Best Website Builders

The best website builders for beginners in 2024 looking to start a website

By Liam Jennings

Building a website is easier than ever in 2024, thanks to a variety of intuitive website builders tailored for beginners. Whether you’re looking to create a blog, portfolio, or online store, here are the best platforms for starting your web journey.

1. Wix: Best Overall for Beginners

Wix is one of the most beginner-friendly platforms available. Its drag-and-drop editor makes designing a website easy without any coding skills. With over 800 customisable templates, Wix allows users to build anything from a personal blog to a robust online store. Additionally, its Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) can generate a website for you by asking a few questions, making the process even faster.

Price: Free basic plan; premium plans start at $16/month.

2. Squarespace: Best for Design-Oriented Sites

For users focused on aesthetics, Squarespace is an excellent choice. Its sleek, professionally designed templates allow beginners to create beautiful websites quickly. Squarespace is ideal for creatives, photographers, and small businesses. It offers integrated marketing tools such as SEO features and email campaigns, giving your site a polished look with minimal effort.

Price: Premium plans start at $16/month.

3. Shopify: Best for E-Commerce

Shopify is the go-to platform for beginners wanting to create an online store. Known for its e-commerce focus, Shopify makes it easy to set up a fully functional store with product pages, shopping carts, and integrated payment options. The platform offers customizable templates and a range of tools for managing inventory, shipping, and taxes. Shopify also supports multiple sales channels, allowing you to sell on your website, social media, and even in-person via a POS system.

Price: Plans start at $39/month, but Shopify offers a 14-day free trial.

4. WordPress.com: Best for Bloggers

WordPress.com is the simplified version of the widely used WordPress.org. It’s perfect for beginners interested in blogging, offering easy-to-use customization options and a variety of templates. As users become more advanced, they can scale to WordPress.org for more customisation.

Price: Free basic plan; premium plans start at $4/month.

5. GoDaddy: Best for Quick Set-Up

GoDaddy is known for fast website setups. Its Website + Marketing feature simplifies the creation process, making it ideal for beginners who need an online presence without a steep learning curve. Integrated marketing tools and social media integration make it a handy all-in-one solution for small businesses.

Price: Premium plans start at $9.99/month.

Conclusion

Choosing the best website builder depends on your specific needs. Wix is great for flexibility, Squarespace for design, Shopify for e-commerce, WordPress.com for bloggers, and GoDaddy for quick, simple setups. Each offers an easy path to getting your website up and running with minimal hassle.

The UE Miniroll

The Ultimate Ears Miniroll is the latest addition to the lineup

By Liam Jennings

The Ultimate Ears Miniroll is the latest addition to UE’s popular line of portable Bluetooth speakers, known for its compact size and powerful sound. Released on the 4 October 2024, the Miniroll is designed as the most portable and affordable speaker in the lineup, priced at around $99. Weighing just 279 grams, it’s incredibly lightweight and easy to carry, making it perfect for on-the-go use.

Despite its small size, the Miniroll offers impressive audio performance with a single 45.6 mm active driver and a passive radiator, delivering clear and bassy sound. One of its standout features is the PartyUp capability, allowing you to sync an unlimited number of Miniroll speakers together for a more immersive sound experience. However, this feature is limited to Miniroll speakers and doesn’t work with other UE models.

With an IP67 rating, the Miniroll is waterproof, dustproof, and drop-proof up to 1.2 meters, making it highly durable for outdoor adventures. It also boasts up to 12 hours of battery life, which can be recharged via USB-C. This speaker is ideal for those who want high-quality sound in a compact, rugged package that can easily be attached to bags or bikes with its flexible strap​.

Additionally, UE has taken steps toward sustainability, with the Miniroll made from at least 40% recycled plastic​.

Available in four colours – black, blue, grey, and pin – the Miniroll is both stylish and eco-conscious, making it a great choice for tech-savvy music lovers who are always on the move.

$1Million Boost for Women’s Surfing

By Ian Rogers

Surfing Australia is thrilled to announce the receipt of a substantial $1 million in federal funding for the “New Wave of Female Boardriders” initiative. This grant, spread over the next three years, aims to make surfing more accessible to women and girls throughout the country.

With this funding, Surfing Australia will establish 50 new women’s boardrider clubs, offer free judging, coaching, and official courses for females, and host an annual women’s development camp at the Hyundai Surfing Australia High Performance Centre (HPC). Additionally, it will support various other initiatives to empower women in surfing at all levels.

The announcement was made this morning at the Hyundai HPC by local MP Justine Elliot, joined by prominent women from Australia’s surf community.

“The ‘New Wave of Female Boardriders’ is a self-sustaining program that fosters a culture of respect and gender equality, inclusion in sport and physical activity at local, state, and national levels, and a strong sense of community belonging,” Ms Elliot said.

“As your local Labor MP, I’m proud to be delivering $1 million for Surfing Australia to increase female participation in surfing.

“This federal funding is from the Albanese Government’s Play Our Way program, which is designed to remove barriers to women and girls participating in sport and physical activity. Play Our Way is all about creating greater opportunities for women and girls to have an equal chance to get the fun, satisfaction, and health benefits sport offers.”

Surfing Australia Chief of Sport – Events, Participation & Community, Luke Madden, said: “This investment is a game-changer for women’s surfing. We’re creating a pathway that will see more women involved in surfing at every level—from beginners in local boardrider clubs to female coaches on the beach. It’s all about opening doors for more women to embrace surfing and stay connected, making the sport more inclusive for everyone.”

The Play Our Way funding will also enable Surfing Australia to appoint a full-time National Women’s Participation & Club Development Officer, as well as part-time Women’s Club Development Officers in each state. Surfing Queensland, Surfing NSW, Surfing Victoria, Surfing Western Australia, Surfing South Australia, and Surfing Tasmania have all welcomed the funding, embracing the opportunity to enhance women’s involvement in the sport and create pathways for future generations of female surfers.

Performance Coach, Belen Alvarez-Kimble, who founded Australia’s first all-female surf school Salty Girls Surf School in 2008, said: “This funding will create more opportunities for women to enter the water in a safe space, learn the rules, and then transition into boardrider clubs. It will open up so many great opportunities for women to progress their surfing to the next level. We’re incredibly fortunate to have this funding to support the next generation of young women in the water and provide them with the safe space they haven’t had before.”

Hannah Jessup, co-founder of the first all-female boardriders club on the Gold Coast, Surf Witches Boardriders Club said: “We’ve seen a huge growth in women’s surfing, especially on the Gold Coast. Our memberships sell out every year, which reflects the demand for more clubs like ours. Women from all over Australia reach out to us, asking how they can start their own clubs, so I think this grant will have an incredible impact on the women’s surf community across the country.”

J​​​​​​​ade Wheatley, president of Currumbin Alley Boardriders and surf coach, said: “This funding from Surfing Australia will help more female surfers gain the confidence to join their local boardrider clubs or even pursue careers in the surf industry. As a female surf coach, I’ve had amazing support from male coaches, but now I see little girls who want to follow in my footsteps. This funding is super awesome, and I can’t wait to see how it empowers the next generation of female surfers.”

Phoebe Kane, one of Australia’s top female judges, said: “The funding for judging programs will definitely encourage more young women to get involved in judging and officiating in surfing. This will make a big difference in boosting female participation in these roles.”