Strikingly
Strikingly Review
Official website: strikingly.com
Version we tested: 4.1.1 (free)
Compatibility: iOS 9.0+ iPhone, iPad, iPod touch
Also available on computers and Android devices
Registration
Creating an account on Strikingly is very easy. You just need to input your email address and a password. You can also register with your Facebook or LinkedIn account.
Website initialization
Then, you just have to select a template and you are done.
Exploration
Srikingly Mobile Editor is very user friendly: Menus are easy to find and easy to understand (there are only a few options in each menu). On the free version, the website has only a single page, organized in editable sections. The items you can add in a section are composed of a picture, a large font text field (for title), and a normal font text area.
Building a complete website
If you want to build your website only from your iPhone, here are the kinds of sections available: Info Boxes, Button, Title, Hero, Contact Form, Content in Rows, Plain Text, Big Media,Contact, Content in Columns, Gallery, Sign-Up Form.
While this list looks impressive, Strikingly mobile app is likely to fall short of your needs, because:
• Inserting hypertext links is not supported.
• Inserting videos is not supported.
• Inserting dynamic maps (like Google Maps) is not supported.
• Using your own domain name is not supported, etc.
... as of November 2018
we are about to test all this app again for the 2020 edition, and it seems already that Strikingly will be part of the top 5.
Evaluation
Ease of use
★★★★★
Strikingly app has a modern style (flat design). While the app is loading, some helpful tips are displayed on screen to explicit the meaning of the icon buttons. Menus have a limited number of options so that they are very easy to use and remember.
Features
★★☆☆☆
As explained above, Strikingly iPhone app suffers from a serious lack of important features.
On the other hand, traffic statistics are surprisingly comprehensive:
- Line chart showing the number of visits
- Traffic sources (e.g. direct traffic, social media platforms, or from other sites)
- Geographical origin of traffic
- Kinds of devices
Clarity
★★★★☆
When you use Strikingly app, you are really on your website all the time, as there is very little distraction. So you can focus on your text and pictures and move forward effectively.
The Sections menu helps you organise your page into meaningful chunks of contents, and then change the order of these chunks if necessary.
Strikingly Help Center provides many useful tips and advice. Starter videos get right to the point, but only talk about the computer version of the website builder. For serious issues, you can even email Strikingly Happiness Team!
Design
★★★★☆
Strikingly app makes good websites which looks good on phones, tablets and computers.
The editor, the in-app preview and the published website all render the same layout/template very faithfully, so that you do not really need to publish just to check that what you have edited looks OK on the final website. On the computer version, the menu appears on the left-hand side and looks great.
Lightness
★★★★★
Strikingly websites load fast. Title and description tags for Search Engine Optimization and social networks can be adjusted.
Chance to complete
★★☆☆☆
If you only have an iPhone, you will most probably need a feature for your website that is not available in this otherwise promising app.
