IM Creator (XPRS) Review

IM Creator is one of the most appropriate platforms when it comes to building beautifully designed websites without coding knowledge. The solution doesn’t limit professionals needing robust websites for enterprise-level companies, yet it is not geared towards beginners.

IM Creator empowers managers to add content responsive across different devices, like smartphones, laptops, tablets, wearables, etc. Furthermore, teams can use the suggested templates to boost website traffic, engagement, and conversions thanks to artfully schemed templates catered to various niches and pretty good SEO tools.

However, they say IM Creator is a good website builder choice, yet it’s not for anyone. In this review, I will show you if you can be the one to benefit greatly from this content management system or not.

IM Creator Quick Summary

Founded by a former Wix specialist, IM Creator has registered major moves and kept firming its place in the website builders industry since its inception. Although it doesn’t yet have the fame of Wix and other site-building services, IM Creator still is a decent contender.

IM Creator is currently one of the most cost-effective website builders since it provides a full set of features at pretty competitive prices compared to other, more popular options. It includes eCommerce functionality with all plans, unlimited bandwidth, even in the free plan, and a useful IM XPRS mobile app for even more convenient website modification.

Mostly, IM Creator benefits involve its array of aesthetically pleasing templates and design elements with an incredible spectrum of customization options, the ability to change the site appearance through the desktop editor, and the presence of a free plan (available only for artists, students, and non-profit organizations with a provision of formal proof).

Since IM Creator introduces all design elements aligning to one specific theme, it’s great for not-so-creative users who still need to keep their branding consistent. On the other hand, however, this solution will most probably appear complicated for someone just starting out on their website-building journey.

IM Creator Price

Money is always a big deal when it comes to choosing a website builder. After all, one should know how much the selected service will set them back. And with IM Creator, you have three pricing options to choose from. These are the Free plan, Premium plan, and Unlimited Licenses & Whitelabel.

The lifetime Free plan is dedicated exceptionally to students, non-profit organizations, and artists. And to claim you are one of such, you must provide proof and state why you need a website. The Free plan offers unlimited hosting and a package of eCommerce tools, allows access to all IM Creator themes and to connect your domain, and is completely ad-free.

The Premium Plan is more catered for businesses. Whatever is included in the Free plan is provided here, too. You get unlimited bandwidth, do not have to worry about your large site’s slow loading speeds, and connect your own domain to set up your brand identity. Your website will be free from any IM Creator ads, which will only enhance the professional feel of the website. Compared to other companies, IM Creator’s Premium plan is definitely richer packed and more affordable at only $8/mo price.

And finally, the Unlimited Licenses & Whitelabel plan, the most powerful and expensive at the same time, is a perfect choice for web designers, resellers, hosting companies, white labels, etc. If a web design agency needs to create a powerful website for a client quickly, this IM Creator plan fits better. It provides unlimited licenses (you can create as many client sites as needed). At $350 per year, you get all the power IM Creator has.

Building a Website on IM Creator

When creating a website on IM Creator, everything goes smoothly at first (well, from an inexperienced non-tech person’s point of view). You sign up with your email and are instantly suggested to set up a site. You start with choosing a theme, the look and feel of which I will address later.

Once a theme is selected, you will get a brief overview of how to customize the theme. IM Creator bot assistant will send you five pop-up windows with short guides on the main functions and corresponding buttons. Here, all the fun ends, and the adult game starts.

Your website will be created page by page. You name every separate page (even add them as links to your main page menu), can apply your own website style or use the original one, add a slideshow, replace the images, etc. IM Creator actually lacks intuitiveness due to the absence of a drag-and-drop editor. You have to feel around in the dark to try and spot what you need to change or add.

IM Creator Interface

IM Creator features an utmost clear interface, yet it is not comprehensible. If you are on the platform for the first time, you will find it hard to determine what tools are available. This irony stems from a couple of rather big issues.

For instance, if you are used to traditional widget dashboards to add elements from, forget about them here. With IM Creator, you should either be guided by someone who has experience with this platform, or work blindly, choosing an existing element to modify.

Furthermore, unlike Wix, Squarespace, and other site-building platforms, IM Creator features no intuitive drag-and-drop editor. This drastically restricts the site customization process, as you can’t do much with a pre-configured layout. For example, if you want to change the background image of the header, you must spot it and update the existing one.

The user’s dashboard gives several functions only, including the Save option, SEO/Analytics, Head Code, Help button, Editor language (IM Creator enables building multilingual websites), Backups, which are available only with Premium plans, and a function to add IM chat.

IM Creator Templates

Here, at IM Creator, templates are referred to as themes. The suggested options look professional and modern. It’s easy to find the perfect template as the entire selection is categorized into sections by industries on the left-hand side to filter the choice. Some available ones are eCommerce & Retail, Music & Video, Business, Services, Lodging, Reseller, etc.

They are all mobile responsive and available in a preview mode before you pick one as the final. Every IM Creator template is pre-populated with sample content so users can customize it to their liking. Just remember that once you have chosen a template, created a site, and published it, changing the theme won’t be an option anymore. Still, if you do, you must re-insert all the content manually.

IM Creator Website Design

All IM Creator themes use blocks or otherwise referred to as “stripes,” for almost any function a user may need, from store layouts to galleries, contact forms, and others. And what makes it remarkable is that every stripe can be edited in multiple ways. By clicking on an item to be modified, you open the available options, including replacing and changing it.

As I’ve already mentioned, IM Creator allows building a website page by page. From the top left-hand corner, you can change the page you are working on, and add and manage new ones, depending on the chosen template and its industry.

IM Creator allows adding new sections regardless of the theme you are working on. Click on the + button in the bottom right-hand corner to add a section, a page, or a popup and edit the menu. Meanwhile, to add features to a particular section, hold your cursor on it and click the + symbol. This way, you can alter titles, videos, images, etc. IM Creator delivers a robust multimedia functionality to let you add videos, high-resolution images, etc.

Every time you add a new feature, IM Creator gives multiple options to choose from, thus increasing your design freedom. And when you find your website looks its best, the saving, previewing, and publishing buttons are on the top of the editor.

As you see, the IM Creator editor isn’t the simplest around. You don’t drag and drop elements from a menu anywhere on the page. Furthermore, while you can move items around in blocks, the editor doesn’t allow custom-arranging them on the webpage. This limits the IM Creator editor slightly but, conversely, doesn’t let a user “ruin” the brand’s designs.

Nevertheless, if you feel slightly adventurous and the suggested themes don’t satisfy your aesthetic requirements, there’s always a chance to create a design from scratch. With no web design experience, you had better stick to the offered templates. However, IM Creator doesn’t give such an option to access the CSS or HTML codes for more advanced site customization (even if you do it from scratch). Indeed, this is a bit frustrating for a keen coder.

IM Creator Online Store

IM Creator suggests an intuitive eCommerce module designed for vendors. It allows building an online store with limited eCommerce functionality without upgrading the subscription. Even the Free plan gives access to checkout services, store analytics, and orders.

The suggested eCommerce tools aren’t many. In fact, the only advantage IM Creator has over several other website builders in terms of online store building is the unlimited bandwidth and storage on all pricing plans. Besides this, the solution can boast only its checkout services and store analytics.

As you see, IM Creator is far from being a perfect solution for online merchants, and you’d better be off if you intend to set up a virtual store.

IM Creator SEO

IM Creator comes with pretty robust SEO tools out of the box. They help a user increase the site’s traffic, engagement, and conversions. Their suite structure and structured HTML ensure quick loading of any website. Moreover, IM Creator’s sites become optimized for Google crawlers to ensure higher ranks of Google searches.

With IM Creator, you can customize the title, add keywords and descriptions, upload a favicon or a social image preview, and add Google Analytics Id, Facebook Pixel Id, and IMOS Property Id.

As you can see, despite being free, the IM Creator site builder is stuffed with SEO greatness. But if you still wish your site to be hidden from search engines, you can no-index it temporarily. This will give you time to make sure the site looks amazing when published before becoming visible to all search engines and your potential visitors.

Publishing a Website on IM Creator

Publishing a website on IM Creator is a pretty simple process, especially after you have invested much effort into building and customizing the site.

So, hover to the top right corner and hit Publish if you are sure you have completed it all. Name the site and decide if you will buy a new domain, connect an existing one, or update a temporary URL. The next step presumes to pick up a license and proceed with the payment, after which you will connect your domain and publish the website.

IM Creator will offer you three license plans – Basic, priced at $8/mo, Pro, priced at $14/mo, and Business, priced at $20/mo. The solution allows paying with all major credit cards, including Visa, AMEX, MasterCard, and Maestro. All license plans come with a 14-day money-back guarantee, provided you choose the annual subscription.

IM Creator Technical Support

The presence of a reliable customer support service is crucial, no matter how powerful the website builder is. Backed with good assistance, you can always keep your site good in people’s eyes and avoid website downtime.

However, I can’t praise IM Creator for its support service since it’s rather basic. The round-the-clock support becomes available only for Premium plan owners, while the Free plan users get a ticketing system. After submitting a support ticket with your problem or query, expect an answer within 12 hours.

The content management system also features an extended knowledge base with downloadable PDF guides, an FAQ section, and how-to articles.

As for support over the phone, there is no such service, even for the paid plan owners. Meanwhile, the Live Chat support system doesn’t answer instantly. They typically reply in a few hours.

IM Creator Review: Verdict

After reviewing and analyzing all the key areas for building a site with IM Creator, we can conclude it’s not for beginners. It provides no visual cues or hints on how to build the site and make the most of its customization, the editor lacks intuitiveness, and the support team isn’t easy to contact if you need it urgently.

On the other hand, IM Creator provides professionally designed templates, an entire pack of SEO tools right out of the box, and a free plan for artists, students, or non-profits. It allows users to create literally anything, from a single-page site to a 1000-pager one. Your growth won’t be limited, whether it’s an ordinary landing page or the largest news site. However, this is true if your plans don’t include an eCommerce platform establishment.