Simpl  says, “The easy way to build a website.” It’s free for your website design, and free to host for two weeks (currently free for two months), and it really is the easiest website design tool I’ve ever seen. It’s only available for iPads running iOS 5.0 and up though.

Here’s how to get started with Simpl.

Download the Simpl App from the App Store in your iPad. You can also click on the App Store icon and search for “Simpl.” To get started, click the gear in the upper left hand corner, if you are not already on the Settings screen. Then add some information about your website. There is even space to add a description and keywords for SEO.

Simpl Settings Screen

Next you choose your theme. There are currently five themes each with three different color schemes. The themes are very simple, clean, and beautiful. There are options to add your social media connections, just Twitter and Facebook. These icons appear at the bottom of every page.

Simple Themes Screen

Then you click the Simpl icon in the upper left corner to add your pages. There are five page types — Home, Photos for a gallery, Contact, About which is really a quotes or mission statement page, and News which is a mini blog. Right now your website can only be five pages, and it seems only one of each type, even though the FAQ says that all your pages can be of one type. They also say you will be able to add extra pages on the next release.

Simpl Edit Screen

Here are screen shots of my Simpl website design, in case my account is not active.

The Home page can is text-only right now, but they say they will be adding image capability as a top priority. There are only four buttons for styling text — bold, italic, add a link, or remove a link.

Amethyst Home Page

The About or quotes page has large text; I use mine as a mission statement.

Amethyst Mission Statement

The photos page can have up to twelve photos; the first one appears when the page is first loaded. The photos are easy to add from your iPad Camera Roll; you can add captions too.

Amethyst Website Design Portfolio

The News or blog page looks like this for the theme I used. Again there is not an option to add images to your news items.

Amethyst News Page

And the Contact page has room for name, phone, email, and street address.

You can see other themes and websites on the Simpl Example page.

When you have your pages all ready to publish, you return to the Settings screen (the gear). Click the Publish tab and then the large green Publish button. You will be asked to create and verify your account, and then your website is published.

Once your free hosting period is over, the cost is $4.99 per month, but there is a discount for early adopters, $3.99.

Simpl is a nice option for quick website design.