Do you want to skip the read and get right to my top pick? The best website builders for small businesses are Squarespace.
Introduction to Best Website Builders for Small Business:
Welcome to our guide to the Best Website Builders for Small Business.
How do you pick the right tool for making a website for a small business?
We understand if you're in a dilemma. Two decades of helping businesses design and launch their own website taught us a lot. There is an ocean of options for top website builders for small businesses out there so it's normal to feel overwhelmed. Just because you're spoilt for choice, picking a website builder is not something that you should do impulsively, though. Some tools can produce affordable websites for small businesses, but they may not grow with your business in the long run.
Don't fret. Below, we've vetted the top website builders for small businesses you should definitely consider.
What are Top Website Builders for Small Businesses?
The best website creator for small business has a comprehensive set of features that addresses the needs of your business.
When searching for the best web creator for small businesses, you need to look at what business-focused features they offer. Aside from putting your website together, they also need to incorporate tools that enable your business to function as seamlessly as possible. Simply put, whatever your business needs, the best website builders for small business needs to have, and that includes eCommerce, subscriptions, marketing, bookings, and payments.
Of course, you might be thinking, do I really need top website builders for small businesses? There are plenty of considerations for any entrepreneur, including, of course, small business website costs. But don’t worry – not all website creator for small business are pricey. Some are even free, with a few features limitations of course.
So what can you get out of having the best website for small businesses:
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Saves you money – it's not true that putting up your website will cost a lot – in fact, it will cost less than your budget for your favorite cup of coffee monthly!
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Fast and efficient – nowadays, the best website builders for small business can have your website up and running at lightning speed. Some are powered by AI tech that constructs your website in a matter of minutes!
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Stylishly yours – nothing makes a business distinct than having its own persona. With the best website builders for small business, you can make your presence felt with your individual aesthetic.
Our List of the Best Website Builders for Small Businesses:
We present our lineup of the top website builders for small business includes several gold-standard options and free website creator for small business for truly easy site creation.
The honours list in this best website builders for small business review is as follows:
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Squarespace – all-around best website builders for small business
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Weebly – best for custom design
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Shopify– best eCommerce website builders for small business
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GoDaddy – great for simple websites
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Site123 – best in site speed reliability
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WordPress.com – best for business blogs
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Wix – good for general use
How We Chose the Top Website Creator for Small Businesses:
Our review of the best website builders for small business is based on the following criteria:
- Ease of use – is there a learning curve associated with using this website creator for small businesses?
- Features and functionality – what sort of features and functionalities can you expect from this best website builders for small business?
- SEO and Mobility – can this website creator for small business help you rank well on Google and other search engines?
- Support and Resources – will you get competent support from the builder?
- Value for money.
Our Best Website Builders for Small Business in Detail:
In our review of the top website builders for small business, let's learn more about each of our vetted option.
Squarespace
Overview:
We mentioned it before – Squarespace is the overall best website builders for small business.
From second-hand bookstores to bespoke purveyors of luxury goods, Squarespace has become a great favourite among small businesses over the past couple of years. It offers all the bells and whistles they need to create and manage visually appealing and engaging online storefronts.
Aside from the usual ecommerce tools for inventory display and management, shipping, and payment, this particular website creator for small business also offers a variety of value-added features that make the online shopping experience more delightful for a site's customers, including a blog function for informative articles, media galleries for presenting new or upcoming products, as well as connectivity with several social media networks.
Squarespace has also established itself as a builder of choice for creative agencies, individual artists, clinics, and service providers thanks to its built-in scheduling feature which makes it possible to set and track client appointments for consultations or procedures.
Features:
- Drag and drop site builder with built-in ecommerce capabilities;
- Over 100 industry-specific design templates;
- Built-in site customisation modules;
- Cloud-based hosting;
- Mobile application for editing or site management on the fly; and
- SEO toolkit
Pros and Cons:
Pros:
- Highly-specialised toolkits and features specifically created for the ecommerce sector;
- Scheduling feature makes appointment setting and tracking more manageable for a variety of service-oriented businesses;
- Excellent round-the-clock technical support makes this one of the top website builders for small business
Cons:
- Still doesn’t offer a free plan and the trial period only runs for over a week;
- Despite several iterations, its user interface can still be challenging for new users;
- While you can create the best website for small business, design templates tend to lack flexibility
Pricing:
Subscription cost for this best website builders for small business runs between $12 and $40 a month, with ecommerce plans pegged at $26 monthly at the most basic
From their Terms of Service page, Squarespace trial comes in 14 days of free testing.
>> Try Squarespace For Free <<
Weebly
Overview:
If you’re looking for an ecommerce site builder that allows you to get creative with the overall look and feel of your online store, Weebly would be the best choice to consider.
Weebly’s ecommerce builder offers a number of modern-looking templates. Therefore, it's perfect for those seeking to create a striking online storefront, as well as numerous colour palettes that can easily match a client’s brand colours or visual standards.
More importantly, Weebly is one of the easiest online store builders to use because it offers numerous features that business owners can use to maximise their potential in the virtual marketplace.
Features:
- Intuitive drag-and-drop website builder;
- Integrated shopping cart and secure checkout;
- Inventory tracking feature;
- Filtered product search; and
- Free ecommerce hosting
Pros and Cons:
Pros:
- Drag and drop interface allows for easy – and quick – site creation;
- Offers excellent online security features so you can browse and buy safely;
- Great aesthetic options for creating a striking storefront
Cons:
- Mobile app isn't very effective when it comes to remote store management;
- Limited SEO functionality;
- Doesn’t offer as many functionality-building plugins as its competitors
Pricing:
You can actually stick to the free website builder without an expiry date. Afterwards, you can upgrade to a paid plan. Moreover, their terms of service page states a 30-day money back guarantee is applicable to all paid subscriptions.
Shopify
Overview:
Next on our list of the best website builders for small business is Shopify!
The ecommerce builder of choice in over 175 countries, Shopify enables online businesses through the provision of tools and a stable platform upon which to establish a strong foothold in the growing online marketplace.
This storefront builder's advantage lies in its intuitive site builder which is ready to use from the get-go. Due to tools laid out right where you can see them, navigating through the UI is quite simple. Its intuitive nature also means that, over time, the system will learn your work habits and most commonly used tools and help you create more efficiently and effectively.
Features:
- Intuitive storefront builder;
- Provision for multiple staff accounts;
- POS capability;
- Online/offline marketing tools;
- International transactions toolkit;
- Logistics solutions for shipping, freight, and even local delivery.
Pros and Cons:
Pros:
- Offers some of the most insightful analytics tools in the industry;
- Third-party integration with a variety of applications, including payment gateways;
- Compatible with marketing solutions for social media and email
Cons:
- Custom templates and a number of functional plugins can be quite expensive;
- It can be difficult to customise as it works with a different programming language;
- Lacks features for effective blog management
Pricing:
Subscriptions may set you back between $29 and $299 monthly, making Shopify one of the most expensive platforms to use
As stated on their terms of service page, the platform offers a 14-day trial, letting you wade through Shopify first before committing.
GoDaddy
Overview:
Over the years, GoDaddy has evolved from being just another building platform and hosting service and now offers solutions for domain appraisal as well as its own eBay-style online marketplace.
GoDaddy’s very basic website creator for small business is AI-driven, so it’s quite intuitive. All you need to do is answer a few questions to create a very simple yet functional website.
Under its eCommerce plan for small- and medium-scale businesses, GoDaddy allows users to offer up to 100 products, access to over 40 payment gateways, as well as integration with social media marketplaces; you can also create multiple pages in a number of categories. The Premium ecommerce plan offers an expanded version of these features, along with multiple language support, couponing, inventory management, and advanced stock control.
Features:
- AI-driven website creator for small business;
- SSL certificate;
- Custom domain connection;
- Provisions for on-the-go editing;
- Free business email for one year;
- Built-in analytics suite; and
- Built-in SEO tool.
Pros and Cons:
Pros:
- User-friendly website builder;
- Domain registration is a cinch;
- Ready to launch website templates to create the best website for small business.
Cons:
- Managing SSL can be a challenging experience;
- cPanel interface is outdated at best;
- Add-ons can be quite expensive
Pricing:
Site123
SITE123 is one of the most basic drag and drop website creator for small business currently online. However, it’s also one of the most reliable in terms of loading speed as well as reliability – two things deemed essential by online business owners.
This site builder’s straightforward approach to site building gets the creator's job done. Furthermore, its easy-to-understand management interface makes it a delight to use, and it also offers value for money. This is why it mkes our list of the top website builders for small business.
However, SITE123's greatest strength is also its greatest flaw. It may work for beginners, but don't expect it to create the best website for small business with a more extensive range of features.
Features:
- Conventional drag and drop website builder;
- Core SEO toolkit;
- Google Analytics for metrics monitoring;
- Social media integration for more than 25 popular social networking platforms, but note this does not offer live feeds to user pages
Pros and Cons:
Pros:
- Predefined site creation parameters so you can have the ultimate ease of use;
- Free to use edition so that you can make the best website for small business at zero cost;
- Offers multilingual options so it's easier for site creators whose native language isn’t English.
Cons:
- Free edition is riddled with pop-ups that tend to distract site creators from their work;
- One of the pricier website building options, but it doesn’t really give that much bang for your buck;
- Layout templates are very pedestrian at best and there are very few ways by which these can be enhanced.
Pricing:
Monthly rates of this one of the best website builders for small business are $5.80
The terms of service page states you can cancel your service contract and receive a full refund within 14 days of your initial purchase.
WordPress.com
Now we go to WordPress in this best website for small builders review.
Overview:
The creation of the WooCommerce plugin essentially transformed WordPress from a mere blogging or basic site building platform into an online entrepreneur’s ready bag of tricks. As a result, you can create the best website for small business.
But while the plugin creates amazing and functional storefronts, WordPress’ key strength remains its stability as a professional blogging platform. This enables businesses to share a number of articles regarding their products or related content, as well as a way to share announcements for new developments or products.
Features:
- CMS site creator / editor;
- Integrated news and blogging function so you can engage readers with fresh content;
- Post scheduling feature;
- Responsive web design so that you can create the best website for small business;
- WooCommerce storefront management plugin
Pros and Cons:
Pros:
- Users are assured of secure hosting for their sites compared to more conventional builders or hosting providers;
- Sites created with the platform are already SEO- and mobile-ready;
- Offers above-average functionality when it comes to social media integration and marketing
Cons:
- While you can use the platform for free, customising your site may prove costly as many themes, templates, and plugins need to be paid for;
- The CMS engine used for site creation has long been known to be vulnerable when it comes to hackers and denial of service attacks;
- Too many updates tend to distract users from their work
Pricing:
- Free to use version available, but take note that the functionality and features included are considerably less than what you would get with a paid subscription;
- Monthly rates range of this top website builders for small business between $4 to $45
A 14-day money-back guarantee applies to all paid subscriptions as per their Terms of Service page.
Wix
Overview:
Wix has long touted itself as the world’s leading online ecommerce platform – and it has plenty of reasons why. Easy to launch, highly intuitive, and scalable, it’s website creator that greatly appeals to a broad spectrum of businesses, but most especially startups and smaller online retailers.
Here, we discuss its capability as a website creator for small business. Like its basic building counterpart – the original WIX builder – Wix’s ecommerce builder is one of the easiest to use and has a very minimal learning curve. It’s a great way to get your online business started, but it isn’t perfect. Wix still hasn’t found a workaround that allows users to swap out templates without having to start over and the system still has trouble exporting files.
Features:
- WIX Artificial Design Intelligence (WIX ADI) site builder;
- Conventional drag-and-drop builder;
- Unlimited bandwidth for all ecommerce plans;
- Free domain is offered by this best website builders for small business;
- Event creation toolkit;
- Multichannel sales and point of sale tools; and
- Industry-specific features for fitness centres and restaurants
Pros and Cons:
Pros:
- Highly affordable and one of the most user-friendly website creator for small. business
- Enables users to create engaging online stores with multilingual capabilities;
- Email and social media marketing tools are already built into the system
Cons:
- Sites built with the platform aren’t very mobile-responsive;
- Doesn’t offer the ability to export a number of elements, including blog posts and digital products;
- Puts a cap on data storage – something you don’t see in many of its competitors
Pricing:
Monthly rates for ecommerce accounts using this website creator for small business range from $4.50
As stated on their terms of use page, there's a Wix free plan as well as a 14-day money-back guarantee on all plans.
Conclusion and Recommendations for the Best Website Builders for Small Business:
Now, let's wrap up this best website builders for small business review; Which website builder is best for small business?
As with all other products, not every website creator for small business offers the same features, functionality, and cost as others. However, the top website builders for small business ticks every box: excellent ease of use, top notch features, SEO and eCommerce functionality, and customer support.
That said, we conclude that Squarespace occupies the top website builders for small business position. Still, we also recommend that you do your own research and really evaluate which of our featured options to make the best website for small business would work well considering your resources and needs.
FAQ:
Which builder can help me build the best website for small business?
There are plenty of options of website creator to make the best website for small business. However, overall, we find that Squarespace has all the ingredients you need to come up with an elegant and highly functional business website.
Do the best website builders for small business need to have a blog function?
If you want to launch the best website for small business, then a blog can be one of your most important tools. You can add fresh and up-to-date content that engages your audience, help you with SEO, and get you found by your target market.
What additional business functions are important in the best website builders for small business?
Some additional features you can look for in a website creator for small business are image slots, countdown timers, social buttons, coupons, and menu navigations.
That's all for now:
If you've read all the way through this top website builders for small businesses review, we are thankful. We hope you can now answer the question of what builder makes the best website for small business for you! We have a large collection of articles, guides, and comparison reviews of eCommerce solutions, web hosting providers, website builders, and more! Feel free to check them out;
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