Before we start looking for a besty website builder, let’s determine why we need one at all. So, more than 90% of B2C clients make their purchasing decisions after looking up different businesses on the Internet and examining customer reviews. Only that figure proves that having an informative, user-friendly website is every entrepreneur’s must-have.
A professionally-built website that speaks to the user and provides an exhaustive description of services you provide will boost your credibility and expose you to potential clients. If your website looks obviously outdated or doesn’t exist at all, you lose a chance to gain customers online. Actually, you voluntarily give them up to your competitors and miss out on increasing your revenue.
Despite the importance of having a corporate website and constantly improving online reputability, a lot of small business owners still refrain from making such a commitment. The cost of website development and management appears to be the main reason behind that behavior. A lot of entrepreneurs think that they cannot afford a custom website. Some of them think that the benefits that website will bring to their business aren’t worth spending money on.
Needless to say, hiring a team of web developers to construct a custom website with an incredible design and special features is rather expensive. The prices start at $2,000 and above. That’s definitely way out of an average small business owner’s budget.
Luckily, with the help of website builders, you may create your own website without the programmer’s assistance and pay as little as $12-$50 a month for its management. No coding experience needed. Most platforms provide web hosting, custom domains, design themes and storage space within quite affordable monthly packages. The only thing you need to do is to come up with a creative concept, fill the templates with your own content and make your brand-new website go live.
These are our top 5 website builders for small businesses. They’re easy to use and manage, and the price-performance ratio is everything a beginning entrepreneur could ever wish for.
Best website builders for small business owners
1. WIX.com
Wix is probably one of the most popular website builders for small business owners and freelancers. It’s quite flexible and versatile. The platform is rather reliable and search engine friendly as well.
Reasons to choose Wix.com as a website builder for a small business:
- it has 5 different service packages to meet your needs – $4.50-$24.50 a month (a basic free plan is available as well);
- you don’t need any tech experience to set up a website – you’ll use a convenient drag&drop website editor instead;
- free hosting and custom domain features are provided;
- you get access to a massive collection of professionally-looking website templates and picture galleries;
- Wix supplies its users with plenty of storage space (from 500MB to 20GB depending on the service plan) and 24/7 technical support;
- you may create newsletters and set up a blog with it;
- it features basic image editing tools and built-in Google Analytics;
- you may integrate an online store into your website if you subscribe to Wix’s e-Commerce or VIP plans.
2. Weebly.com
Weebly is the second most popular website builder with an intuitive interface. Both growing start-ups and companies that have been operating for a while often choose this platform to develop or upgrade a corporate website at an affordable rate.
The key features of this website builder are:
- may be used for free (the features are quite limited in that case, though);
- 3 premium plans with unlimited storage and no Weebly ads;
- easy web hosting and domain registration;
- user-friendly drag and drop interface (again, no coding to create an advanced website is required);
- advanced site stats;
- $100 value Google Ads credit for premium subscribers;
- elaborate collection of themes and templates;
- tools for SEO optimization;
- video background option.
3. HireRush.com – website builder and lead generator
HireRush is a contractor referral website that supplies its premium service providers with a number of lucrative business offers. In addition to gaining access to a nationwide base of clients, unlimited free leads, top placement on HireRush listings and a custom phone number, premium subscribers also get a professional website with:
- a custom domain and personalized design;
- an extended portfolio;
- high-quality images;
- quotes dashboard and special offers display;
- SEO tools and on-stile statistics;
- customer ratings and reviews;
- mobile optimization;
- phone menu and auto attendant.
The best thing about this website builder is that you actually don’t have to create your site on your own. HireRush team will complete a website construction, provide you with technical support and send you real customer request for $49,95 a month. Leads and custom website development in one package? That’s an offer a small business owner would hate to miss.
Alternativelly, users may also create free profiles to receive leads and gain more customers. It will be more difficult for them to compete with other service providers, though.
Create your premium profile now
4. SquareSpace
Another popular website builder for businesses with quite standard features, which will be listed below. However, this platforms has a few downsides we could not leave unnoticed. There’s no free plan, and the templates are a bit difficult to edit if you don’t have any website building experience.
Main features of SquareSpace website builder:
- 2 pricing plans – personal ($16 a month, quite simple website, 20 pages) and business ($26 a month, perfect for small businesses, unlimited pages)
mobile-optimized website; - flexible website templates and image galleries;
- 24/7 customer support;
- free online shop;
- great website metrics;
- 2-3% transaction fees;
- $100 Google AdWords credit for business profile subscribers.
5. SiteBuilder
This website builder is probably the easiest one to use. It also provides some website templates for free. Premium plans (there’re 4 of them, the prices start at 5,99 a month) don’t include as many features as the platforms listed above, and the users are billed annually. However, this platform will be perfect for those small business owners, who’re looking for a quick, inexpensive solution.
SiteBuilder offers:
- a user-friendly canvas editor;
- e-commerce functions;
- modern templates and flexible themes;
- built-in Google Analytics;
- a possibility to create blogs, portfolios and custom forms;
- 500MB storage space;
- ad-free services for premium subscribers.
