Now that we are well into the golden age of digital marketing, with nearly 59% of the world population online, it is essential to have a well-made and aesthetically pleasing website to promote your brand and increase your revenue.
However, with only about 0.05% of the world population knowing how to code and design a website, developing one for your company isn’t always readily possible, especially if you run or operate a small business with limited funds.
That’s where Strinkingly comes in handy. Strikingly helps your small business easily and quickly create a website that will promote your online presence, contribute to your brand credibility, and cut down on advertising and store expenses.
About Strikingly
Strikingly is a one-stop service that provides its consumers with a more straightforward way to create and manage websites without the need to know how to code or design.
Strikingly was founded in Shanghai back in 2012, and is the first Chinese company to graduate from the Y Combinator seed accelerator. The YC is an American-based program that helps startups worldwide by mentoring and educating them.
Strikingly started as a single-page website creator that aimed at helping beginners get their website’s landing page setup within the shortest amount of time with the least amount of frustration possible. With time, it evolved and upgraded its features and functionalities, making it a one-stop service for everything a small business needs to create and maintain a successful website that will continually benefit their business.
Strikingly Top Features
Strikingly provides its clients with numerous beneficial features that ensure every website created with them will be a success. While their services come at a price, it’s important to remember that with anything, the correct utilization of that service will ensure that your ROI remains positive.
Features range from password-protected website pages for specific members to sign-up and contact forms for customer feedback. Below are the top five features that Strikingly’s services will provide you and why they are beneficial.
Simplified Domain Usage
Strikingly makes the use of domains a more straightforward process. With its free plan, you get a free Strikingly domain (strikingly.com), and with its paid plans, you can connect any domain you already own to your new website.
Additionally, for your convenience, within the settings of their website creator, you can register a unique domain within minutes. You can choose from the usual .com, .org, .net, and many others, and it’s free to use for up to a year.
Free Enhanced Security
Strikingly makes it easier to ensure that your website garners every visitor’s trust with HTTPS (hypertext transfer protocol secure) configuration. So they will immediately know that they can trust you with their PII (personal identifiable information) and computer security. Strikingly’s paid plans come with SSL (secure sockets layer) network protocol applied to your custom domains.
Valuable Analytical Insight
Strikingly makes it view who’s been visiting your website. Analytical insight is an essential feature for any business managing a website. On average, about 95% of those that visit websites leave a website without taking any action.
However, with the correct analytical data, you can develop a plan of action to improve conversion rates or invest in lead generation strategies that will enhance your overall sales and the success of your website.
Online Store Access
Strikingly makes creating and offering online shopping to your visitors and potential customers an uncomplicated process. Incorporating coupons for online orders, choosing different shipping methods, and selling digital goods make Strikingly’s simple store feature a must for businesses hoping to expand their revenue potential.
In addition, strikingly’s Pro and VIP plans include additional features for their Simple Store, such as the customizable checkout feature and store product reviews available with their Pro plan. Furthermore, their VIP plan includes the ability to sell unlimited items through your website’s store and a 0% transaction fee.
Social Media Integration
Strikingly makes connecting your social media accounts to your new website simple. The ability to showcase the three most influential social media platforms directly on your website (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) means your brand’s awareness and credibility will continue to grow.
Social media is experiencing an unprecedented meteoric rise in digital marketing, making it a key determiner in improving a business’s marketability.
Strikingly Cost
To support a multitude of consumers with varying revenue brackets, Strikingly offers its services in the form of three different paid-for plans. First, it’s essential to know that Strikingly offers a free plan with minimal features and benefits that include the absolute website basics.
Features range from those provided on their free plans, such as unlimited free websites with five pages per site and the ability to sell one item online to 100 pages per site with the ability to sell unlimited items online with their VIP plan.
In addition, Strikingly allows its clients to pay for their plans in various frequencies, from monthly up to five years in advance. Below are the three paid-tiered plans Strikingly offers, a quick cost breakdown, and a few features each plan offers.
Limited
The Limited plan includes unlimited free websites with the features included in the free plan and two websites with Limited only plan features such as 1 GB of storage and 50 GB of bandwidth per Limited site.
Limited plans are offered in monthly and annual frequencies from one year up to five years. Its monthly cost is $12, and one year will cost you $96, which breaks down to $8 per month. Of course, the more you pay in advance, the more you save.
By breaking down the cost, you can potentially save up to half off typical monthly payments with a five-year plan. With a monthly plan costing $12, you would pay essentially $6 a month with a five-year plan.
Pro
The Pro plan includes all the Limited plan features, plus three websites with Pro-only features such as upgraded website storage to 20 GB, unlimited bandwidth, the ability to sell 300 items online, up to 100 pages per site, and many more.
Its monthly cost is $20, and one year will cost you $192, which breaks down to $16 per month. As with the Limited plan, the more you pay in advance, the more you save. Like the Limited plan, you can potentially save up to half off typical monthly payments with a five-year plan. For example, a monthly plan costing $20 would cost you $11.20 a month with a five-year plan.
VIP
The VIP plan includes all the Pro plan features, plus five websites with VIP-only features such as upgraded website storage to 100 GB, the ability to sell unlimited items online, priority customer service, 0% transaction fee, and many more.
Its monthly cost is $59, and one year will cost you $588, which breaks down to $49 per month. But, of course, the more you pay in advance, the more you save. So by breaking down the cost, you can potentially save up to half off typical monthly payments with a five-year plan. So, for example, a monthly plan costing $59 would cost you $34.40 a month with a five-year plan.
Strikingly Customer Support
Operated by what they refer to as their Happiness Team, Strikingly boasts 24/7 email and live chat support for all its clients, as well as a robust and in-depth Help Center that covers a multitude of subjects and aspects of their services.
However, their VIP plan includes priority customer service with a promised response within minutes. As well as English-provided phone support during active hours and a dedicated Happiness Officer to help you whenever necessary.
Downsides to Strikingly
As with any service or product, there are always downsides; Strikingly is no different in this manner. Unfortunately, while completing this review, I discovered a rather significant downside to using Strikingly: it does not have a refund policy.
This fact is crucial to remember, especially if you’re running a small business, because you are most likely handling numerous tasks yourself, and it’s easy enough to forget to cancel or alter an ongoing service before the necessary timeframe.
Furthermore, if you pay for an annual Pro plan with Strikingly and then decide to downgrade or cancel it after six months, you will lose all the features of that plan and not be refunded the remaining months you paid. As a small business owner, you know that every cent counts.
Conclusion
Strikingly is an excellent overall website creating and maintaining service for any small business. With numerous beneficial features and a truly user-friendly website creation tool and editor, the correct utilization of Strikingly can make getting your online presence started a breeze.
Like anything, doing more in-depth research is essential before spending your hard-earned money. Ensure that you know how each of the features you are paying for works and determine what you can reasonably expect from them and their potential limitations in usage and functionality. No one likes unwanted surprises, so remain informed, and your partnership with Strikingly should be issue free.