This article has been updated for 2022.

Introduction

Weebly is an incredibly powerful website builder.

In many ways, it's the perfect blend of ease of use and power. It has the easiest to use drag 'n drop builder on the market, yet it also lets you go "behind the scenes" and provides full access to your website's code.

It's the only website builder out there that gives you this incredible dichotomy.

Problem is, very few Weebly users know how to truly harness the power of Weebly.

In my ten years working as a Weebly developer, I've run into so many Weebly sites that have the potential to be incredible, yet are lacking.

Most people are simply not aware of powerful features in Weebly, and as a result, these features are largely going unused.

So, I've decided to bridge this knowledge gap. Here is the ultimate seven-step tutorial on how to create an amazing Weebly website that's attractive, responsive, and high-performing.

Rule 1: Invest in a Premium Weebly Theme

Very few Weebly users know about this. One of Weebly's most powerful features is the ability to purchase and import premium high-quality Weebly themes. Not many other website builders offer this flexibility.

Let's backtrack.

The theme of your Weebly website is arguably its most important component.

It dictates the look, feel, and performance of your site. It powers the code behind the scenes while also dictating your website design.

That's why it's absolutely critical to use a high-quality Weebly theme.

Default free Weebly themes--the ones you see in the Weebly editor by default--are terrible. 

In fact, that's Weebly's biggest weakness.

Their default themes look dated and extremely generic. There really is no way to promote your brand with the generic themes.

Default themes provide very little flexibility to truly make a beautiful Weebly website. Using a default Weebly theme is a cookie-cutter approach that will make your site look like every other Weebly website.

And for those of us that know how brands work--that's never a good idea.

That's where premium third-party Weebly themes come in.

Weebly's greatest strength in my opinion is the ability to seamlessly import third-party custom premium Weebly themes.

These premium themes completely transform the Weebly experience.

Over the years, several developers have opened up online shops offering stunning beautiful premium Weebly themes that turn ordinary Weebly websites into spectacular industry leading websites.

There are several Weebly theme providers to choose from. My favorite go-to company is Luminous Themes, a company that sells beautiful multi-purpose Weebly themes. They also have excellent customer support that I can personally vouch for.

Related: My review of Luminous Themes - Creators of Premium Weebly Themes

But there are also many other excellent theme providers that I've used, including Webfire Themes and Baamboo Themes.

To help you navigate the Weebly theme market, here's a review I wrote on my top favorite theme providers where I list their benefits and drawbacks.

It's really a matter of picking the theme you most resonate with.

Here are the benefits of using a premium Weebly theme:

• MUCH better modern website design (there is no comparison) 
• Access to many design features that you cannot find in Weebly by default (such as one-pager scroll and header sliders)
• Superior website design customization options
• Pre-built sections to help you build lovely websites quicker.
• Better mobile-friendly responsive resizing (premium themes handle this automatically).

Here's my favorite third party theme as of 2021 called Oxygen which is my go-to when it comes to building sites for clients.

But like I said, many great options exist.

Definitely do shop around and pick your favorite theme because its the best investment you'll ever make.

A custom premium Weebly theme is the best investment you can make for your Weebly website.

Rule 2: Use High Quality Imagery

Imagery sells.

We're visual creatures. We're attracted to lovely beautiful pictures.

That's why it's imperative to use high-quality imagery whenever possible.

Websites using blurry low-resolution images are extremely unattractive. Especially in today's day and age with ultra high-resolution smartphones and 4K displays.

I'm about to share an incredible resource with you that has the potential to change your life.

It's a website that has been my best friend whenever building websites.

It's called Unsplash.

Unsplash is a phenomenal FREE website that gives you access to an endless collection of gorgeous, stock imagery that you can use for your Weebly website.

We're talking beautiful, professional-grade photos that are guaranteed to make any website attractive.

Best of all, it's free, stock, and royalty-free. No need to worry about copyright violations.

Rule 3: Optimize Your Website Content

High-quality images are important, but make sure you don't get too carried away.

Quality images, such as the ones in Unsplash, can be tremendously large.

We're talking 5MB or more.

Using large images and videos on your site can severely increase loading times, putting your SEO performance at risk.

So, it's imperative to compress and optimize images. I recommend each image be less than 1.5 MB in size.

But remember, it's the cumulative weight of all the images on a page that matters.

The more images per page, the smaller each image file size should be.

Unsplash.com has a great automatic resizing tool. When you click on "download image" you're given a set of dimensions.

The website also automatically compresses images without hampering quality.

For other images, I recommend using https://picresize.com to compress images online.

Rule 4: Think About Layout

Layout is also extremely important when it comes to building a good website.

Don't cram your content in one tight area. Spread all your content out through your website.

Look at websites you visit on a frequent basis and analyze them.

Take a look at how they distribute content.

Alignment is very important when it comes to building attractive pages.

If you have a series of images in a row, make sure the images have the same height and width characteristics so that they line up.

Add plenty of white space throughout your website.

Weebly has an excellent element called "Spacer" that should be your best friend. Use it frequently to space out your content.

White space in general is very important because it reduces stress for the website visitor and improves content readability.

I mentioned I like using premium themes made by Luminous.

A big reason for that is their themes come with lots of good-looking "pre-built" blocks.

These are blocks that come with professional lovely layouts out of the box, and all you need to do is add your content. So you don't even have to worry about layouts and website building is much faster.

If you don't have time to optimize layouts, that's definitely a good option to look at.

Rule 5: Consistency is Key

Some Weebly users get carried away and add too much font and color variety.

Remember, consistency is key.

Be mindful of the colors and typography styles you use.

My suggestion is this: pick three colors that align with your brand.

Then, use those three colors throughout your site.

You can use these colors in places like your buttons (if you're using a premium Weebly theme that lets you change button colors, default Weebly themes don't let you do this), headlines, and links.

Regarding font, you should really only use two variations of font.

Rule 6: Use Other Websites as an Inspiration

If you're using a premium Weebly theme, the customization opportunities are endless.

This means you can replicate the look and feel of many industry-leading websites.

Have a look at your websites in the same industry you operate in.

Take a look at what they're doing with layout management, design choices, aesthetics, etc.

See if you can incorporate the positives in your own site.

Too many Weebly users like to jump into building a site. But it's important to step back and do some preliminary planning.

Even if you don't write anything down.

Explore the internet and explore the design choices used by many top leading sites.

You'll start to notice details and arraignments that you haven't noticed before.

Always do some preliminary planning when it comes to design because it'll help you build a higher quality website.

Rule 7: Use Icons Throughout Your Site

Small visual icons are a great way to add sophistication to your Weebly website.

While it may seem like a relatively minor addition to your site, using icons with a similar aesthetic throughout your site is incredibly important because it ties your site together visually.

It'll add a level of refinement to your site and boost confidence in your brand.

A great online tool I'd recommend for finding icon sets is https://www.iconfinder.com

Final Thoughts

I've seen hundreds of Weebly sites, and the rules I included here are the culmination of all the common mistakes I've seen Weebly users make.

By following these seven rules, you can create websites of incredible caliber in Weebly.

If you're new to my site, please bookmark it and subscribe to my mailing list. I release new Weebly related content on a daily basis.

Share your thoughts, feel free to leave a comment below!

‍