Creating a website is one of the most important steps a person can take in elevating their business to the next level. After all, the internet is centralized, making it the easiest way to reach people all over the world. Of all the website-building programs out there, Adobe website builder is a popular choice.
Adobe’s website creation and hosting software is Adobe Creative Cloud. With this program, you have access to a variety of helpful tools for designing your ideal website. These tools range from simple programs to elaborate coding software to help further customize your website. But how do you actually use this program?
In this article, we’ll go over what Create Cloud is and highlight some of the most prominent features in the program. We’ll also briefly compare several different website building and hosting software to Adobe.
What is the Adobe Web Design Program?
The web design program available through Adobe is the Creative Cloud and Creative Cloud Express. Adobe also has programs called Adobe XD and Dreamweaver that are used to create and design unique website layouts. Although you don’t necessarily need all of these programs to create a cohesive website, each program comes with helpful features to ensure satisfaction and success.
Adobe Creative Cloud
Having access to Adobe Creative Cloud means you can use Adobe’s best creative apps and services to create a top-notch website. The Creative Cloud hosts more than 20 different apps ranging from Adobe Photoshop to InDesign. When you subscribe to Creative Cloud, you also gain access to a plethora of font choices, photos, audio, video, and more media types.
Along with that, the creative cloud also helps you collaborate with others on special projects. When you use Creative Cloud, you have the ability to share a Creative Cloud library with anyone you want. This way, once you finish your part of a project, you can send it over to the next person to complete theirs.
The Creative Cloud allows you to build up to five different websites per account and you also have access to Adobe Live. Adobe Live is a platform where other creative types can teach their peers how to do something effectively.
Adobe Creative Cloud is free to use for seven days and has a monthly or yearly fee to maintain your membership with the service. Here is a quick overview of the apps and services available to you when you start an Adobe Creative Cloud membership:
- Acrobat DC: For viewing and editing PDF files
- Photoshop: For editing photos and creating images or graphics on a desktop
- Premiere Pro: For industry-standard video editing
- Illustrator: For creating vector art and illustrations
- InDesign: For designing and publishing print and digital layouts
- Adobe XD: For web design
- Lightroom: For organizing and editing photos
- Animate: For creating high-quality vector images for cartoons, games, and more
- Dreamweaver: For web design
- After Effects: For creating industry-standard motion graphics
- Dimension: For working with 2D and 3D designs
- Audition: For creating, mixing, and working with audio content
- InCopy: For web content editing and modification
- Media Encoder: For encoding video files to play on a variety of devices
- Character Animator: For using your voice to create an animated character
- Prelude: For tagging and transcoding raw video footage
- Bridge: For organizing and editing creative assets
- Stock: For access to Adobe stock photos
Creative Cloud Express
Adobe Creative Cloud Express is basically a miniature version of the full Creative Cloud. With this express version, you can create engaging social media content, company logos, and access to Adobe Stock and Adobe-specific fonts.
Unlike the full Adobe Creative Cloud, the Express version is free to use. With that said, you’re more restricted with what you have access to unless you opt for a full membership to the creative cloud.
Adobe XD vs. Dreamweaver
Adobe XD and Dreamweaver both work hand-in-hand when creating a live website. Although they’re both web design programs, they have one major difference separating them from eachother.
While Adobe XD is a design tool, Dreamweaver is an authoring tool. What this means is that while you can design a whole website on Adobe XD, you can’t actually make it go live. However, you can take the design you made on Adobe XD and recode everything into Dreamweaver. Once the finished code is in Dreamweaver, you can officially launch the website for everyone to see.
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How to Create and Host Your Website With Adobe
There are a few different ways you can create and host a website through Adobe. Depending on the Adobe program you choose to use, the steps will vary. Although it does cost you a membership fee to use Adobe Creative Cloud and the apps that come with it, you can get around that by using Adobe Creative Cloud Express instead.
With that in mind, it’s important to note that Creative Cloud Express is really only beneficial if you don’t need a full traditional website for your business. If you only need a few landing pages, these steps would be best for you:
- Create your account. An account with Creative Cloud Express is free. You should also download the express app so you can make changes wherever and whenever you need to.
- Choose a theme. Choose fonts and styles that fully fit your aesthetic. This way, you can find the graphics and fonts you like the most much easier than if you didn’t. You can change the theme at any time by going into your user settings.
- Choose the photos you want to use. Upload any photos you want to use within the website/app. These may be images you took yourself or any of the stock images available through Adobe.
- Add more to your page. At this time, you’ll be able to also add additional images and videos, text, or buttons to customize the page.
- Share your creation. Once you finish, you can click “share” and receive a unique link to share with your friends and family.
To create a more complex and in-depth website, you’ll need to initiate a membership with the full Adobe Creative Cloud. After that, you’ll be able to access all of Adobe’s tools to help you make a fully customized website.
The Best Program for Website Building
There are plenty of free web hosts out there that offer you their services for free. However, they aren’t all created equal and some web designers/hosts are better than others. While we focused on Adobe, in particular, in this post, we do think it’s worth briefly talking about some of the other options available to you.
Website Building Programs
Website building and hosting programs like Adobe, Wix, and WordPress are all viable options for creating a web presence. With that said, the host you choose to go with largely depends on what you need your website for. Do you need something incredibly simple or more complex? What about the option to offer products for sale?
Let’s briefly go over these programs and discuss the pros and cons of each.
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Adobe Website Builder
As mentioned above, Adobe has a variety of apps and services that can help make an incredibly detailed and unique web page for your business. Beyond that, they also offer a simpler version of their Creative Cloud at no cost to you. This way, you can still take advantage of their web-building programs without worrying about paying monthly fees.
Pros
- Creative Cloud offers a variety of tools and services to help you.
- There’s a free “mini” version of the program.
- You can use a Creative Cloud membership for other projects too.
- Opting for a Creative Cloud membership can actually cut down on costs.
- You can share project responsibilities among an entire team or group.
Cons
- The free version is very limited.
- The monthly/yearly cost may be too pricey for many potential users.
Wix
Wix is another web creation and hosting company that offers free web hosting and creation. The process for creating a site through Wix is relatively simple and you can choose from pre-designed layouts or go completely DIY and start from scratch.
Pros
- The platform is free to use.
- Wix has a freelance/agency marketplace where you can hire people to help with your website.
- They use a built-in “SEO Wiz” to help make your content easily searchable.
- They will create a custom business email for you.
- Wix sites are automatically mobile-friendly.
Cons
- Websites are very general and not very customizable.
- Mobile optimization isn’t always accurate.
WordPress
WordPress is one of the most common platforms used to host websites for bloggers and other online entities. While there are free options available, WordPress also has a variety of membership levels you can subscribe to. With a paid plan, you gain access to SEO features, educational opportunities, and the ability to have a fully unique domain.
Pros
- The website is very user-friendly.
- There are thousands of plug-ins to help customize your site.
- WordPress uses detailed SEO checklists to optimize your content.
- It’s easy to navigate.
- There are plenty of themes to choose from, or you can design your own website layout.
Cons
- The platform often needs to be updated.
- As an open-source platform, it’s more vulnerable to hackers and viruses.
Final Thoughts
Regardless of what you need a website domain for, it’s apparent that Adobe Creative Cloud gives you the complete creative freedom to fully customize your website to your liking. However, if you aren’t familiar with coding and you need a little extra help, using a different web hosting platform can make the creation process easier.
Have you used Adobe software before? How did you like it? We’d love to know!
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