There are more than 1.98 billion websites on the internet, and the count is growing every second as we speak. If you don’t want to be left behind in the race toward your revenue goals, it is time to get a website for your business soon (if you don’t already have one).
However, finding a freelance website developer or a website development company is time-consuming and costly. A much simpler, faster, and cheaper method to create a website is to use a website builder.
We compiled a list of the 5 superb website builders and compared the pros and cons for each of them.
What Is a Website Builder?
Generally speaking, website builders are like LEGO. You get the pieces and you just have to put them all together to create something straight out of your vision. Here’s how Wikipedia defines Website Builders:
“Website builders are tools that typically allow the construction of websites without manual code editing.”
Wikipedia
Why Are Website Builders The Right Choice For Small Businesses?
Given the level of competition in the online space, it is obvious that your small business doesn’t just need a website. You need a well-functioning business website that offers a nice design at the same time.
Can website builders make that happen? Yes, but not all of them.
Only industry-leading site builders should be trusted for the job. A superb website builder will help your small business get:
- A functional and good-looking website
- At an affordable cost
- Within a short span of time
- Without too much effort
- The ability to implement a fully custom website design
5 Superb Website Builders For Small Businesses
There are hundreds of business website builders available in the market today. But not all of them are alike in their ease of use, functionality, price, and results.
To help you choose the most suitable solution, we compared and contrasted the most popular options out there. Take a look at this list of the 5 best website builders for small businesses and find your match!
1. Shopify – The eCommerce-Focused Website Builder
Free Trial – Yes (14 Days)
Free Plan – Not available
Cost of Basic Paid Plan – $29/Month
| What’s great about Shopify | What’s not so great about Shopify |
| Best-in-class eCommerce capabilities (online shopping carts, marketing tools, analytics, mobile access, etc.) | Not the cheapest option in the market. Plus, you have to pay a commission on every sale unless it’s paid for using Shopify Pay. |
| Wide range of free & paid themes which are responsive, beautiful, and customizable | Limited customization, Shopify uses a liquid setup, which is tough to master for technical customization |
| 2200+ free & paid apps available at the Shopify App store to enhance your site’s functionality | Limited scope for content marketing. The blogging functionality in Shopify is mediocre at best |
| Simple and easy-to-use dashboard from where you can add, edit, customize, and delete products | |
| Built-in SEO functionalities (customizable Meta data for each page, automatically generated sitemap.xml and robots.txt file, etc.) |
2. WordPress – The All-Rounder Website Builder
Free Trial – Depends on Hosting
Free Plan – Depends on Hosting
Cost of Basic Paid Plan – Depends on Hosting
| What’s great about WordPress | What’s not so great about WordPress |
| Free & open-source which means you don’t have to pay for anything except the hosting which usually comes with a free domain name and SSL for 1 year | No official support. You need to rely on online experts and forums. Although that’s enough most of the time |
| Thousands of free & paid themes and plugins – the widest collection for any website builder. You can also get custom themes and plugins developed | You are in charge of your own website with WordPress. So backup, security, updates, and maintenance are your responsibility which can be overwhelming for a small business user |
| The drag-and-drop editor is easy, beginner-friendly, and feature-loaded. More so, with the latest block-based editing | The best features of WordPress require some coding expertise which small businesses might not have |
| WordPress sites have a structure that Google understands well, so site indexing and search engine rankings are simpler to achieve with WordPress | |
| Infinite scope for customization. If you can code and have the creative inclination, every aspect of your site is customizable |
3. Wix – The Beginner-Friendly Yet Scalable Website Builder
Free Trial – Yes (14 Days)
Free Plan – Yes
Cost of Basic Paid Plan – $16/Month
| What’s so great about Wix | What’s not so great about Wix |
| Wix features one of the easiest-to-use drag-and-drop website builders | Once you have chosen a Wix template, you cannot change it. This limits your options for meeting your changing business needs |
| You can choose from 800+ website templates, 200+ apps, and 300+ third-party integrations for your website | Migrating from Wix to another platform is incredibly complicated, not to mention costly and time-intensive |
| Wix has a complete arsenal of blogging, SEO, social media, and email integration tools | The free plan offers no tracking and analytical capabilites |
| Other than the regular plans, Wix also offers specialized eCommerce plans for online selling | |
| With the Wix mobile app, you can manage your site, add content, check analytics, and also manage orders |
4. Weebly – The Pocket-Friendly Website Builder
Free Trial – Yes (14 Days)
Free Plan – Yes
Cost of Basic Paid Plan – $5/Month (when paid annually)
| What’s so great about Weebly | What’s not so great about Weebly |
| 50+ free, responsive, and customizable themes to choose from. The Weebly App Center has useful additions available for as low as $3 a month. | While Wix has guides, videos, and a FAX option available for everyone, phone support, and priority support are available only for those on higher plans. |
| A no-code, drag-and-drop website builder which is ideal for even those who have never written a line of code. | Limited blogging tools. You can only create and run a basic blog with Weebly. |
| Weebly offers a very fast load speed and 99.99% uptime for your website. This is great for SEO as well as general user experience. | Stripe is the default payment processing partner for Weebly. But it doesn’t work everywhere. So if you are selling globally, you’d have to bear the cost of using third-party payment processors. |
| Hassle-free migration options to let you move away from Weebly if needed. | |
| Weebly’s Android and iOS mobile app lets you manage, monitor, and customize your site. You can work offline and sync changes later as well. |
5. Squarespace – The Design-Centric Website Builder
Free Trial – Yes (14 Days)
Free Plan – Not available
Cost of Basic Paid Plan – $16/Month (when paid annually)
| What’s so great about Squarespace | What’s not so great about Squarespace |
| Squarespace websites tend to be fast-loading, especially those on the US and EU servers. | Squarespace offers no free plan. Also, its high cost makes it a bit tough to choose for cash-strapped small businesses. |
| 67 templates to choose from. These are among the most beautifully designed options on the market. Of course, these templates are responsive and have ample scope for customization. | Squarespace editing tools are cumbersome, to say the least. |
| Option to easily import or export your data. This makes switching to and from Squarespace simpler. | You can change Meta titles, Meta Descriptions, and Heading tags on your Squarespace website. But that’s the end of its SEO capabilities. Don’t expect anything fancy or advanced here. |
| Sufficient eCommerce functionalities, which include offers and discounts, shipping, online payment, taxes, tipping, and more. | |
| Extensive self-help knowledge base along with proactive customer support accessible via live chat, email, and Twitter. Plus, a forum is also available. |
Picking The Most Suitable From These 5 Superb Website Builders
We have walked you through the top website builders for small businesses.
Now it is up to you to find the right website builder for your small business needs.
Select the option that offers the features you need at a price that you can afford. Get started with the free plan, try it out, and then grow and scale your site.
Lesley Haught is a professional writer, web developer, and CEO of webbuildersguide.com. For nine years, Lesley has been working as a web interface developer, which has allowed him to strengthen his experience and skills in website development. Also, he’s fond of photography, marketing, and of course, writing articles. His works have been published in popular online magazines and blogs, including 2CheckOut Blog, 3Dcart Blog, Template Monster Blog, Contrastly, Hackread, Hacked, Wploop, and many others.