What is Instant Site

Instant Site is a code-free website builder, enabling you to create a professional website whether you're an experienced business owner or a first-time entrepreneur.

Instant Site includes professionally designed layouts and content, and an array of user-friendly tools and features for creating your online presence. Whether you need a landing page about your brand, a straight-forward online catalog for B2B partnerships, a professional e-commerce website with an online store, or any other business objective — Instant Site caters to your needs.

In this guide, you will find an overview of key Instant Site features and benefits. 

Ways to use Instant Site

Instant Site is versatile when it comes to building a website. Here are some ideas on what you can create with the site builder:

• Online catalog. Your Instant site can be your online catalog where your products are displayed but not offered for purchase. All you have to do is disable checkout and then share the link to your store with customers.
• Landing page. You can create a standalone page to advertise an event, collect new customers, or make an announcement. In addition to that, you can showcase one or just a few products from your catalog.
• Branded website without e-commerce. If you are still working on your store setup, running a seasonal business, or simply don’t need e-commerce on your website, you can hide the store section from your website. That way, you’ll get a plain site, your brand is exposed, and the site is getting indexed. You can always add an online store in just a few clicks.
• Site with an online store. An online store is added to your site by default. Feel free to use it as your online selling channel.

Available to all Ecwid users

Instant Site is included in any Ecwid plan and in Lightspeed POS Standard, Advanced, and Enterprise plans. It essentially means a free site, free hosting for it, and its full maintenance by Ecwid.

While the Instant Site editor itself is free, some features may require updating your plan. Based on your Ecwid account plan, Instant Site benefits include:

Appealing customizable templates

To help you create a beautiful and professional website, Instant Site provides you with an extensive collection of ready-made, free templates organized by business niches. Crafted by professional designers, each template ensures a visually appealing structure, style, and typography. All you have to do is personalize the site content to express your brand style and tell your story.

Customizable content sections

Instant Site offers dedicated sections tailored to various goals. For example, you can add a section with sliders to showcase your bestsellers, section with video to better introduce your brand, customer reviews to provide social proof, and so on. You can add sections to your site and then edit its content. 

Whether your focus is storytelling or marketing, you will find the right section for it in the comprehensive Instant Site sections library. 

Built-in online store

Each template you choose to build your site contains an e-commerce section. The section contains your featured products, and you can choose what products to show in your online storefront.

By default, the store section appears on the homepage, but you can show it on any other page of your website or even hide it so that you have a site without an online store.

SEO-friendly

Instant Site is naturally indexed by Google and other search engines, ensuring that customers can discover your website while searching online. 

Instant Site also provides you with ways to further optimize your site for search engines.

Simple domain selection

You get a free Ecwid domain for your site in the form of mysite123.company.site, where you can change the “mysite123” part. For example, you can name your site torontobikes.company.site. It's a great way to kickstart your online presence.

To personalize your web address to reflect your brand, you can assign a custom domain. A custom domain gives your website a professional touch and helps you stand out.

Multilingual website

Instant Site allows you to create a multilingual site by translating its sections to one or several languages. Once you add and publish translations, your site will get a language switcher and visitors will be able to select in which language to browse your site. That way, you don’t need to purchase an additional domain for a second language, or connect a subdomain.

A multilingual website makes it easy for you to start selling to foreign markets, or just run business in a multilingual country.

Full mobile experience

As more and more people browse and shop through their mobiles, it's crucial to have a website that looks amazing on any device. Instant Site has responsive design and works equally well across mobiles, tablets, and widescreens.

You also have an option to choose how specific site sections should look on small screens.

Access to dozens of apps

While Instant Site provides you with all the tools for building your website, you may want to add a little extra functionality to it. For example, if you want to show subcategories in the site header, or add a popup with specific content. In that case, explore the Ecwid App Market where you'll find apps to enhance your site and perform specific tasks. 

Support whenever you need it

Don't worry if you run into questions or issues along the way. There’s an extensive Help Center that has a dedicated Instant Site section to help you build your website. And you can always ask the Ecwid support team to provide help with specific tasks.