Believe it or not, there was once a time when building a website required the expertise of an IT guy. Anyone else would have never attempted to even try doing it – unless it was as a hobby or they didn’t expect too much of an outcome from all the work.

HTML coding meant anyone tackling the task needed to know what every line of code meant. It was tiring, frustrating and discouraging.

Things started to become easier with the advent of website building tools that took away the need for coding knowledge and allowed sites to be built with drag-and-drop technology. Now anyone with the interest could build a decent website and have it up and running within a matter of minutes. Of course, some coding is still required to customize the sites – but it was a huge improvement from having to write it all.

Today, we have many website building tools that would allow any novice to create a website that would look and perform like it was made by an expert. What’s more, unless very unique functions are required, any business can have a fully-functional and complex websites without writing a single line of code.

Below are 4 of the most popular website building tools in use today and what they have to offer (in no particular order):

1. Google Sites

Like everything Google Inc. offers, Google Sites is a quality product. It’s also free. Anyone can create an account, log in and have a website up in a matter of minutes. The only drawback with using it is that it can be a little confusing for novices. But once mastered, the tool creates quality-class websites that would make any business proud.

For the more daring, Google Sites even allows access to the sites’ code for further modification or customization. Having a site hosted with Google also means there is a high guarantee of zero downtime and the best website security there is.

2. Wix

Another highly popular and free (with advertisement) tool, Wix also makes it easy for novices to create amazing websites that are easy to manage and are very flexible. Its drag-and-drop designer makes it child’s play to build the preliminary (and fully functional) website which can then be further enhanced by going into the code through its HTML5 editor.

Wix comes with an amazing array of templates that can be used on websites of any kind of business. Designers can also add critical website apps like social media, forums and even live chat along with a Shopify e-store and multiple SEO and marketing tools.

It is no wonder then that Wix is one of the most widely used tools out there. Those willing to pay the small subscription fee get the ads removed with a free domain name thrown in to sweeten the deal.

3. Onepager

Onepager, like its name suggests, is a website building tool that allows businesses to create a site that has all the necessary information and content displayed on a single page.

This is an ideal tool for businesses that don’t have that much information to share with the world or those that have already established themselves as brands in their fields and don’t need to “brag”. They basically have all their content show up in one page – which is divided into sections like information, gallery and social media links – and can be easily updated by dragging and dropping content into them.

All sites created using Onepager are mobile device compatible and are search engine optimized. All-in-all, it is well worth the small subscription fee.

4. Squarespace

Businesses that are looking for the best website designing tool money can buy should probably look into investing in Squarespace. Apart from the abundance in features and ease of use, the tool feels and looks like a weapon that is being wielded by an expert – even in the hands of a novice.

Any business, be they in the retail, catering, technology or in any other field, will find a template that fits their profile. Once the basic selections have been created it all comes down to dragging in features as required and customizing the interfaces’ colors, fonts and layouts.

Adding an online store is a breeze with Squarespace and businesses can start selling their goods as well as accept payments from sales within a matter of minutes.

Once a business subscribes to use Squarespace, they get access to features like social media integration, the ability to gather information on users’ habits, one of the best blogging platforms and even visitor traffic analytics.

A separate mobile website makes it an ideal choice for businesses looking for maximum market reach – and it’s not just the website itself but the management tool as well that can be accessed via Mac OS or Android devices.

A good indication that this is the tool that will be around for quite some time is that it includes a scalable Cloud hosting feature.

These 4 web design tools are among the most popular and widely used ones on the market today. Millions of users can’t be wrong, because that is the combined number of people who use them on a daily basis.