As the world becomes more digital, having an online presence for your business has never been more critical (or easier). We'll walk you through a few of the best website builders for small businesses to help you do just that; use our comparison table to compare them side by side or keep reading for a more in-depth analysis.
A small business web design building will help you promote your brand and gain new customers. As the world becomes more digital, it's never been more important (or more fun!) to establish an online presence for your business. But, because one size does not always fit all, let's look at our in-depth reviews to see which website builder is best for your business.
The Most Effective Website Builder for Small Businesses
1. Strikingly ($12/month) — A good website builder for small businesses.
2. Wix ($14/month) — The best platform for selling services.
3. Squarespace ($12/month) — Excellent for building a brand.
4. Weebly ($6/month) — Ideal for small businesses on a tight budget.
5. GoDaddy ($10/month) — This is the best option for organizations that need to go online right away.
6. Duda ($14/month) — This service is ideal for people who value ease of use over personalized branding.
7. Jimdo Creator ($9/month) — Basic, but lacking features.
8. Site123 ($12.80/month) is the best option for people who despise creating business websites.
1. Strikingly
Image is taken from Strikingly
Strikingly is the best and most affordable website builder that specializes in one-page web pages. It is not suitable for everyone. With a well-regarded support team and a comprehensive editor, it's an excellent choice for the best free website builder. The templates are trendy and unique, so you can easily select a style that you like and customize it with your own information.
Monthly cost: $12 (Limited plan)
Free plan: Yes
SEO: Good
Email marketing is now available.
Ease of use: 4/5
Support: 24 hours a day chat support
Live chat assistance
Email assistance
Phone assistance (VIP users)
Articles from the knowledge base
Other features include: Custom domain, hosting, e-mail, pop-ups, newsletters, and other services
Pros:
- User-favorite platform with some of the best-curated template collections Excellent SEO support and social media tools to help you rank well
- Ideal for those who aren't tech-savvy
- The ability to create two websites on the cheapest paid plan with a friendly and proactive support team
Cons:
- Only one-page sites are permitted on the cheapest paid plan (Limited).
2. Wix
Image is taken from Wix
Because of its low costs and user-friendly website builder, Wix attracts small business website administrators from a wide range of industries and business models. Although it takes longer to build a site than previous website builders, you can truly immerse yourself in the nitty-gritty of web design to create a truly unique and original website.
Monthly cost: $14
Free plan: Yes
SEO: Very Good
Email marketing: $9/month
Ease of use: 4/5
Support: Help button and phone support (Monday -Thursday 5 am to 5 pm EST )
Other features include: ADI, 500MB of storage, and 500MB of bandwidth
Pros:
- 500+ templates in a variety of industries
- You cannot change your template; restarting with a new template necessitates starting over.
- There is a steep learning curve
- To remove advertising, you must upgrade to a paid account
- There is no "Live Chat" option.
3. Square Space
Image is taken from Square space
Squarespace is a close competitor to Wix, as this small business website builder caters to the same market of versatile customization options and an easy-to-use editor. There is, however, a subtle but discernible difference between them: Squarespace's editor isn't as simple to use as Wix's, but the designs are slightly more polished for better graphics. Squarespace is now just a tad to the right of Trum, the convenience-customization spec.
Monthly cost: $12
Free plan: No
SEO: Very Good
Email marketing: $5/month
Ease of use: 3.4/5
Support: Monday through Friday, live chat is available
24/7 Twitter support
24/4 email support
Pros:
- Excellent for online bookings
- Excellent blogging and social media tools
Cons:
- There is a slightly steeper learning curve.
- There is no telephone support (but there is LiveChat)
4. Weebly
Image is taken from Weebly
Weebly is essentially a middle-of-the-road eCommerce web design-builder for small businesses. Although it isn't specifically for eCommerce, it appears to be tailored to eCommerce consumers, so we thought it would be more appropriate here.
Weebly offers more design options than a standard website builder, but not to the point of being overwhelming.
Monthly cost: $6
Free plan: Yes
SEO: Very god
Email marketing: $8/month
Ease of use: 3.5/5
Support: Support tickets (answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week),
Live chat (Monday-Friday, 6 a.m.-6 p.m. PST,
Saturday-Sunday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. PST)
Telephone (6 am-6 pm PST)
Pros:
- ADI's auto-generated design option has several advantages. It's simple to add custom code if you want to. For site personalization, there is a sizable app industry.
Cons:
- Annual plans do not include a free domain; to remove advertisements, you'll need to upgrade to a $12 plan
5. GoDaddy
Image is taken from GoDaddy
Since the late 1990s, GoDaddy has been a household name in the internet services industry, and its hosting and domain services have now been expanded to include small business web design building. Users can create an automatic site template based on their industry and edit specific material as they see fit. However, it is a step-up in customization, with more options such as colors and fonts, but a step-down on free services.
Monthly cost: $9.99
Free plan: No
SEO: Good
Email marketing: $6.99
Ease of use: 3.8/5
Support: Phone support is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Real-time Chatting (Monday to Friday, PST 5 am-6 pm)
Knowledge Base Articles
Other characteristics include: The quickest ADI construction
Pros:
- It is the most basic method for developing a website
- It's ideal for those who aren't tech-savvy
- It has good digital marketing tools
Cons:
- Lacks creative control
- Is unsuitable for larger businesses
7 Things to Think About Before Hiring a Business Website Builder
If you've decided that a website builder is right for you, the next step is to find the best website builder. Before making the best decision for your company, there are a few critical steps to take.
1. Establish Your Budget
Evaluating your financial capabilities is the first step. Begin by considering the additional costs associated with developing your professional website. Every website's budget must include funds for domain registration and hosting. You'll also need to invest in images and copies for your website. Many website builders provide a free plan, but most charge between $5 and $40 per month for plans that include the features that businesses are likely to require.
If you have a limited budget, you can save money by looking for plans that bundle the various website services you require. You'll need to pay for hosting anyway, so a plan that includes both services for one low price eliminates one line item from your budget while still providing you with everything you require.
2. Think About Your Needs and Priorities
Image is taken from Strikingly user’s website
Before you can choose the best website builder company, you must first determine what you want your website to be and do. This will help you define your priorities to know what to look for in your search.
Some good questions to ask include:
What level of design experience do you have?
Most website builders are designed for people with little or no experience with design or website coding, but some will be easier to use than others. If you plan to learn as you go, look for a builder that includes website theme templates and drag-and-drop design options.
How particular are you about getting things right the first time?
If you want a lot of options and flexibility when designing your website, the best website builder for you will have a lot of templates to choose from or more flexible editing options that let you make major changes to the design.
Do you require an online shop?
A shopping cart and check-out functionality are required for an eCommerce website and a design that emphasizes getting people to take the next step of making a purchase. When selecting a website builder, consider whether they provide the necessary templates and features to enable an online store.
What kinds of media will you use?
Will you include a video on your eCommerce website? Is there a photo gallery? A blog? A map indicating your store's location? Verify that the content formats you want to use are supported by your website builder.
And regardless, you'll need to learn how to make your website mobile-friendly. Make sure that any website builder you choose offers responsive website templates or other options that allow you to easily create a mobile-friendly website.
3. Consider the Number of Themes
Image is taken from Strikingly
When you use a website builder, the design process starts with the builder's themes. You choose one of the available themes, and it becomes the template that you customize to create your own website. You don't want to invest in a website builder only to discover that your customization options are severely limited and that none of the themes they provide are particularly appealing. Make sure the website builder you choose has a sufficient number of themes so that you can find one that works well as a starting point for your website. Everything else will be much easier if the theme you choose is a good fit for what you want to accomplish.
4. Examine How Simple it is to Use
Any website builder you use will be much easier to use than coding and programming, but that doesn't mean they'll all be equally simple to understand. As mentioned, drag-and-drop functionality makes things easier. You should also look for a website builder with an easy-to-use editor. Investigate a website builder's reputation for usability. Is it suitable for someone who has never built a website before? For this, look to user reviews. People with similar levels of knowledge to yours who come to a website builder will be your best source for the types of problems you're likely to encounter, if any.
5. Look for SEO Features
You want people to find your website once you've finished building it, right? To accomplish this, you must incorporate SEO best practices into the design of your website. On-site optimization should be simple with a good website builder. You want an easy way to update all of the SEO meta elements on each page (such as the meta description and image alt tags) and submit your sitemap to search engines. While on-site optimization is only one component of SEO, it is an important one, and the right website builder will help you get started.
6. Examine the Resources and Support
Image is taken from Strikingly user’s website
Even the most user-friendly website builder will require some learning. The more features a website builder provides, the more you'll have to learn. Check that the website builder you're considering has resources to help you learn all the ins and outs of how it will work before making a decision. Ideally, your website builder will provide tutorials on how to use all of the different features, as well as the significant changes you'll need to make when designing your website. If you learn better through video or text, see if the website builder offers resources in the format that works best for you.
Conclusion
You'll need to put in a lot of time and effort if you want to create your own small business web design. It is largely determined by your site’s sophistication and your level of experience. Flexibility, control, and customization are essential components of nearly all small business web design. As we all know, however, one size does not fit all. Do not overburden your business websites with features that will disadvantage you. You must weigh each of these criteria differently depending on your company's needs. Our suggestion has come to an end. Hopefully, this blog post has helped you choose the best website builder for small businesses from our list of recommendations.
