In today’s digital age, having a website is crucial for the success of small businesses. A well-designed and user-friendly website not only helps establish an online presence but also enables businesses to connect with their target audience, showcase their products or services, and ultimately drive sales. This article will explore the top website builders that can help you boost your online reach and create a compelling website for your business.
1. Wix
Wix is a cloud-based platform that allows anyone to create and manage a website. Founded in 2006, it has emerged as a clear front-runner in the race for website builder dominance. Wix is particularly popular for its visually stunning templates and intuitive drag-and-drop editor.
Key Features
- Visually stunning templates
- Drag-and-drop editor
- Built-in SEO features
- Over 75 pre-made portfolio and CV website templates
SEO Tools
Wix provides a range of tools to help optimize your website for search engines, including:
- Adding meta tags
- Creating URL redirects
- Managing your website’s sitemap
Best For
Wix is ideal for:
- Small startups
- Personal websites
- Professional portfolios
- Smaller eCommerce ventures
Wix offers more website features, better design functionality, and more robust help and support options than any other provider we have tested.
Plans and Pricing
Wix offers various plans to suit different needs. Here’s a quick overview:
| Plan | Features | Price |
| Free | Basic features, Wix ads | $0 |
| Combo | Custom domain, no ads, 3GB storage | $14/month |
| Unlimited | Unlimited bandwidth, 10GB storage | $18/month |
| Business | eCommerce features, 20GB storage | $23/month |
| VIP | Priority support, 35GB storage | $39/month |
2. Squarespace
Squarespace is a website builder that has become increasingly popular over the years, particularly for creatives who want a beautiful and functional online portfolio. It’s known for its clean, elegant design and intuitive interface. The drag-and-drop editor allows you to customize your pages easily, and the grid-style framework helps avoid cluttered or messy-looking sections.
Key Features
- Responsive design templates
- Website traffic and commerce analytics tools
Pricing
| Plan | Price (per month) |
| Personal | $16 |
| Business | $26 |
| Basic Commerce | $30 |
| Advanced Commerce | $49 |
Free Trial
Squarespace offers a 14-day free trial, allowing you to explore its features before committing to a paid plan.
Squarespace is particularly well-suited for ecommerce sites, thanks to its robust traffic analytics and commerce tools.
3. WordPress.com
WordPress.com is a reliable and flexible platform for building SEO-friendly websites. Its robust SEO features, support resources, and community make it a top choice for businesses, bloggers, and anyone looking to build a professional website that ranks well in search engine results.
Key Features
- Create a free, hosted wordpress.com subdomain.
- Use WordPress as web-building software for your self-hosted website.
- Add a Buy Button to your WordPress website to sell products.
- Browse more than 50,000 plug-ins, including shipping, marketing, and SEO tools.
Plans and Pricing
| Plan | Storage | Features |
| Free | 1 GB | Dozens of website templates with drag-and-drop layouts |
| Paid Plans | Varies | Access to extra features and plugins, including advanced SEO tools |
The WordPress.com website editor is a simple, but robust, blogging platform that will get you up and running in minutes.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Free and open-source software
- Thriving community of developers
- Extensive library of themes and plugins
Cons:
- Can be complex for beginners
- Some advanced features require a paid plan
4. Shopify
Shopify is widely regarded as the best ecommerce website builder, making it an ideal choice for online stores, especially those with large inventories and expanding businesses. It offers a range of professional themes, payment gateways, and inventory management features.
Key Features
- Shopify Shipping: Manage your stock & orders.
- Shopify Fulfillment Network: Outsource fulfillment & returns.
- Shopify Balance: Get paid faster.
- Shopify Lending: Secure business financing.
- Shopify Flow: Automate your business.
- Shopify Developers: Build with Shopify’s powerful APIs.
Pricing
Shopify offers a free trial and paid plans ranging from $29 to $299 per month. Note that some plans may include additional transaction fees.
| Plan | Price (per month) |
| Basic | $29 |
| Shopify | $79 |
| Advanced | $299 |
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Better for experienced builders
- Expanding suite of AI tools
- Huge app store
Cons:
- Reliant on third-party apps
- Limited customization
- Handful of free templates
Shopify combines top-class sales channel integration with a simple and intuitive UI, making it a powerful tool for optimizing your sales. It integrates seamlessly with platforms like Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest, Instagram, Spotify, YouTube, Snapchat, Google, Amazon, Walmart, eBay, and Etsy.
5. Weebly
Weebly is a versatile platform that can be used to build any type of website, from personal blogs to online stores. It is one of the easiest and cheapest website builders to use, allowing you to create a website in minutes.
Key Features
- SEO-Friendly: Weebly has built-in SEO features that make it easy to optimize your website for search engines. You can edit meta descriptions and titles, add alt tags to images, and create a sitemap.
- Fast Load Times: Weebly’s websites load quickly, which is important for SEO.
- Customizable URLs: Weebly allows you to customize your URLs, which can help with SEO.
- Built-in Analytics: Weebly has built-in analytics that allow you to track your website’s performance.
- E-commerce: Weebly offers e-commerce features, making it a great choice if you want to sell products online.
Pricing
Weebly offers a range of pricing plans to suit different needs:
| Plan | Price | Features |
| Free | $0/month | Free subdomain, Weebly branding |
| Personal | $6/month | Custom domain, no Weebly branding |
| Professional | $12/month | Advanced site stats, password protection |
| Performance | $26/month | Priority support, advanced e-commerce features |
Weebly offers a limited-time, free trial that allows you to see if the service works before making a purchase. The more expensive packages can be tried for a free two-week trial.
Best For
Weebly is best for creating quick, free websites. Now part of Square’s suite of business tools, Weebly is a site builder with a free plan that comes with a range of tools, including a shopping cart, Instagram feed, and free subdomain to host your site. In return, Weebly will add its branding to your website, which can be removed by upgrading to a paid plan.
6. GoDaddy
GoDaddy is a free website builder ideal for creating simple personal and professional sites. Its drag-and-drop builder uses artificial intelligence to create a website in minutes based on the information you provide. However, some may find GoDaddy’s website templates basic, and customization options can be limited. If you want to run an online store, you’ll need to use the separate, more expensive store builder.
Best For
- Simple websites
- Speedy setup
- Budget-conscious users
- Beginners
Plans and Pricing
| Plan Type | Price (per month) |
| Free Plan | $0 |
| Paid Plans | $6.99 – $469.99 |
Pros
- Get online in seconds
- Excellent 24/7 support
- Editor tutorial available
- Manage site from mobile app
- POS system integrates with your site
- Excellent site speed
Cons
- Restrictive editor
- Not ideal for complex designs
- Lacks quality templates
- No option to remove transaction fees
- Users must report fraud cases
- Not able to customize the checkout page
GoDaddy has recently launched GoDaddy Airo to support small businesses getting online. This AI-powered free tool can help with building a website, generating marketing campaigns, and more.
7. BigCommerce
BigCommerce is a robust e-commerce platform designed for scalability and advanced inventory management. It is ideal for businesses looking to expand their online presence with powerful tools and features.
Features
- Multi-channel selling
- Powerful analytics
- Unlimited products
- Customer wishlists
- Multi-managed inventory
Pricing
BigCommerce offers pricing plans starting at $29.95 per month. Note that some plans may include additional transaction fees.
Customer Support
BigCommerce provides 24/7 customer support through phone, live chat, and email.
BigCommerce is a great fit if inventory management is a top priority for your business. However, it may not be the best option if you need extensive website design functionality or ease of use.
8. Webflow
Webflow is a popular website builder that has gained a lot of traction due to its robust features and affordability. With Webflow, users can design and develop responsive websites without writing any code. The platform is suitable for businesses of all sizes, including freelancers, agencies, and large enterprises.
Key Features and Benefits
- Visual Development: Webflow’s visual development feature is user-friendly, making it ideal for beginners.
- Robust CMS: The platform’s CMS system supports complex content management needs.
- E-commerce Support: Webflow offers strong e-commerce capabilities, making it suitable for online stores.
- Customizable Templates: A wide range of templates that can be customized to fit your brand.
- SEO Optimization: Webflow emphasizes clean code and technical SEO, allowing you to create search engine-friendly websites.
- Integrations: Seamless integrations with various third-party tools.
- Collaboration Features: Tools that facilitate teamwork and collaboration.
Plans and Pricing
| Plan | Description | Price |
| Free | Create a two-page site with a webflow.io subdomain | $0/month |
| Basic | Full website design plans | $14/month |
Best For
Webflow is best suited for developers and designers who want professional-grade customization options. Often cited as a superior WordPress alternative, Webflow offers complex functionality to those who want to create without limitations.
If you want complete control over your site’s technical SEO without sacrificing design, Webflow is the way to go.
9. Zyro
Zyro is an excellent choice for beginners and anyone who wants a website builder that makes SEO approachable. Its user-friendly tools, AI content assistance, and focus on clean code provide a reliable foundation for search engine visibility. While it may have a smaller suite of advanced SEO features, Zyro shines for those who want to build a search-engine-friendly website without the technical complexities.
Features
- AI-powered website builder with modern templates
- E-commerce capabilities
- Intuitive editing interface
Pricing
| Plan | Price per Month |
| Basic | $1.99 |
| Unleashed | $3.49 |
| eCommerce | $8.99 |
| eCommerce+ | $14.99 |
Customer Support
Zyro provides customer support through live chat, email, and a knowledge base.
Zyro takes the intimidation out of SEO. With its clear interface, you can easily edit your website’s title tags, meta descriptions, and heading structures, ensuring your content is optimized for search visibility. Even those new to SEO will find these tools simple to master.
10. Jimdo
Jimdo is a site builder that provides an easy-to-use platform for individuals and small businesses to create and maintain their own websites. With a range of customizable templates and drag-and-drop editing tools, Jimdo is a great option for those who want to create a professional-looking website without any coding knowledge.
Key Features
- Ease of Use: Jimdo’s interface is intuitive and user-friendly, allowing users to easily drag and drop elements to create their own custom website. The platform also offers pre-designed templates to get started with.
- Customizable Templates: Jimdo provides a range of customizable templates, allowing users to customize their site to their liking. These templates are also mobile-responsive, meaning that they will look great on any device.
- Mobile-Responsive: Jimdo’s templates are mobile-responsive, meaning that they will look great on any device. This is important as more and more people are using mobile devices to access the internet.
- E-commerce Capabilities: Jimdo offers e-commerce capabilities, making it easy for users to set up an online store and sell products.
- Affordable: Jimdo’s pricing plans are affordable, making it an attractive option for small businesses and individuals who want to create a professional-looking website without breaking the bank.
- No Coding Required: Jimdo does not require any coding knowledge, making it accessible to everyone. This means that users can focus on creating great content for their website, without worrying about technical aspects.
Jimdo’s affordability and excellent customer support make it an attractive option for those who want to create a website on a budget.
Conclusion
In conclusion, choosing the right website builder is a pivotal step in establishing and enhancing your online presence. By leveraging the features and tools offered by top website builders, you can create a compelling and user-friendly website that not only attracts visitors but also converts them into loyal customers. Remember to integrate SEO best practices, regularly update your content, and ensure mobile optimization to stay competitive in the ever-evolving digital landscape. With dedication and the right strategies, your website can become a powerful asset in driving the growth and success of your small business.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a website builder?
A website builder is a tool that allows users to create a website without needing to write any code. These tools typically offer drag-and-drop functionality, customizable templates, and various features to help you design and launch your site.
Which website builder is best for small businesses?
The best website builder for small businesses depends on your specific needs. Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress.com are popular choices due to their ease of use and robust features. Shopify is ideal for e-commerce, while Weebly and GoDaddy offer user-friendly options for beginners.
Can I optimize my website for SEO using a website builder?
Yes, many website builders come with built-in SEO tools and features that help you optimize your website for search engines. It’s important to choose a builder that offers robust SEO capabilities to ensure your site ranks well in search results.
Is it possible to switch website builders later?
While it is possible to switch website builders, it can be a complex process. You may need to manually transfer your content, and there could be issues with design and functionality. It’s best to choose a builder that you can grow with to avoid the need for switching.
Do website builders offer mobile optimization?
Yes, most modern website builders offer mobile optimization features. This ensures that your website looks and functions well on mobile devices, providing a seamless browsing experience for your users.
How much does it cost to use a website builder?
The cost of using a website builder varies depending on the platform and the plan you choose. Many offer free basic plans with the option to upgrade to premium plans for additional features and functionalities. Prices can range from a few dollars per month to several hundred dollars per year.