How to Effectively Utilize the Bluehost Website Builder
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The Bluehost website builder is one of the most popular website-building tools, particularly for WordPress websites.
Whether you’re looking to create a static branding website, blog, or online store, Bluehost offers many plans to create, host, and manage your web presence.
It has a powerful and dynamic website builder that lets you create your website from scratch.
You don’t need technical knowledge to use this builder, as it’s intuitive and user-friendly with a drag-and-drop interface. Entrepreneurs can easily use it to create a website for their business.
This guide will provide a detailed tutorial on building a website with Bluehost and share valuable tips to make the process easier.
Steps to Complete Before Building a Website
Before using the drag-and-drop website builder, follow the following steps.
Sign Up with Bluehost
The Bluehost website builder tool comes with a paid Bluehost – it’s not a free tool.
So, first, you’ll need to create an account with Bluehost and select the plan appropriate for your website needs.
For instance, if you’re just starting out and want a simple website, the starter tiers may be the best choice.
Simply select the plan you want and proceed.
Create a Domain
Before you can get to the website-building stage, you need to acquire a domain for your website.
Almost all Bluehost plans come with one free year of domain hosting so that you can get a domain for free initially.
Pro Tip: Choose your business name as the domain name if available. That makes your website address memorable and easy to find!
If unsure, you can skip this step and create a domain later. Similarly, you may also use an existing domain you have.
Pay for Your Plan
Next, you can complete the payment for your chosen plan. You’ll be asked to provide personal information and payment details.
Create a Password
You’ll be asked to enter and reenter a password for your account. Ensure that you create a strong password.
Setting Up the Bluehost Website Builder
Now that your account is set up, you’ve paid for the plan, and you’ll have access to your Bluehost dashboard, where you’ll find the website builder.
In most cases, you’ll be prompted to start creating your website after you’ve signed up and paid.
However, if you’re not given the option, or you want to use the builder later, you can do from the dashboard.
Launch Site Builder
You can start using the Bluehost website builder tool from the menu on the left side of the dashboard.
Select ‘My Sites’ and then click on ‘Add site.’
You’ll see the option for installing WordPress or using the Bluehost Website Builder with WordPress.
Select the latter and click on ‘Start Building.’ You’ll be asked to choose the domain name.
Provide Info About Website
Bluehost will ask you to provide some preliminary info about the type of website you want to build.
This information helps it set up the initial design and set up and provide you with relevant template options.
The website builder can create business websites, blogs, stores, and portfolios. Select the relevant option.
You can also provide more information about your website when asked what it’s about, for example, restaurant, photography, art, real estate, consulting service, etc.
Add the name for the website (this is different from the domain name).
Add the Basics First
The website builder will get your website ready for editing.
However, it’ll start with the basics before letting you use the builder’s more advanced features or add new pages.
Here’s what you need to add:
- Add the cover image: This is the cover image that will appear on the header. You can add a custom photo or a stock image relevant to your website.
- Add a logo: Every website needs a logo, so you should add the logo for your website. You can find this option in the Settings> My Site> Logo.
- Select the font: Bluehost will, by default, pick a pair of fonts for your website based on the info you provided earlier. However, you can change that and make your own selection.
- Site Colors: Again, Bluehost picks the colors for the site automatically. However, you can change them if you like or if they don’t match your brand’s colors.
- Add the contact information: You can add any contact information you’d like to be featured on the website footer.
Using the Bluehost Website Builder
Now, you’ll have access to the complete website builder tool. With all the tools and options available, you can start customizing the essential website Bluehost has created for you.
Understanding the Bluehost Website Builder Interface
The Bluehost website builder is intuitive and easy to navigate.
Desktop and Mobile Views
On the top, you’ll see two icons: desktop and mobile. The former gives you the desktop view of the website, whereas the latter gives the mobile version.
You don’t have to make changes to both separately. Stick to the desktop view, and the website builder will automatically optimize the website for mobile.
Sections
On the left hand, you’ll find the main menu, with Sections, Menu & Pages, Appearance, and Settings.
Sections are what Bluehost calls each part of the web page. Different sections come together to create the layout of a page.
With the Sections option on the left sidebar, you can add more sections to a webpage, for example, a text section with a welcome message.
You can edit the section with the right sidebar, change the template, elements, background color, etc.
Bluehost provides many pre-build section options to make things easier for you. These options include:
- Media/text
- Carousel
- Countdown
- FAQs
- Products
- Pricelist
- Reviews
- Social
- Apps
- Call-to-action
Sections make adding functionality to your website’s pages easy and customizing the design.
Pages
Once you’ve set up the builder and it has set up an essential website for you based on your requirements, it’ll have created the main pages for the website already.
You can customize these pages by adding or removing sections and then editing those sections.
However, you can also add new pages to the website.
Select Menu & Pages on the left sidebar and click New Page.
A wizard will open, asking what kind of page you want to add. Bluehost website builder allows you to use pre-build page templates.
This is where you can add a Blog to your website as well (if it’s not a blog on its own).
As you progress with creating your website, you can add new pages and add them to the website’s navigation, especially the header with the menu and all the pages.
Customizing Pages and Sections
Once you have the essential website ready, customizing it to give it your personal touch is relatively easy.
For instance, you can edit text directly in the edit box. Just click on the text, and a textbox with an editing toolbar will appear around the text.
You can change the text or its size or formatting right there. The toolbar above the text box provides options for formatting (font type, size, bold, italic, etc.).
Similar to text, editing images is relatively easy. When you hover over an image, a toolbar will appear, which you can use to make the changes.
Image editing options include cropping, replacing, linking, and adding Alt text for the image.
Other website elements can be edited with just a click, such as the footer. You can click on the text in the footer and edit it right there.
The footer can also be edited with the sidebar on the right. For example, you can turn off/hide certain parts of the footer.
Using the WordPress Editor
The Bluehost website builder is fully integrated with WordPress. That means you can also use the conventional WordPress dashboard to build and manage the website.
This option can be handy for those familiar with WordPress and managing a blog.
To use the WordPress dashboard, click the WP Admin option in the sidebar on the left.
This will take you to the WordPress dashboard. Although not the most user-friendly, this dashboard can be used for adding new blog posts to your website.
Click on Post > Add a new post.
It will create a new post with all the typical sections of a blog (title, body, meta tags, description, etc.)
To return to the more dynamic Bluehost editor, click on Website Builder from the left sidebar.
Preview and Publish the Website
Once you’ve finished creating your website, you can preview it before you publish it.
You’ll find the ‘Preview’ button in the upper right corner of the Bluehost editor. It will show you a preview of your website in a new tab based on the selected view.
If you want to see a mobile preview, select the mobile view icon from the top bar and then click on ‘Preview.’
Scroll through the page and navigate between different pages of your website to ensure everything is working smoothly.
If you find any problems, you can return to the builder and make the necessary changes.
Once everything is in order, you can publish the website. Click on the ‘Publish’ button on the top right corner of the editor. Your website will go live.
Why Use Bluehost to Create a Website?
There are plenty of choices when it comes to creating and hosting a website. So why should you choose the Bluehost website builder?
Here are some convincing reasons:
User-Friendly Interface
Bluehost used to have a relatively complicated website builder that they wholly revamped in 2021.
The current Bluehost website builder’s interface is user-friendly. Even people who have never created a website before can use it to create one in a matter of minutes.
The tool provides an easy drag-and-drop interface for editing the look and functions of the website for basic things.
In addition, the idea of pages and sections makes adding elements and functionality more manageable.
Built for WordPress
A clear advantage of going with the Bluehost website builder is that it’s fully integrated with WordPress, the world’s most widely used CMS.
This makes it an ideal choice for creating beautiful blogs, as WordPress is the default choice for blogs for many.
Whether it’s a personal or business blog, using WordPress with Bluehost will make things much more manageable.
While you’re essentially using WordPress, you don’t have to use the WordPress editor to design and create a website.
That said, you can use the WordPress dashboard as well, with all of its classic features and functions.
Integrated Hosting
Bluehost offers an all-in-one solution that combines hosting and website building.
You don’t need to host your website elsewhere, eliminating the hassle of having two different management portals (one for hosting and one for content).
This, by design, streamlines the process of creating a website.
Built-In Templates
The option to provide Bluehost with information about your website can be very helpful, especially for newbies.
Instead of creating pages and sections from scratch, this option gives you a basic website ready in minutes.
And the selection is decent, as you can choose the kind of business your website is associated with.
Customization Flexibility
You can tailor your website to match your unique vision with Bluehost’s versatile customization options.
The website builder provides a wide range of customization features, from choosing templates to tweaking layouts, fonts, and colors.
As a result, you can easily create a website that matches your vision and is cohesive with your brand and business.
Responsive Design
Your website should be responsive to the device it’s being used on. In other words, it should be optimized for mobile devices.
That’s something built into the Bluehost website editor. It creates two versions of the website, desktop and mobile, optimizing the design and layout of each page for both.
In one survey, over 73 percent of web designers blamed a website’s unresponsiveness for visitors leaving.
Scalability
Lastly, Bluehost offers scalability with multiple plans. You can move on to upper-tier plans as your website’s traffic grows.
Similarly, the website builder can accommodate your evolving needs as you add more functionality to your website for growth.
Types of Websites You Can Create with Bluehost Website Builder
The Bluehost website builder is a comprehensive editor that can help you design static and dynamic websites.
Here are some of the websites you can design with this builder:
Blogs
Bluehost website builder is exceptional at creating blogs, both standalone and those featured as part of a website.
That’s because it integrates with WordPress, a popular content management system for blog websites.
From technology to lifestyle, you can create any type of blog to share your thoughts with the world.
You can choose from a wide range of templates to suit the needs of your blog.
Portfolio
Bluehost is also a good choice for creating a portfolio website for designers and artists.
You can feature your projects as galleries, files, or links.
The themes allow you to create a stunning interface to show off your talents.
Business Website
Bluehost website builder is perfect for creating business websites that provide information on your work.
From a showcase of your products/services to customer reviews, you can share various information with your visitors through this website.
E-commerce Store
You can launch and manage your online store effortlessly. Bluehost’s website builder includes e-commerce capabilities, enabling you to showcase products, manage inventory, and facilitate secure transactions.
This is ideal for entrepreneurs looking to establish an online retail business, regardless of the niche.
FAQs
Is Bluehost Free or Paid?
Bluehost is a paid web hosting platform that also offers a website builder. It doesn’t offer any free tier or trial.
It’s integrated with WordPress and is famous for creating blogs.
Is the Bluehost Domain Free?
Every plan on Bluehost includes a free domain for a year. However, you can also use an existing domain.
You can select the domain during the signup process and create a website for that domain using the built-in website builder.
Which is Better, Bluehost or GoDaddy?
While both Bluehost and GoDaddy offer affordable hosting plans, the former offers a wide range of features including backups and unmetered bandwidth.
Bluehost’s website builder is also quite easy to use and ideal for beginners looking to create their first website.
I’m founder of BizStack at Cagri Sarigoz LLC and a passionate advocate for entrepreneurs.
With over 14 years in tech, marketing, and AI, including my role as Head of SEO at CitizenShipper and co-founder of TaleBot at Intale AI, I’m dedicated to sharing genuine, useful product insights and tips.
At BizStack, I aim to cut through the digital noise to provide clear, actionable advice.
And more than all else, I’m a father to a (always) little girl and a husband.
Contact me at [email protected] for assistance.
Co Authors :
Ana is a content writer at BizStack and ensures our content meets and goes beyond our readers’ expectations.
