Today, even a child can build a website. It may have a proper look and all the basics needed to run their activities online. Thanks to an abundance of modern website builders, users without web development skills can create sites for their specific purposes without spending loads of time and effort.
Yet, creating a business site, even a small one, remains a challenge for many users. The main problem here is the very variety of available site builders. If you have no expertise in site-building, you may be daunted with such a massive choice of solutions.
Each seems to show great promise, but you should be careful when making your final decision.
Sooner or later, you may ask yourself if there is a universal solution ideal for creating an effective website for any small company.
I’m going to introduce the most crucial options a good site builder for small businesses should have and present you with the best solution to build the site you need.
What Your Website Should Be Able to Do
First, your business website should be easy to maintain. Once created, it should work properly without constant torments of updating plugins, checking security vulnerabilities, etc. All things like these should work automatically or be fixed with a click.
Then, your site should have a fitting design. No company can afford to have a bland, non-professional look. It should be able to catch your audience. On the other hand, it must supply your customers with all the necessary functionality and ensure the convenience and safety of their activities on your website.
It should work fast regardless of your client’s device. The list of services must be visible to your targeted audience.
Finally, a small business site must be budget-saving. Creating, launching, and keeping your online project should not cost you a fortune. Moreover, for a small business, it’s essential to be able to calculate the site expenses before building it.
Read also: How to Hire Someone to Build a Website.What Features Should a Great Website Builder Have
Knowing what a good small company website can do defines what features a quality website builder should have. Let’s quickly overview the must-have options.
Code-Free Building Process
Web development has become mainstream, so there are plenty of solutions for fast and effortless website building.
Access to custom code is a great option, and it is perfect if the builder you choose offers this possibility.
Yet, if searching for a universal solution suitable for a user with any level of coding skills, opt for modern, non-coding website builders based on drag-and-drop and AI technologies.
Easy-to-Customize Design
Have zero knowledge of site development? It won’t affect your website’s appearance – many site builders (here I’ve pointed to some of them) offer simple, intuitively managed design editors that will let you create a professionally-looking website without coding.
Although there are solutions that allow users to create unique, complex designs (for instance, WordPress – my review), for a small company, such an option might be excessive. The optimal solution for such a business is a platform with the following design capabilities:
- a sufficient choice of templates;
- enough customization options;
- compliance with any desktop/mobile screens.
Moreover, I’d recommend using site builders with SEO-friendly templates. Surely, most offer a certain set of SEO features and allow you to manually connect specific add-ons to optimize your site’s search engine settings. Yet, the best option so far is a platform that offers templates with built-in SEO.
Basic Features
Launching a website involves many stages, like picking a host, connecting a domain, ensuring storage, bandwidth, security certificates, etc. I recommend choosing site builders with all these features offered within your chosen plan. It will save you time and may be helpful in calculating your total expenses.
Business & eCommerce Functionality
Small businesses vary dramatically. While one company needs a presentable look and a simple banking system for accepting payments, another may require a broader set of features, for example, a POS or tools for complex analytics. So, a truly good website builder can cover the needs of various projects, from simplistic to feature-rich.
From this perspective, a good solution ensures enough scalability to your project. It allows users to change plans and connect additional extensions and add-ons to widen their sites’ functional capacities.
Responsive Support
Modern web builders pay thorough attention to proper customer care, including 24/7 support in all their plans. A truly good solution will also supply you with extended FAQs and blogs.
The best platforms even run their own forums (like the Wix Marketplace) that unite common users and professionals. Everyone can find loads of useful information there or even hire an expert to help them with their creative process.
Convenient Pricing System
The price does matter for small projects. So, your chosen site builder should be affordable. Again, it’s great when it offers a range of plans for subscription. Thus, a modest startup and a growing company will find suitable solutions for their actual needs.
Most Effective Site Builders for Small Business
While the number of available web builders is large, finding one with all the above criteria included may be an arduous undertaking.
However, the industry’s two most employed and most reliable solutions are WordPress and Wix (read my comparison of those systems). In my experience, there’s no better site builder for small projects so far.
Bear in mind that WordPress is the most powerful but fairly difficult CMS for non-techies. Yes, it now comprises several plugins designed to simplify the editing process, and these days, the CMS offers options for non-coders, too.
Yet, WordPress requires certain grounding anyway. Its learning curve is too steep for beginners. Another drawback is that your WordPress site will require careful maintenance and constant updates.
That’s why I recommend Wix, the solution that can fit any purpose. It is accessible even to newbies, thanks to its AI-based options. Together with this, Wix can arm your project with all the features you need.
Wix – The #1 Site Builder for a Small Business Site
While WordPress requires installation, the purchase of hosting and a domain, etc., Wix is ready to solve piles of problems for you at once. You only need to sign up on its official website and choose a plan. It’ll give you access to the following options:
- free hosting;
- custom domain;
- two easy-to-use editors (AI-based & drag-and-drop);
- over 800 professional templates;
- embedded SEO;
- 500+ add-ons;
- a free SSL certificate;
- a diverse pricing scheme;
- excellent customer care.
This list meets the standards for small business website builders mentioned above. If you still need more proof, I’ve explained the Wix advantages in more detail.
High Level of Usability
One of the vital benefits of Wix is its ease of use. Even users with little to do with web development can cope with the platform and create beautiful sites fully equipped for these or those online activities.
The site builder offers two editors – a simple and very simple. You can build a professional website with the help of drag-and-drop mechanisms yourself. Another way is to turn the whole job over to the Wix ADI editor. This AI-powered solution will create the site of your dreams instead of you. You’ll only need to answer some questions to instruct Wix ADI. Then, it’ll turn your ideas into reality in no time, and you’ll receive an effective online site ready to serve your purposes.
Your website may have extended options, but its maintenance won’t present any problem. You can keep things in order through a unified Wix dashboard, with all options gathered in one place. You only have to log in to your account to access it and manage your settings, connect apps, edit your pages, and more.
Website Design
A rare site builder can boast the same quantity and quality of available designs. You will surely pick a fitting template from the 800+ premium-class themes Wix offers. They are included in all plans of the platform. When you apply a Wix template to your website, you can customize its images, fonts, color schemes, button arrangement, etc.
Surely, this is far from the freedom offered by WordPress. There, you can build whatever design with any structure. Yet, you’ll only succeed in doing this if you are a pro web developer and the WordPress CMS is your specialty. One more way is to hire such a specialist.
Wix, in turn, offers less freedom, but it is sure to meet the design requirements of most users. This is especially true for small business owners. They may not doubt that Wix will let them build an appealing, well-structured website with a clear and accurate design. With the help of Wix ADI, they can get it without effort.
Feature Set
When it comes to integrations, Wix yields only to WordPress, whose plugin capacities remain unbeaten. However, Wix will give over 500 add-ons at your disposal, and they will surely cover the needs of practically any small project.
Depending on your chosen plan, you’ll be able to extend your website’s functionality with the help of these ‘inner’ features of Wix:
- about 100 online payment gateways supported;
- eCommerce tools like inventory management instruments, a shopping cart, shipping tools, etc.;
- multichannel sales available;
- social media ads;
- Wix POS;
- Analytics (from basic to advanced);
- Marketing suite;
- Events Management tools;
- Gift Cards, and more.
It means Wix does create sophisticated websites, but together with this, the creative process remains fairly simple. You can build an effective online store or whatever business site without coding skills or web developer experience.
Technical Support
All Wix plans go with 24/7 support. The platform offers enough informative and tutorial means, too. You can also join the Wix Marketplace, where you can find answers to popular questions or hire a Wix professional.
Plans
Wix employs a subscription pricing model. At present, it has five plans with well-thought sets of features:
All plans have no ads and go with a free SSL security certificate. Any of them will let you connect a custom domain to your Wix site.
How to Create a Wix Site for Small Business
A Wix site is easy to build. All you need to do is these simple actions:
- Sign up on Wix.com.
- Select a plan.
- Choose a Wix editor: Wix ADI or Wix Editor.
- If you choose Wix ADI, answer its questions and confirm you wish Wix to create a website for you. Customize it if necessary and connect all the needed extras.
- If you opt for the common Wix Editor, choose a template and customize it. Add the necessary apps.
- Connect a domain.
- Publish your Wix site.
Your site is ready to serve your goals. You can maintain it through the Wix dashboard, though the best part of the process is automated.
Conclusion: What Site Builder Is the Best for Your Project?
Wix remains the best website builder for small projects so far. Unlike its more complicated counterpart, WordPress, it requires zero knowledge of web development and offers huge sets of designs and features to create an effective online site for a company.
The main benefit of Wix is that it allows users to build, edit, and maintain their websites without an expert’s help.