Strikingly Website Builder Review

Are you a small business owner or a creative willing to present your brand/services to the target audience? The best way to get started is to pick a simple website builder and set up a single-page website.

If you wish your project to be impressive and functional at a time, then choosing Strikingly for this purpose really makes sense. The system encompasses multiple benefits at a time, being a nice pick for beginners. Join us in reviewing the software now to find out the features that make it stand out from the crowd.

What Is Strikingly?

Strikingly is a simple and multi-faceted DIY website builder that lets users create professional-looking websites even with no coding or web design skills.

It offers a user-friendly interface and a wide range of customizable templates, making it accessible for individuals, entrepreneurs and creatives.

The software mostly targets different user categories, irrespective of their skills and expertise level. The system works great for the development of one-page and standard websites that let users focus on specific business/personal goals.

Founded in 2012, Strikingly has initially been focused on serving the needs of non-techies, who lacked web design skills yet needed one-of-a-kind projects to build reliable web presence of their services or products and to be able to present them to the advantage.

Since the time of its launch, the platform has changed a lot, giving way to more advanced techniques, web design approaches and versatile user requirements.

The system subscribers can choose from various pre-designed sections, add their own content, and customize the layout and design to fit their unique style and branding.

The platform also provides features like domain registration, eCommerce functionality, blog integration along with analytics tools to help users effectively create and manage their web presence.

Zero coding skills needed; Works best for entrepreneurs and creatives; Allows setting up websites in minutes.

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Strikingly: Pros and Cons

Choosing Strikingly website builder for your personal or commercial project will still have its pros and cons. It’s a must to be aware of them before you make the final choice of the system to know what to expect from it and from the entire web development process.

Strikingly is actually one of the simplest DIY website builders for users who intend to set up easy yet full-featured web projects for business or personal use. Before using it, however, you need to consider all the available pros and cons of the software just to be aware of all the challenges you may encounter.

What Is Strikingly Used for?

The website builder was initially developed with newbies and beginners with zero coding skills in mind. It offers a super easy and straightforward building process with a range of intuitive and ready-to-use templates.

As for the niche, Strikingly will mainly suit bloggers, small business owners, creatives (photographers and designers), and small merchants.

The software makes it easy to create one-page websites for small startups. You can build a professional portfolio in minutes as well as add a simple digital store with a baseline product management system and a set of merchants’ services.

Users can select from a range of customizable templates and easily customize the layout, design, and content to suit their specific needs and preferences. The platform offers a user-friendly interface and intuitive editing tools that make it accessible to beginners.

The system also provides extra features and tools to enhance your project functionality. These include eCommerce capabilities, blog and social media integration, integrable contact forms, analytics tools etc. In other words, this is a comprehensive solution for creating and managing users’ web presence.

Mind, however, that the platform does not offer tools to scale your business. It comes with limited customization options and a lack of eCommerce functionality needed for bigger stores.

Thus, Strikingly will work just fine if you do not plan to turn your business into a globally recognizable marketplace.

Ease of Use

Ease-of-use is one of Strikingly highlights. No wonder, this is a nice pick for individuals with varying levels of tech expertise.

The platform is designed to simplify the website building process, letting users create professional-looking projects with little or no programming expertise.

The platform also provides helpful prompts and suggestions throughout the website building process, guiding users in making effective design and content choices.

Furthermore, Strikingly offers an extensive knowledge base and support resources, including tutorials and customer support, to assist users in troubleshooting issues or answering any questions that may arise.

Actually, simplicity is revealed on each stage of the website set up procedure: starting from the registration and up to the final website publication. It’s high time to find out now what exactly makes the software a simple solution for its subscribers.

Dashboard

The Strikingly dashboard is the place to access and manage your websites and related settings. It serves as the control panel for website customization, content management and other administrative tasks.

This is what you can do in the system dashboard, when you reach it:

• Customize website design – Having reached the editor, you can modify your website layout, colors, fonts and other visual elements. The editor provides drag-and-drop functionality for easy customization;
• Edit content – You can add, modify and delete website pages, sections, and individual project elements. Likewise, it is possible to manage text, images, videos, and other media assets;
• Manage eСommerce settings – Web store owners can configure product listings, pricing, inventory, payment gateways and order management settings;
• Work with the blog manager – If you run a blog, you will be able to independently manage it, working with posts, customizing settings, interacting with readers, managing comments etc.;
• Customize domain settings – You can manage domain settings, including connecting custom domains, setting up domain email addresses, configuring domain redirects etc.;
• Track website analytics – Strikingly provides built-in analytics tools that enable users to monitor project performance, track visitor behavior and gain insights into website traffic and engagement.

All in all, the Strikingly dashboard aims to provide users with a comprehensive and user-friendly interface for managing and updating their websites efficiently.

Steps to Get Started

To sign up for the system, you just need to provide your first name, email and password. That’s it.

The registration process is fast thanks to the absence of silly questions about what kind of website you would like to create, what level of technical background you have, or what type of services you provide.

Just type in the name, email, and password, and select a template to get access to the template editor.

Speaking about template selection (not design), users will have multiple options divided into categories. They may choose the one that meets their project needs the most. All templates can be previewed.

The bad news is that there is no mobile or tablet preview mode, which is definitely a downside. However, you may still look at how the site runs on smartphones and tablets inside the dashboard before publishing.

Website Editing

Strikingly provides an intuitive editor that makes the process of web creation engaging and fun. It’s simple, beautiful and enjoyable. The editor offers a super quick tour to demonstrate all the system nuances to let you find out how to get the most out of using it.

Launching a site with the service can take as little as one hour and requires no coding knowledge, unless you decide to use their advanced HTML/CSS editor that lets pro plan users make changes to the site’s header and footer.

The entire website is composed of sections you can modify to your liking (edit, add or delete those you need) directly in the dashboard.

There are also Styles and Settings areas here. The first one lets you select and modify your website style or change the selected template on any step of the web design process.

The Settings section, in its turn, lets you configure your website URL, domain name, select website category, modify header and footer, view and set up analytics and perform other must-have actions.

One of the recent features is the Layout switcher that gives you more flexibility in adjusting the placement of text and media within sections.

When it comes to editing a website, you’ll have to complete the following steps:

1. Log in to your Strikingly account and access the dashboard;
2. Choose the website to customize to reach the editor;
3. Explore the interface – you’ll come across various editing options and tools (like layout, sections, elements and settings) on the sidebar. To modify the layout/structure of your website, find and click the “Layout” button. This is where you can select a different template, change the overall design or adjust the arrangement of sections;
4. Pick and edit the required website sections in the editor. You can modify the content, text, images, videos, and other elements here;
5. Add new elements to your website, clicking on the “Elements” button in the sidebar. You’ll get access to various elements like text boxes, images, buttons, forms etc. Just drag and drop the selected item where needed;
6. Customize elements’ design, using the available editing options. It’s up to you to change colors, fonts, sizes, alignments and other visual properties;

Publishing

As soon as you are done with your website design, don’t forget to activate the “Publish” button to make all the changes visible to a user.

Remember to regularly save your progress while editing a website. This helps avoid the loss of saved content and edits.

Features and Flexibility

Strikingly now boasts a pretty impressive and rich feature set and it certainly has everything you need to start and modify a large-scale website.

You can upload your own content, add custom domain, enable various ‘sections’ (media blocks, info boxes, contact forms and more) and also make slight changes to the site design. You can also add meta tags and view your website statistics using the system’s native monitoring application.

Let’s provide a detailed overview of the major Strikingly features so that you could get an idea of what the service has to offer.

eCommerce

Strikingly is perfectly optimized for selling. You won’t be able to set up a large-scale webs tot with the system because of its limited eCommerce functionality yet you can start a small/medium shop with it.

What you need to get started is just to add a web store to the website to proceed to its customization. Strikingly provides a built-in shopping cart feature that enables customers to add products to their cart, review their selections, and proceed to the checkout page.

Upload your goods (with descriptions, images, pricing and inventory management options), create and manage product listings and try out different layouts to customize your store style.

You can track and manage orders through the Strikingly dashboard. This includes viewing order details, updating order status and managing customer communications. Additionally, the system allows controlling product inventory, setting stock levels and receiving notifications when the stock is running low.

Having created a product catalog, you will just need to set up the selected payment method (PayPal or Stripe) and check out the Order Management Dashboard. The system allows completing purchases by going through a streamlined checkout process, where they provide their shipping information, select a shipping method and make the payment.

Strikingly will not take any transaction fees from the purchases. You will only have to pay the standard PayPal/Stripe transaction fee. You can sell one product under the Limited plan, up to 300 products under the Pro plan and unlimited products under the VIP Plan.

Blogging

Strikingly comes with a user-friendly blog post editor that allows you to conveniently create and format your blog content. You can add text, images, videos, and other media elements to your blog posts.

To start a blog, just add the Blog section to the page, and it will link to individual post pages. When creating a new blog post, you can insert a variety of inline media including images, videos, call-to-action buttons, social bookmarking and quotes.

You can also organize your blog posts using categories and tags. This helps visitors navigate your blog and find content they are interested in.

It is also easy to rearrange your content thanks to the editor’s drag-and-drop functionality. The blog manager features a simple interface that allows you to customize how your posts will appear in the new Blog section.

Enabling a commenting feature is also a good idea, when it comes to blogging. Strikingly allows adding comments to blog posts, thus, engaging users in discussions and making it possible for them to share their thoughts/ideas.

To get access to all blog posts, users can reach the archive available online. This is where they can browse the list of posts that have previously been published there. This lets visitors navigate and explore your blog’s content to be aware of its major message.

Finally, Strikingly generates an RSS feed for your blog, thus allowing visitors to subscribe and receive updates whenever you publish new blog posts.

Social Media Integration

Strikingly comes with a convenient social feed section you can add and connect to your social media accounts. This gives you the freedom of actions, when it comes to managing and promoting your newly-built project, attracting target audience from the social networks.

By means of social media integration, you can help your audience follow website updates, news and upcoming events. Mind that some of these features are available in terms of the paid plans only.

Sign Up and Contact Forms

Whether you are introducing a new service or waiting for users’ feedback, you can integrate a sign up or a contact form into your project to simplify the process of interaction. This is done with a few clicks only and even a beginner can do that in no time.

Domain Registration and Transfer Options

Strikingly makes it possible to transfer the available domain name from another registrar to the system servers. It’s also possible to get a new one within the system, no matter what plan you are going to use (even if this is a free subscription).

The domain registration period extends for 10 years. At the end of the term, you can either lock the domain name or renew it based on the available aspirations. Additionally, SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption is provided to secure your website and protect user data.

Finally, Strikingly now offers a more extensive selection of Top Level Domains like .shop, for example. As a result, your website can have a more appealing and memorable address to stand out from the crowd.

Website Analytics

Strikingly provides basic analytics and tracking features that allow you to monitor website traffic, visitor behavior, and other key metrics. The feature lets you view and analyze your website statistics and make the required changes on time.

You can see the number of users visiting your website during a particular period of time (24 hours, last 7 days, last 30 days, last 90 days), the locations the traffic comes from, the most frequently visited pages, sources users give preference to when visiting your website (mobile or desktop), products or categories and other aspects that matter a lot for effective website management and promotion.

Marketing Features and Tools

Strikingly also has much to offer in terms of marketing. As of today, the email marketing tool is available only for Pro Plan users and implies an opportunity to embed the external MailChimp system into your project. It’s also possible to add contact pages and user forms in special website fields to get in touch with your site visitors.

Security Measures

Strikingly takes care of its users’ security, offering multiple safety measures to protect ready-made websites from third-party access. With the website builder, you can enable and use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Certificate on any custom domain that lets your visitors access the website content via the HTTPS protocol.

SSL Certification is provided by default. What’s more, Strikingly automatically saves your website copies when you edit them to let you restore the backup versions when necessary.

Mobile Optimization

Strikingly is mobile friendly: each theme is responsive from the start. There are mobile-specific options like click-to-call etc. There is also the iOS app that makes it possible for you to update and manage your website on the go.

Built-In HTTPS

All Strikingly-powered websites automatically get HTTPS at no cost. This ensures enhanced security, boost of SEO features/results along with increased project performance.

Multimedia Integration

Strikingly makes it possible to easily incorporate multimedia content into your website, including images, videos and audio files. You can embed videos from platforms like YouTube or Vimeo, showcase image galleries, or add background music.

Image Editing

The website builder grants access to baseline image editing capabilities, letting you adjust and enhance your images directly within the platform. You can crop, resize, apply filters and make other edits to optimize your visual content.

Lead Generation

Strikingly provides tools to help you capture leads and grow your email list. You can create opt-in forms and integrate them with popular email marketing services to collect visitor information and nurture leads.

Integrations and Add-Ons

Strikingly has an App Market where you can find and integrate additional functionalities and features into your website. These apps cover various categories such as analytics, live chat, forms, marketing, and more. Likewise, it integrates with various third-party services and tools, including social media platforms, email marketing services, analytics tools etc. This lets you extend your website functionality.

Strikingly SEO Features

Strikingly offers built-in SEO tools and features to help optimize your website for search engines. It lets you fill out the meta tags for your website or its separate pages (titles, descriptions, keywords), set category, favicon and social share image for your website.

Likewise, the website builder provides the detailed SEO checklist to give you a hint on what aspects you should choose to boost website Google ranking. You can also customize meta tags, URLs, and content, thus improving your website’s visibility in search engine results.

SEO options are available in the Settings Section of the dashboard. The advanced tools make it possible to increase your project visibility by enabling Google site verification, adding keywords to heading texts, assign image ALT tags etc.

Strikingly Templates

Strikingly currently offers a library of around 200 beautiful modern designs optimized for mobile viewing from the start. You can filter them by switching between categories: business, startup, personal, portfolio, store, blog, organization, service, personal, fun, company, event.

As opposed to lots of other popular website builders, Strikingly comes with the Template Switcher tool that lets you explore and test any of the templates without losing the submitted content.

There’s no limit to how many times you can change the templates. The Preview option lets you see the way your website will look, if you select it for further customization.

You can add a custom HTML code to your Strikingly website, but this option is available only in paid versions. The only drawback of that feature is that you can only inject a header and footer code, but not the website body.

Tech Support

Customer Support is what Strikingly really excels at. Whatever issues you face, the system will eagerly assist you, granting access to several support options. Here they go:

• Knowledge Base – Irrespective of the seemingly simple nature, Strikingly offers a powerful knowledge base with extensive help and support resources that are easy to browse and navigate;
• Pre-Publish Checklist – This is the feature newbies will certainly appreciate. It helps track all the steps of the website creation process not to overlook important details and stages;
• Idea Forum – This is the place where you can share your suggestions on how to improve Strikingly website builder;
• Starter Video Tutorials – Another advantage for beginners that lets them view video guides covering the must-have steps of working with the software;
• Community Section – Comprises the Blog, the Idea Forum and the Talk of the Town areas with tons of useful info on how to get the most out of using the platform;
• Email – If there are still any questions left, you can contact the support team via email, but mind that you may have to wait for the feedback;
• 24/7 Live Chat – Helps get your questions and needs covered on time.

All in all, the support team members are always ready to help you solve all the problems you may potentially encounter, when working with Strikingly. Thus, the Customer Support options deserve special attention here.

How Much Does Strikingly Cost?

There’s a free plan allowing you to publish a nice one-page website using Strikingly subdomain. To attach a custom domain name and unlock advanced editing tools, you have to upgrade your account.

There are three paid packages here: Limited, Pro and VIP. These subscriptions come with a risk-free 14-day trial to let you test the options each system offers:

• Limited ($8/mo billed annually) – 2 limited sites, unlimited free sites, custom domain name connection, free SSL for custom domain, free domain for a year, 1GB of storage space per site, 50 GB of bandwidth, up to 5 pages per site, 1 product for sale, 5% transaction fee, 24/7 chat support etc.;
• Pro ($16/mo billed annually) – 3 pro sites, 20 GB of storage space per site, unlimited bandwidth, up to 100 pages per site, up to 300 products for sale, 2% transaction fee, no Strikingly branding, custom forms, password protection, site memberships, paid subscription memberships, store product reviews, pop-ups, site search, custom code embedding, custom font upload, historical version restore option etc.;
• VIP ($49/mo billed annually) – 5 VIP sites, 100 GB of storage space per site, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited products for sale, 2000 active contacts, 0% transaction fee, multiple membership tiers, multi language and auto-translation, opportunity to send newsletters, live chat widget, priority customer service, phone support (in English), dedicated account manager etc.

Additionally, the website builder provides an opportunity to get a custom email at $25 per year. This will make your customer communication much more professional. Mind, however, that you need a domain name to add emails.

Strikingly for Businesses and Creatives

Strikingly stands out from the crowd due to its simplicity and affordability. These are the two main features that make the system a worthy pick for businesses and creatives.

Strikingly mostly specializes in one-page websites, which can be particularly beneficial for businesses and creatives looking to present their content or products in a concise and focused manner.

One-page websites are often used for portfolios, single-product promotions, event pages, or landing pages, allowing you to capture attention and convey your message efficiently.

To start with, the website builder provides an intuitive and user-friendly interface that makes it easy for beginners to create and manage their websites. You don’t even have to know how to code – so simple the software is.

The platform’s drag-and-drop editor, customizable templates and straightforward customization options allow users to quickly build and update their sites.

For businesses looking to sell products or services online, Strikingly offers integrated eCommerce and team membership features to set up and manage online stores. Users can add product listings, integrate payment gateways, manage inventory, and track orders, making it convenient for businesses to establish an online presence and generate sales.

Blogging options are also available here. Opportunity to add a blog will be valuable for entrepreneurs and creatives who want to share insights, updates or engage with their audience through content marketing.

Thus, Strikingly can be used for creative and business projects. You just need to realize your actual needs and preferences to decide whether to keep working with the software or not.

Is Strikingly a Good Website Builder?

Strikingly is a website builder, which encompasses ease of use, convenience and functionality. Most users give preference to it over lots of more popular systems due to its simplicity.

The system mostly focuses on non-techies and, thus, its feature set, dashboard and interface are geared towards the needs of this particular audience. No coding is needed to use the system.

However, if you are a Pro Plan user and have programming knowledge, you can get access to CSS/HTML footer and header editing options.

The website builder can’t boast a rich collection of website templates, but those that are available in the system, are customizable and mobile-responsive by default. What’s more, Strikingly boasts fantastic customer support that can help you solve any platform-related issue.

By using the website builder, you can effectively launch and manage single-page websites, connecting blogs and even web stores to them. There is no sense to expect great performance from such websites, but they will certainly come up to your objectives and expectations. All in all, Strikingly is a decent value for your money!