When I recently checked out Craig Fitzpatrick’s new page cloud website building service on Facebook I was surprised by the simplicity of this website building software and yet made aware of how versatile this new technology is. It’s amazing how you can just click and drag and drop and make a website just like that.
The Canadian start up scene is growing in leaps and bounds, just like the Australian start up scene here and this new ground breaking website building technology is just proof of this.In its initial raising page-cloud managed to get $6-million in seed financing from Canadian and U.S. investors – including Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke to get it all started up . Page cloud was also the finalist at TechCrunch’s Disrupt conference this past spring, however they have come a long way since then.
So what is page cloud?
According to their website “PageCloud is the world’s most advanced web editor, a pro tool that brings the experience of Photoshop to the Web”.
In simple words, once you register with them, you can just log into your pagecloud website in your browser and start building your website by dragging pictures, Text etc. from your desktop or laptop onto your browser and make a website. You can also drag an existing website template and then modify it to make a new design for your website or blog.
This technology is best experienced or seen via this introductory video made by founder Craig, which is below
It’s surprising but the team at page cloud is also listening to their new customers and making changes to improve their service every day. Check out their blog to get an update on updates to their service.
Website: http://pagecloud.com/
Their Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pagecloudapp/
Their linked in page : https://www.linkedin.com/company/pagecloud
Twitter: https://twitter.com/pagecloud
[Img from pagecloud blog]
How you could benefit from this new technology ?
For People who want to be in control of their website and design it themselves or maintain it themselves this would be a good easy option. This is also an quick option for developers who don’t want to spend too much time designing new websites but want to give something good in the least possible time frame for their clients
How to get your page cloud website started?
· Purchase a membership/monthly plan with page cloud
· When you create a PageCloud site, it is automatically assigned a name and a public URL of the form: eg. name.pagecloud.com
· Log in and create your website via drag and drop and add content.
· Point your purchased domain name to the page cloud website.
If you got a domain with — > go daddy which is my recommended domain name registrar , then you can follow their detailed domain pointing guide on their website here to point it to pagecloud. Go daddy currently has a cheap 99 cent domain name deal going on , you can get it here.
How does page cloud stack up against other cloud webhosting providers?
There is no doubt about the ease of use of this service, but what about the most important factor -pricing. The monthly fee for this service is priced at $24 a month for 1 site.
I really don’t like the fact that the price still stays the same even if you take a 10 website package @$24 X10 = $240 for 10 sites. We will have to wait and see if they will offer a discount for a bigger website package deal, however their website does offer discount coupons for special deals.
Their refund policy states that they don’t offer any refunds and they will inform you in most cases if they have a problem with your account and need to terminate their services with you for any specified reason.
Drag and drop website building is not really new, with popular website creation companies like www.wix.com and www.weebly.com and www.squarespace.com who are already operating in this space, but page cloud has upped the game a bit with actually allowing you to drag n drop edit and create a website right from your browser.
These more established providers provide free trials of their service which can be a good thing to test things out. The most important bit after checking features offered is pricing and so we will compare pricing below.
Wix Comparison
Wix offers a free trial for their service and charges $4.08 a month for their most basic “connect domain plan” which displays wix ads on your website, so this in most probably not appropriate if you are serious about your website or then starting a business. Their $8.25 Combo plan for personal use is good starter plan and you get a domain free for 1 year. Check out their updated pricing + more plans and detailed features + terms of use here.
Weebly Comparison
Weebly also offers free trial of their service, you can create unlimited pages and host your site for free. For their $8 a month starter plan, you can get a nice website and get rid of their weebly ads on your website, get site stats and also a free bonus domain name for 1 year. Check here for updated pricing plans and more features here.
Squarespace Comparison
Squarespace offer s 14 day trial for their service. They have an $8 a month plan (billed annually) for their starter plan. They also have a monthly plan, but fees increase substantially if you take a monthly plan. They have a fully integrated ecommerce service and give you a domain free with your annual plan. Check here for updated pricing plans and more features.
Page cloud vs Weebly vs Wix vs Squarspace
So to sum it up there is a big price difference between other cloud hosting companies above which are cheaper and page cloud, but then there is also the uniqueness of the page cloud service which justifies a little bit of a higher price, but it remains to be seen if the $24 pricing bracket is justifiable for the unique new technology and ease of use they provide.
IMHO they possibly won’t make as much inroads into the developer market, but would possibly attract a good chunk of DIY website builders who will certainly find this service useful.
Channel
sounds like an interesting concept ..but too pricey compared to normal hosting
That is so true ..wish it was cheaper tricia..