GoHighLevel’s website builder has improved greatly over the years and is now considered a decent tool.
I’ve been using it for a while, and although I can confidently recommend it to the average user, those looking to specialize in website building may find its features too limited.
Key Takeaways:
- Over 1,000 website templates are available (and they look great!)
- The page editor is easy to use and beginner-friendly
- It lacks advanced customization and comprehensive e-commerce tools
Is the GoHighLevel Website Builder Worth Using?
Yes! GoHighLevel’s website builder is decent and worth your time. If you’d asked me that a year or two ago, I’d have said otherwise, but the platform’s developers have worked hard to transform it into a pretty solid tool.
The building tool is ideal for most types of standard business websites, it’s easy to use, and best of all, it comes with all the other goodies that GoHighLevel has on its platform.
However, if you want to focus purely on creating all-singing, all-dancing, totally customized websites, this probably isn’t the tool for you.
6 Reasons Why I Now Recommend the GoHighLevel Website Builder
Upgraded Website Templates
I’ll be honest. When GoHighLevel first introduced website templates, they were terrible. Most of them looked like they were from the early 2000s and were riddled with errors and problems.
Since then, GoHighLevel has made a serious effort to overhaul the template library, and I can now confidently say they are more than up to standard. Moreover, they look modern and professional.
Plus, there are loads of choices. With practically every business niche covered, you are bound to find something you like.
eCommerce Tools Introduced
This is an exciting one! I’ve long lamented that one of the drawbacks of using GoHighLevel was its lack of features for selling physical products.
However, the developers have been on the case and have finally introduced e-commerce tools and web pages.
Now, don’t get too carried away. This isn’t Shopify, and those who are used to a dedicated e-commerce platform will still find the new tools very limited. For example, there are no fulfillment or inventory management features.
But, it’s a start. The new product list, product details, and shopping cart pages look great. And knowing GoHighLevel, their team won’t stop there. We can likely look forward to more e-commerce features being introduced later down the line.
Good Choice of Page Elements
No one has time for boring anymore, so jazzing up a web page is crucial for getting people to linger on it for more than a few seconds.
I’m impressed by the number of elements provided in the GoHighLevel website builder.
You get all the usual stuff—videos, featured images, embedded calendars, forms and surveys, etc. However, quite a few other useful elements are included, too. For example, it has countdown timers, FAQs, and review sections.
The ability to embed a Google map is especially useful for local businesses.
You won’t find any fancy page animations here, but you can add custom code. So, it’s possible to include this type of stuff if you know your way around coding.
User-Friendly Page Editor
I’m definitely not a techy person. If you start talking about code, my eyes glaze over and I start thinking about what’s for dinner. Fortunately, GoHighLevel has created its website builder with non-techies in mind.
The drag-and-drop editor is so easy to use. All you do is choose your elements from the left-hand menu and drag them onto the page.
To edit each page element, click on the one you want, and a right-hand menu opens up with all the available editing options.
Then, you have a bunch of options along the top where, among other things, you can change the font and color settings, add cookie consent and popups, and input the SEO metadata.
It honestly doesn’t take long to master, especially if you use a template rather than starting from scratch.
Create Seamless Automation
Many website builders feature automation, but it is often limited unless you integrate other apps such as an email marketing or bookings management tool.
Since you already have all that stuff on the GoHighLevel platform (it is “all-in-one,” after all), you can create seamless automation sequences without going between different platforms.
Use with GoHighLevel Products and Services
Continuing with the all-in-one theme, you can use GoHighLevel’s websites to sell all the products and services you also created on the platform. Again, it saves you the hassle of connecting multiple platforms.
Want a website to sell all your courses? No worries! Want a website for your CRM and booking agency business? You got it! Need a website for your GoHighLevel SaaS product? You get the picture!
Oh, and since you can create unlimited quantities of most things in GoHighLevel, you don’t face any restrictions on how many things you set up and sell or how many accompanying websites you create.
3 Ways the GoHighLevel Website Builder Could Improve
Can Be Slow and Buggy
It has gotten much better over the years, but GoHighLevel does occasionally bug out.
I notice this most when I load new templates. Once the system is done loading, sometimes it presents me with a blank space. Or, sometimes, it simply doesn’t move off the loading screen.
In most cases, either refreshing the page or closing and reopening GoHighLevel sorts the issue.
Although the system has never lost my work (thank goodness), these bugs can be inconvenient.
Advanced Customization Requires CSS Knowledge
For most of us, the customization options in the website builder are enough to create an engaging website. However, advanced users will find them too restrictive.
If you want a completely unique website, you’ll need to know how to use CSS coding along with HTML and Javascript—or be prepared to pay someone who knows.
Additionally, unlike WordPress or Shopify, no plugins are available, so this can also create limitations for what you want to do.
Lacks a Staging Environment
If you have ever “broken” a website, you’ll know how painful it is to get it back to its full working order.
I’ve done this before on a WordPress site after installing a dodgy plugin. However, the difference was that I was using a staging environment, so my live site was unaffected (phew!).
Sadly, you don’t get that luxury on GoHighLevel, and there is no feature for trying out website changes before applying them to the live site.
There is the option to clone a website, so you could do that and try out the changes on a clone. But, there is no way to transfer your work to the live site.
Is the GoHighLevel Website Builder Better than Rival Platforms?
Here’s the thing. If all you want to do is create websites for clients and nothing more, you are much better off picking a standalone platform for that purpose.
Sites like WordPress and Square have more specialized tools, advanced customization, plugins, etc., that give you the full flexibility to create truly unique websites. They also make it much easier to fully tailor the site to the client’s needs.
Additionally, if you want to build e-commerce websites, you will need Shopify or a similar e-commerce building platform because GoHighLevel isn’t “there” yet.
That said, GoHighLevel is SO much more than a website builder.
If you aim to develop a business that incorporates GoHighLevel’s other marketing and CRM features (along with website building), you will be hard-pushed to find anything that compares—especially at such an affordable price.
How to Create a Website in GoHighLevel (Quick Guide)
Step 1: To find the website builder, head into one of your sub-accounts and click “Sites.” Pick “Websites” from the top menu, and click “New Website.”
Step 2: If you’re feeling brave, you can start your website from scratch (a blank page). Otherwise, you can browse and use one of the templates.
For this guide, we’re going to use a template.
Step 3: Click on your chosen template to select it and click on “Continue.” The template will now load into the system.
Step 4: You will now see the template’s individual pages. Click on each page’s “Edit” button to customize it.
Step 5: Now, the editing screen will open up. I’ve already briefly covered this, but I’ll go into more detail.
Clicking the “+” sign in the top-left corner opens the left-hand menu. Here, you’ll find the following options:
- Sections: Add these to create more space on the web page
- Rows: These are inserted into sections and divide the space into columns
- Elements: All the on-page features (text, images, videos, etc.)
- Global sections: Add FAQs, footers, etc., to ALL pages (not just the one you are editing)
- Section templates: Sometimes there are prebuilt sections available (depends which type of web page you are editing)
- Store: Add e-commerce elements like product lists
You can add all of these things to your page by dragging and dropping them.
Step 6: Next, you have all the options at the top of the editing screen. Here’s what they all mean:
- Layers: View a list of all your page sections
- Pages: Switch between your website pages
- Tracking code: Add header and footer tracking here
- Custom CSS: Add page customization code here
- Typography: Pick the fonts for your page
- Background: Choose an image or color for the page
- Popup settings: Add and configure a popup here
- SEO metadata: Input your SEO here
- Preview custom codes
- Cookie consent: Add a cookie banner for GDPR compliance
- Change the way the editing menus appear
- Another way to switch between your website pages
- Switch between desktop and mobile view
Step 7: Hovering your mouse over the web page highlights a box around all the different sections, columns, and elements.
You’ll notice the garbage can symbol in the top-right of the highlighted box. Clicking this deletes the element. Next to the garbage can is the option to copy the element or drag and drop it into another spot.
Clicking on an element opens up the editing menu for it.
Step 8: The editing options for each page element differ depending on the element. However, the options generally involve color, font, sizing, padding, etc.
Go through each of your on-page elements to explore the options and make edits as necessary.
Step 9: If you make a mistake, you can click the undo arrow at the screen’s top-right. You can also click the clock symbol to restore the page to a previously saved version.
When you’re done editing, click the eye symbol to preview what it will look like in a live setting. Then, hit “Save.”
If you’re ready for your site to go live, hit “Publish.”
Step 10: If you haven’t yet added a domain for your website, you will be prompted to do so once you click “Publish.”
Rinse and repeat this process for the other pages on your site!
As I said, this is a quick overview, and the quickest way to learn is to try it out for yourself. It won’t take long to master.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Many Websites Can I Build in GoHighLevel?
GoHighLevel lets you build unlimited websites no matter which plan you are subscribed to. However, you will be required to purchase a domain name for each site you want to publish.
