your build from scratch. That’s great news where accessibility is concerned since both beginners and experts can build beautiful sites using the system.
How to Use Duda Website Builder?
As one of the best website builder platforms available today, Duda offers users the ability to easily understand and employ its features. It is very easy to use and relies on a number of templates, additional customization options, and an incredibly intuitive drag-and-drop function.
In this Duda review, we’ll offer a step-by-step guide on how to use the platform to your benefit.
The Sign-Up
At the very beginning, you’ll have to make a Duda account. Enter basic information, like your name and surname, email address, and phone number, and then create a password. Duda will also require that you enter your website address and provide information on the number of websites you’re looking to build.
While this may seem a bit too complex compared to other website builder tools, it’s essential, so that Duda can provide you with creative opportunities suited for your project in particular.
After all, most Duda users aren’t professional web designers, so the website builder is looking for ways to help every user experience level.
The Blank Canvas
Once you’ve set up your account, you can access Duda’s “blank canvas”, or the beginning of what will become your own website. Here, you can use various widgets and options provided by Duda, in combination with creative choices of your own.
The Templates
To help you create better, Duda mainly relies on numerous templates. As of now, Duda offers about 98 professional website templates that you can choose from, depending on what style, design, and functionality you’re after. There are also around 10 blank templates for the more creative users out there. Your chosen template will act as the groundwork for your site, as you’ll be able to modify most of its constituent features until you make it very much your own.
The Magic of Drag-and-Drop
Another way in which Duda distinguishes itself as a user-friendly and convenient tool is its drag-and-drop feature. Thanks to this feature, you will be able to easily drag different elements of your website around and optimize their size, color, and functionality. All you need to get started is to click on these elements, drag them, drop them, and edit them as preferred.
Design Options
To have the freedom of design, Duda’s templates do have strict limitations regarding how far users can go with editing. Compared to some other builders, Duda tends to provide quite structured options, so you can’t go too creative with your choices.
But this may be a blessing in disguise since most website builders aren’t professional designers. So, it’s good to have an integrated function that will prevent you from overdesigning the website and keep the outline clean and neat.
Intuitive Editing
One of the best things that we’d like to point out in our Duda review is that you can always return to edit every aspect of the website that you’re not content with. The editing options are intuitive, allowing you to experiment with different fonts, sizes, and structures until you finally find the design that you’d been looking for.
There is even an option to see what the site would look like on a smartphone or tablet screen, as well as on a desktop computer. This will help you additionally tweak details that make for a more complete mobile or PC experience.
Personalization and Widgets
The mentioned features only scratch the surface of all that you can do with Duda. Duda’s personalization potential is almost limitless. For one, you can add images and optimize their size and utility. You can also add widgets such as promotions, pop-up messages or advertisements, integrated videos, or special types of notifications.
For example, with Duda, there are more than 100 available fonts to choose from when it comes to titles and letters. Go through all of them until you find a suitable pick that matches your creative vision. Thanks to these features, your website will stand out in the eyes of your users and customers.
Ecommerce, SEO, and Marketing
Just when you thought we were done, Duda is here to offer more. Most websites aren’t just built to exist somewhere on the internet – they need to be promoted and advertised too. For that, Duda offers basic marketing features to rely on when advertising your site. In addition, users get several eCommerce and search engine optimization (SEO) features.
These include tools that aid in selling and promoting products, special bonus offer widgets, multiple payment options, coupons, product categorizing, automatic tax calculation, and more.
Redesign Your HTML
Amongst other advantages of using Duda, you can specifically choose what your website HTML should be as well. This way, the site will be more marketable and convenient for search engine crawlers to spot it.
Purchase a Domain
It’s also recommended that you set up a website domain. Look for the Publish button in your editor and click on Change Site Address. Click on Purchase a New Domain for Your Website next. Browse through Google Domains, Hover Domains, or other domain providers. Once you’ve made your pick, simply purchase it directly through the platform.
Dashboard
Finally, there’s also a dashboard function to make great use of. After you’ve established your website, you can proceed to review its performance and success. Based on that feedback, you can decide how to proceed with your site thereafter.
Duda Pricing Plans
Duda is one of the pricier website builder options out there/ It offers three pricing plans, in addition to some more customizable options listed below.
The Basic Plan
Duda’s basic plan comes at $14 per month, billed annually. This includes a single website domain, email support, and website hosting on AWS. Although there are some personalization options, this is still a rather limited plan, at least for its price.
The Team Plan
The Team Plan is $22 per month, billed annually. But, it also offers a 14-day free trial period, during which you can see if Duda suits your needs. The plan can be shared between 4 people and allows you to promote your brand through the platform; get more marketing options; access client management services, and get both phone and chat support.
The Agency Plan
The Duda Agency Plan estimates $44 per month, billed annually. It is the most expensive plan and offers 4 websites and hosting, additional editing and widget options, website export, API integration, Airtable, and Google Sheets connection, in addition to even more comprehensive customer support. You can share the plan with up to 10 people and get access to Duda’s most advanced editing tools.
The Custom Plan
This goes for all business site owners who’d like to use a special feature or tailor their site to their business goals. With the Custom Plan, you can customize your features and add-ons.
And, based on what you choose, Duda will generate suitable pricing that goes with that plan.
Add-Ons for Ecommerce
Regardless of which plan you go for, you can always get the three available eCommerce add-ons, ranging from $7.25 to $39 per month, billed annually. These offer users between 100 and an infinite number of products, suited for many online stores – all equipped with unlimited storage potential.
Available Platforms
As is the case with other site builders, Duda is a web platform. Therefore, it’s only accessible within the confines of a browser. Once you have a web browser-enabled device and internet access, you should be able to access Duda with no problem.
Features
Duda has a host of features to help you derive a personalized experience from your website. Some of these are as follows:
- Simple and intuitive editing interface that is compatible with mobile devices
- White label functionality
- Team and client permissions
- Social sharing
- Stats dashboard
- Reporting tools
- Content library
- Website personalization
- Widget builder
- Site comments
- Drag and drop interface
- App Store
- Rich, varied, and well-designed templates
- E-commerce functionality
- Custom plan
Integrations
You can expand Duda’s functionality by leveraging its numerous integrations. The platforms you can use it with are as follows:
- Vcita
- AudioEye
- Usercentrics
- Agendize
- PayPal
- Google Calendar
- Mapbox
- Uberall
- Neustar Localeze
- Yext
- MailChimp
- Constant Contact
- Open table
- Yelp
- Locu
- Snapchat
- Disqus
- Foursquare
- TripAdvisor
- Google My Business
- Google Sheets
- Airtable
- External Database
- Vimeo
- YouTube
- Dailymotion
- SoundCloud
- Mixcloud
Duda Customer Help and Support
Duda is quite an established website builder platform. As such, it offers extensive help and customer support options to its clients. Yet, even the support section depends on which pricing plan you go for – the more expensive the plan, the more extensive the help and support plan.
For starters, Duda offers the free Help Center and Resource Center options online, which you can visit whenever you want. If you need personal assistance, though, these are your options:
Basic Plan: Help and Support
If you go for the Basic Plan, you only get email support. It is comprehensive and detailed, as you can email the Duda team and expect their response as soon as they’re available.
The downside to this is that you don’t have immediate, on-site support in case you need it.
Team Plan: Help and Support
If you go for the Team Plan, in addition to the email support, you also get chat and phone support from Duda’s team. These options allow you to access Duda’s helpdesk quicker and get efficient guidelines, answers and navigation tips.
Agency Plan: Help and Support
Finally, the Agency Plan. Aside from all the support features we listed, this plan also offers priority email communication. With this, you’ll know that whatever question or complaint you have will be answered and addressed immediately.
Duda Pros and Cons
Like all website builders, Duda has some very impressive pros, as well as cons that you should consider before purchasing any of its pricing plans.
Pros
- Drag-and-drop editing
- Free trial plan option
- Ease of use
- Teamwork availability
- Functionality and practicality
- Multilingual options
- Extensive personalization
- A number of templates
- Quality SEO support
- The ability to backup and restore your site during construction
Duda Cons
- Significantly pricier than the competition
- The free trial only comes with the Team Plan, priced at $22
- There aren’t as many apps in the provided app store as other website builders have
