I Built Two Small Sites With FatCow’s Website Builder — Here’s My Honest Take

I’m Kayla. I actually used FatCow’s website builder for two real things:

  • a simple site for my neighbor’s dog-walking gig
  • a one-page pop-up for my craft sale last fall

Short version? It works for simple stuff. It gets fussy when you want more.

The quick story (because who has time?)

I signed up for FatCow’s shared hosting on a rainy Sunday. The control panel showed “Website Builder,” so I clicked it and picked a clean, bright theme. I made a homepage, a services page, a gallery, and a contact page. I got the whole first site live before dinner. That felt nice. If you want the blow-by-blow of how I put those two FatCow sites together, I captured it all in this detailed post.

But later, when I tried to do a small store, things got… sticky.

Let me explain.

What I built (real examples, real hiccups)

Dog-walking site:

  • Home: big hero photo of Bailey (the dog), with a “Book a Walk” button
  • Services: three cards with prices (30, 45, 60 minutes)
  • Gallery: nine square photos; I grouped them in three columns
  • Contact: form that sent to my Gmail; also a Google Map with a radius

Craft sale page:

  • One tall page with sections: About, Dates, Photos, Buy Buttons
  • I added two PayPal “Buy Now” buttons for my coasters and keychains
  • A short FAQ at the bottom (shipping? porch pickup? returns?)

The editor used drag-and-drop blocks: text, image, gallery, map, button, form. I could split the page into columns. I changed fonts and colors across the theme, but not every little thing. When I switched themes, some spacing broke, and I had to re-tuck a few images. Not fun, but not a disaster.

Setup felt easy… mostly

  • Domain: I connected my neighbor’s .com during checkout. It was smooth.
  • SSL: I turned on the free lock (HTTPS) from the panel. It took a bit to kick in. I drank half a coffee waiting.
  • Email: I made info@mydogwalksite.com and routed the form there. The form also sent to my Gmail. Double checked spam. All good.

Publishing took about a minute. One time it hung at 99%. I opened live chat. Waited around eight minutes. The rep cleared the cache on their side. It published after that.

Design tools: good bones, but not fancy

What I liked:

  • Clean templates that don’t look cheap
  • Simple blocks that snap into place
  • A quick color picker that keeps things on-brand
  • Mobile view you can preview with one click

What bugged me:

  • Font choices were limited; I wanted just one more bold serif
  • Fine spacing was touchy; dragging sometimes jumped a few pixels
  • The blog tool felt basic; I couldn’t schedule posts
  • Menus couldn’t get very deep (one level was fine; two got weird)

I made peace with it by keeping pages short and tidy. Less fussy, fewer problems. Still, if you’re hunting for builders that handle layout shifts without the hiccups I saw, you might like my test of smooth-transition tools right here.

Speed and photos (a small but real tip)

On my phone (LTE), the dog site loaded in about three seconds after I compressed images. Before that, it felt slow. The builder didn’t shrink images enough for me. So I ran them through TinyPNG first. Big difference.

For the craft page, I used fewer photos and it felt snappy. So, yeah—light images, happy pages.

SEO bits that actually matter

I set page titles and meta descriptions inside each page’s settings. I wrote alt text for every image. There was a box for header code, so I pasted my Google Analytics tag there. That was enough for these small sites. If you want deep SEO tools, you may feel cramped. I did.

Store and payments: keep it simple, friend

The builder had a basic store block, but fees and taxes weren’t clear, and shipping rules felt thin. For the craft page, I used PayPal “Buy Now” buttons instead. Easy, and my buyers knew what to expect. If you want a full shop with carts, coupons, and fancy taxes, I’d look at a true store platform or even WordPress with WooCommerce.

On the flip side, some folks only need a single-page teaser to collect early sign-ups for their next idea. If you’re toying with something a little spicier—say, an adults-only dating platform—you can study how the FuckLocal sex-app landing page presents its value props, consent language, and no-friction call-to-action. A quick scroll can spark ideas for copy tone and opt-in design patterns you can borrow for your own one-pager.

If you’d rather analyze a city-specific approach, check out how a nightlife-focused site caters to its local audience through targeted imagery, bold promises, and straight-to-the-point CTAs at Skip the Games Moscow—you’ll see real-world copy and layout tricks that help convert visitors looking for casual connections in the Russian capital.

Support: decent humans behind the chat

I used live chat twice:

  1. Stuck publish. They nudged it. Done.
  2. Form didn’t send once. Turned out I missed a field mapping. The rep pointed me to the right toggle. I fixed it in two minutes.

Hold times were short. The reps sounded calm and clear. I like that.

For additional context beyond my own experience, you can also skim TechRadar's detailed FatCow review and browse the crowd-sourced ratings on G2 to see how other users feel before you commit.

Pricing feelings (plain talk)

My intro price felt cheap. Renewal was higher. That’s normal with hosting, but still—watch your dates. A domain came free for the first year; it renews higher. The base builder was included for me. Advanced store tools weren’t. If cost is key, set calendar reminders and keep your site simple.

Who it’s great for

  • A small service biz: pet care, lawn work, tutoring
  • A simple event page: bake sale, school show, weekend pop-up
  • A quick portfolio with 5–6 pages

Who might struggle:

  • Big shops with variants, taxes, and shipping rules
  • Bloggers who need categories, tags, and scheduled posts
  • Designers who want pixel-perfect control

Real quirks I hit

  • Theme switch moved some images and button sizes; I had to fix spacing
  • Gallery captions were either too big or too small; not much middle ground
  • On one phone, the menu icon needed two taps; later it worked fine after I republished
  • The map pin looked off-center on mobile until I set the column to full width

Tiny things, but they add up if you’re picky.

My three best tips (from actually doing it)

  • Compress photos before upload. It’s the fastest speed win.
  • Keep your site to 5–6 pages. Use clear sections and short text.
  • Copy your page text into a doc now and then. There’s no easy full export, so this acts like a backup.

Final word

I like FatCow’s website builder for small, neat sites. It’s quick, clean, and not scary. For a broader look at how today’s top site builders compare, check out this concise rundown on WebsiteBuilderAwards. When I tried to push it—deep menus, store logic, fancy blog—it pushed back. If you want simple and calm, it fits. If you want control and growth, I’d go WordPress on the same host and add the tools you need. Want to see how a different budget host’s builder stacks up? I also built a site on iPage, and here’s how it really went.

You know what? For the dog-walking site, it did the job. Bailey got more walks. The phone rang. That’s a win in my book.