As a small business, you’re spoiled for choice when it comes to services and tools that let you create and publish your own website. Whether your aim is to sell your wares, showcase a unique service or make an arresting branding statement, there’s a platform that suits your level of knowledge and the complexity you need. At first glance, many of the pay-per-month services seem similar, but in many ways making your own website is all about after-market costs.
Some tools are open source and (theoretically) let you build a free website, but they involve further costs as you get ready to publish and market. Likewise, even though a few paid website building and hosting services offer a free plan or fall in a pretty basic range anywhere from $5-50 per month depending on the complexity, there can be a lot of hidden charges beyond your monthly subscription fee when you consider themes, apps, data migration and a host of other requirements you might have in the future.
Understanding both what’s involved in using small business site builders service and what you and your small business need for your particular circumstances will help you cut through the marketing spin and make the right choice. Remember, don’t focus too much on the pricing plan or believe that the premium plan is automatically the best. The right web builder could be a free plan or a basic plan, it all depends on what your small business truly needs.
If you are looking for a reliable and high-functioning web builder, you have come to the right place. In this guide, we’ve put together the best professional web builders for small businesses and their features so you can find the right one for you.
Why compare small business website builders
Even though many popular website builders are on the market, it’s hard to pick one that’d fit every business’s needs.
If you’re just getting started, you’ll want to find an intuitive website builder that’ll not only help you achieve your business goals but you’ll also actually enjoy using it. After all, building a website isn’t just a one-off process. As your business grows, you’ll want to have the full flexibility of updating your website and its content.
At the same time, you’ll want to make sure that your website builder will help your get your business found online. The website you build with it needs to be optimized for the search engines and integrate well with other marketing channels like email, social media, or paid ads.
Types of Small Business Websites
As we mentioned above, when taking your business online, you need to determine what kind of website you want to have. Thus, we have compiled a list of different types of websites you can choose from for your business.
- eCommerce site – if you want to sell products online, an eCommerce site is the most suitable solution for you. Also, if you already sell products and want to sell them online as well, an eCommerce site can help you with that too.
- Portfolio – having a portfolio is excellent for those who sell services, especially creative services. With a portfolio, you can show your work and share information on how people can contact you. Thus, portfolios are ideal for writers, artists, photographers, designers, and others who do similar work.
- Blog – with a blog, you can share written content, photos, and videos. If you want to share your ideas or want to do content marketing, a blog can be the ideal type of website for you.
- Booking website – with an online booking system embedded into your website, you can take customer appointments through digital channels. You can use it to accept or decline appointments and replace your process of making appointments in person or over the phone. This type of website is great for salons, make-up studios, medical offices, and consultants.
These are a few types of websites you can make for your small business; however, they are not the only ones. There are other types of websites that you can make, but the ones mentioned above are the most popular and common types that have proved to be successful.
Check Out Our Top 10 Best Small business Website Builders:
- HostPapa – Best Website Builder for Customer Support
- Wix – Best overall website builder for small businesses.
- Squarespace – Best for brand creation and building.
- GoDaddy – Best for setting up a website fast.
- Weebly – Best value for money.
- Shopify – Best for eCommerce.
- Jimdo – Best for its hands-off ADI platform.
- org – Best for flexibility.
- HostGator – Best for simplicity.
- Site123 – Best for reliable site speed.
1. HostPapa – Best Website Builder for Customer Support
HostPapa is a less-known website builder which provides pretty excellent services, and it is perfect for small businesses. HostPapa has been on the market since 2006, and since then, it has tried to keep up with the big giants in the industry. It is a very easy-to-use website builder, offers excellent support in more than one language, and it provides hundreds of templates that allow you to build the website of your dreams.
HostPapa Unique Features:
Extensive support options
One of the strongest sides of HostPapa is its support. Their team makes sure to help its customers in numerous ways. They offer 24/7 support through phone, mail, email, ticketing, live chat, and even fax. One of the best things is that their phone support is available in 18 countries. Also, HostPapa is one of the few website builders that provide their support in different languages, such as English, German, Spanish, and French.
If you thought that was all, you are mistaken. HostPapa offers a unique support feature, a one-on-one session with ‘Papa Squad Experts.’ They provide tutorials using a phone or a video conference. We were also positively surprised when it came to their live chat channel. You should receive a response in under a minute, and they answer your questions in less than two minutes.
Various designs and templates
Using a website builder with built-in themes can save you time and headaches. Picking a web design template for your site may be challenging, but HostPapa makes sure you won’t face any issues with that. Its designer-quality templates help you add in your own flare within a predefined layout. Also, it provides pre-designed building blocks. Pre-designed building blocks simplify adding modules and sections to your site to have the necessary space and structure for your content. Most importantly, you won’t need to figure out how to put all of that together.
Don’t think your website will look dull just because you are using ready templates. In fact, HostPapa makes sure that you will deliver uniqueness with your website by using their flexible themes, suitable for each kind of website. Lastly, to add some professional touch to your small business website, HostPapa provides photo filters, background overlays, and color scheme adjustments.
Easy-to-use
When starting a small business, one of the most important things is to choose an easy-to-use website builder. With HostPapa, there is nothing you should worry about, as it comes with the famous and straightforward control panel – cPanel. From there, you can manage your profile, domains, services, websites, and billing settings. In other words, you can do everything that needs to be done. The cPanel is very easy to use and innovative, and it should suit both – beginners and advanced users.
HostPapa is definitely one of our picks for a small business-friendly website builder. Its numerous designs, support options, and affordable starting prices make this website builder suitable for your small business needs.
Besides being a very straightforward website builder and providing incredible support, HostPapa also comes with affordable starting prices that are suitable for everyone who wants to develop a website for a small business. It also comes with fantastic security features.
Pros:
- Easy-to-use
- Extensive support options
- Numerous design themes
- Proactive security features
- The basic plan supports up to two websites instead of one
Cons:
- No free backups
- Higher renewal prices
2. Wix – Best overall website builder for small businesses
Wix is a greatly popular website builder. It is a drag-and-drop builder that is easy to use and allows users to customize their website however they want. Wix has been around for a long time now, since 2006. And ever since then, Wix has been improving and simplifying its website builder so that everyone can use it. Also, Wix is very flexible and allows users to move elements around within a present grid so that they can customize their sites and organize the elements.
Wix Unique features:
Easy to use
As we mentioned, Wix has been working to improve its ease of use ever since it started. Consequently, it is one of the most easy-to-use website builders and a perfect fit for those who do not have a tech background. Wix has a drag-and-drop editing interface that allows users to design and customize their website simply by dragging and dropping pictures and text boxes to the places they want them to be. The same thing applies to Wix’s online store builder.
Also, to make it even easier to use, Wix has an ADI builder that can design your whole website for you. The only thing you would need to do is answer some questions about your website and what you want it to look like, and the ADI builder will create it for you.
Customization
Wix offers more than 800 high-quality professional templates for its users to choose from, which cover all types of businesses. Also, more than 118 templates are specifically designed just for eCommerce sites, which is something that many other website builders offer.
You can also add a few useful features to your template, including:
- Creating and sending invoices;
- Tracking payments;
- Add quizzes, surveys, and contact forms;
- Add online booking forms for scheduling appointments;
SEO tools
Recently, Wix partnered with Deepcrawl to create custom-designed SEO tools for Wix users. The SEO tools are built explicitly for the Wix app store and can get websites listed on Google within 60 seconds. Also, Wix’s SEO tools can continually improve your website’s Google ranking and get it further up so that people will see it more easily and click on it.
Wix’s mix of beginner-friendly, easy-to-use, and powerful tools and affordable prices make it the best overall website builder for small businesses. Check out our expert review if you want to know more about the company and what it offers.
Wix is best known for its easy-to-use website builder and competitive prices that are ideal for small businesses. It is also known for providing hundreds of high-quality templates to its users.
Pros:
- Easy-to-use
- It doesn’t require any coding skills
- Numerous design themes
- Multichannel integration
- Many options for customization
Cons:
- A little worse customer support than its competitors
- Slower loading speeds
- The free plan has ads
3. Squarespace – Best for brand creation and building
Squarespace is another famous website builder which is ideal for small businesses due to its affordable prices and beautiful designs. Squarespace focuses primarily on the creative side of website building with its sleek designs and social media integration tools. Squarespace’s websites are always aesthetically pleasing and hard to forget. The focus of Squarespace’s designs is to catch the eye of those who visit it and be interesting enough to make people stick around longer.
Squarespace’s Unique features:
Built-in tools
Squarespace has many built-in tools, including functionality that allows users to accept credit card payments, create gift cards, track customers, and more. Also, Squarespace has a built-in online booking tool. Users can sell spots on their calendars for consultations or custom work with that tool. Also, with Squarespace, users can sell memberships and subscriptions.
Design
Squarespace has over 100 templates designed by professionals that cover many types of business sectors, from flower shops to real estate companies. Squarespace’s high-quality templates give off both aesthetic and professional vibes and aim to catch the eye of everyone who sees them. So, with those templates, you can make your website look as professional as possible without having to write any code by yourself.
Customization
What makes Squarespace the best website builder for brand creation and brand building is its excellent customization tools. You can communicate your brand’s values and make your website truly your own with it. You can customize everything, like fonts and colors, sidebar width, background photos, and more. And, if you want to rebrand in the future, you can easily redesign your site when you want. However, keep in mind that you cannot switch templates once your site is live.
Squarespace is our pick for the best website builder for brand creation and building with its sleek and professional designs and numerous design and customization tools.
Squarespace is best known for its sleek and aesthetically pleasing designs. It is ideal for small businesses and artists that want to communicate their brand values through their website.
Pros:
- Aesthetically pleasing designs
- Many built-in tools
- Drag-and-drop site builder
- Ability to sell on social media
- Affordable prices
Cons:
- Slower site speed compared to other website builders
- No access to most third-party applications
4. GoDaddy – Best for setting up a website fast
The GoDaddy website builder is a service provided by the GoDaddy web hosting company. As such, the GoDaddy website builder comes with GoDaddy hosting included in its price. GoDaddy is an excellent choice for individuals and businesses that want a simple website and want to have it active online as soon as possible.
GoDaddy Unique features:
Easy to use and fast to set up
Thanks to its ADI, GoDaddy is very easy to use. The ADI can build the whole website for you based on questions you answer about your website. So, you won’t need to hire an experienced developer or IT person to help you create your website. Also, you won’t have to learn how to code; the ADI website builder will do everything for you.
Also, with the help of the ADI, GoDaddy is able to set up your website ultra-fast – in less than an hour. All you got to do is answer a few questions about your website, and you’re good to go. However, if you don’t want the ADI to build your website and want to do it yourself, the process is still ultra-fast, and your website will be online in a matter of minutes.
Image editor
GoDaddy has an advanced image editor built-in. With it, users can create high-quality, professional content, like business announcements, promotions, ads, and logos. Also, they can use that content across multiple platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter.
All in all, GoDaddy’s image editor is a powerful and helpful tool that can help you spread your business and let a lot of people know that you exist.
Customer support
GoDaddy provides numerous help documents and has an elaborate help database. Users can find answers to almost all of their questions in the database. Also, GoDaddy has a very active community with people that are eager to help and answer questions.
If you don’t like researching to find the answers you need, GoDaddy has a phone and live chat support where you can talk with a live agent directly. GoDaddy’s agents are always pleasant, friendly, and ready to help users with everything they need.
The GoDaddy website builder is a swift solution for small businesses looking to build their online presence.
GoDaddy is known for having one of, if not the fastest set-up processes on the market. Its ADI website builder allows GoDaddy to be able to set up your site ultra-fast – in a matter of minutes.
Pros:
- Ultra-fast set-up
- Hands-off ADI website builder
- Excellent digital marketing tools
- Suitable for desktop, mobile, and tablet users
- No tech skills required
Cons:
- Not suitable for larger businesses
- Not suitable for content-rich websites
5. Weebly – Best value for money
Weebly is one of the cheapest website builders for small businesses that are ideal for those who run on a tighter budget. And since we are talking about small businesses here, having a cheaper option on the list is imperative. Most small businesses do not have many resources when they’re starting, so Weebly might prove to be the ideal website builder for those businesses.
Weebly Unique features:
Value for money
Providing the best value for money is where Weebly shines the most. Its affordable prices and powerful built-in features make Weebly the best website provider when it comes to value. In addition to having a free plan, Weebly’s paid plans are a lot cheaper than its competitors’ plans. For instance, for only 12 dollars a month, you will get a plan packed with powerful features that can help your business get to the top.
Easy to use
Like many other website builders, Weebly has a drag-and-drop editor that allows users to see the changes they make in real-time. It might prove to be a little more challenging to use than perhaps Wix, but everyone can learn how to use it with practice.
Wide range of apps and integrations
Weebly offers many apps that you can use for your website. Some of those apps include email retargeting for inbound marketing and social media integrations, and more. Adding apps on Weebly is a pretty easy task that anyone can do.
Great speed
Since Weebly hosts its website itself with the help of its dedicated servers, the pages on Weebly websites load fast. Having fast-loading times boosts your website’s SEO because search engine algorithms judge load times as a ranking factor.
Weebly is a popular website builder that offers a lot of features for very affordable prices.
Weebly is best known for providing beautiful websites at very low prices. So, it is known for providing the best value for money on the market.
Pros:
- There is a free plan
- There is an ADI option
- Drag-and-drop site platform and online store builder
- Mobile-friendly
- Intuitive dashboard
Cons:
- Limited SEO abilities
- Tricky to customize
6. Shopify – Best for eCommerce
Shopify is by far one of the most popular online store builders out there. It is also a great website builder in general that many small businesses use for their websites. However, if you want your website to have an online store, then Shopify is the builder for you. The website builder’s primary focus is on selling online, and it comes with highly advanced eCommerce features. At its core, Shopify offers everything an online store needs, and users do not need to know how to code or any other tech-related things to use it.
Shopify Unique features:
24/7 tech support
Shopify takes customer support very seriously and has an experienced team that is available around the clock for Shopify users. It does not require users to pay extra for 24/7 support because it wants to keep its customers satisfied and content.
Agile marketing
Shopify has an agile marketing approach that is suitable for both small and medium-sized businesses and enables them to stand out from their competition. Also, Shopify’s agile marketing approach helps businesses get rid of SEO problems and rank better on Google. Shopify has dozens of powerful marketing tools you can use to boost your overall marketing strategy. Those marketing tools include email marketing, social media, product reviews, and more. Also, with Shopify, you can create discount coupons for your website as well.
Shopify websites are mobile-friendly
People are using their phones for almost everything nowadays. They use their smartphones to pay their bills, buy groceries, clothes, and virtually everything else. So, if your website is not mobile-friendly, you would be missing out on a lot. Millions of potential customers are waiting for you out there, and having a mobile-friendly website will help you find them.
Also, you can manage your whole Shopify website from Shopify’s mobile app which is available for both Apple and Android phones. Shopify is the best online store builder for small businesses. It offers many powerful tools and features.
Shopify is best at building online stores and selling both digital and physical products. It is the best website builder for those that want to sell products online and want to have a website that displays all of the products they offer.
Pros:
- Wide range of apps
- It has all the features that a small business might need
- 24/7 customer support
- It offers hundreds of pre-built designs for online stores
- Wide range of built-in digital marketing tools
Cons:
- Not very suitable for those that want many customization options
- If you are using a third-party payment gateway, you have to pay additional transaction fees
7. Jimdo – Best for its hands-off ADI platform
Jimdo is a website builder that focuses specifically on self-employed people who are starting their own small businesses. Since it focuses on the self-employed, it offers services and features that are easy to use and tailored for small businesses on the come-up. Also, its websites are mobile-friendly and can adapt to every screen size. Jimdo’s website builder is efficient, and its ADI functionality allows users to have a fast, hands-off website building experience.
Jimdo Unique features:
Easy to use
Thanks to its ADI functionality, Jimdo is very easy to use as it uses the information you give it to create your website for you. Since the website builder creates your website for you, you can jump straight to customizing your website instead of building the whole website from zero.
Features
With Jimdo, you can add elements like YouTube and Vimeo videos, pictures, and maps to your website. Even though there is no mobile app for Jimdo, websites on Jimdo work pretty well on both smartphones and tablets.
Also, you can edit virtually every area of your website fast and easily. A mobile app available for Jimdo’s classic editor called Jimdo Creator is available for Apple and Android users. Jimdo’s shop feature is specifically designed for small online stores and includes a range of payment options like direct debit, credit cards, and PayPal.
Jimdo also has a Support Center with many specific articles that can help you with your website. Jimdo is a great website builder with ADI functionality that makes creating a website very easy and fast. Jimdo is best known for its hands-off ADI functionality that makes website creation a breeze for its users.
Pros:
- Affordable prices
- Free plan
- Easy to use
- Beginner-friendly
- Mobile-friendly
Cons:
- Limited features
- Lags a little behind its competitors
8. WordPress.org – Best for flexibility
WordPress.org is one of the most popular website-building platforms. It is an open-source platform that is free to use for anyone. Remember that you will need to purchase a domain name and web hosting to use WordPress.org. WordPress.org is one of the most flexible platforms out there, and it is easy to use even for beginners. With it, you can create page posts, customize your website, add menus, and more. Also, it is imperative not to confuse WordPress.org with WordPress.com, as they are two separate platforms.
WordPress Unique features:
Flexibility
WordPress.org allows you to create any type of website, including a personal website or blog, a business website, professional portfolio, photoblog, government website, magazine, news website, online community, and a network of websites. You can also build your own application and use various plug-ins and themes for your website or application.
WordPress.org is available in more than 70 languages, and you can choose the language of your preference easily to build and manage your website. Also, you can use WordPress.org in any way you want, whether to install it, distribute it, modify it, or use it.
Managing tools
Managing your website and its content is pretty straightforward with WordPress.org. You can create drafts, look at your post revisions, and schedule publication with WordPress.org. Also, you can make your content private or public and secure your pages and posts with a password.
Plug-ins
WordPress.org is packed with various plug-ins that you can use. Some are free, and some are paid. With WordPress.org’s plug-ins, you can add complex galleries, social media widgets, social networking, forums, calendars, spam protection, fine-tune controls for SEO, and forms.
WordPress community
WordPress has a large and supportive community online that provides help to those in need. There are many support forums where you can ask questions and receive help from a volunteer. Also, you can attend a WordCamp or Meetup to learn more about WordPress. What’s more, there are many blog posts and tutorials about WordPress online that you can read and watch for free.
WordPress.org offers thousands of powerful plug-ins and an outstanding flexibility level to anyone who needs it.
WordPress.org is best known for the freedom and flexibility it allows its users to have when creating and managing their websites. With WordPress.org, users are free to do whatever they want and customize their site as much as they need.
Pros:
- Drag-and-drop editor
- Free to use
- Easy to use
- Beginner-friendly
- Powerful SEO and Marketing tools
Cons:
- If you do not want to be entirely in charge of maintaining your website, you will need to buy managed WordPress hosting
- The set-up process is longer compared to other website builders
9. Gator – Best for simplicity
The Gator website builder was made by HostGator – a famous web hosting company. HostGator created its website builder for all of those who do not possess any technical expertise and are in need of a basic website. Thus, the Gator website builder is one of the most simple website builders on the market. Its mix of an intuitive drag-and-drop editor and pre-made templates makes it so that users won’t have to do anything by themselves except pick what they like for their website.
Gator Unique features:
Blogging Tools
Gator has all of the blogging tools you could need to build and manage your blog. The pre-made templates are both modern and attractive, and you can easily add elements like a header image, text formatting, tags, and edit the post’s URL with Gator’s drag-and-drop editor. Also, you can inline videos or pictures, headings, and links and designate a post as Pinned or Featured.
Gator also lets you switch templates with a few simple clicks. Also, like with WordPress.org, you can save a post as a draft with Gator before publishing it.
Mobile-friendly
Gator is one of those website builders that offer customization for mobile consumption. For the mobile version of your site, you can hide elements that you think do not fit in the mobile version, change padding, alignment, and the spacing of page elements. Also, you can customize the background, tweak your online store, and rearrange sections.
Analytics
Gator includes quite a few analytics tools that can be very useful to you. For example, you can see the last 30 days’ worth of unique visitors, page views, total visitors, and bounce rate. Also, you can see how much time visitors spend on your site, which is their preferred language, geographic location, and other user information. If you have an online store with Gator, Gator will track your visitors, revenue, and orders for you.
Overall, the Gator website builder is ideal for those who need something simple yet powerful.
The Gator website builder is known for its simple yet powerful features that include beautiful templates, the ability to sell products, and strong uptime.
Pros:
- Drag-and-drop editor
- Many professional themes you can pick from
- Easy to use
- Beginner-friendly
- Low prices
Cons:
- Limited features
- No free plan
- Small choice of apps
10. Site123 – Best for reliable site speed
Site123 is another website builder suitable for small businesses as it makes creating a website pretty easy. As the name implies, creating a website with Site123 is composed of three steps: choosing a design, adding content, and going live. You can create a blog or an online store with Site123. Site123 offers a free and premium plan, so you can try it out and test whether it is the right website builder for you at no cost.
Site123 Unique features:
Support
Site123 offers excellent customer support, which users can get via email, social media, Site123’s knowledge base, and live chat. The live chat is available at all hours and provides fast and valuable responses. What’s best, the live chat option will always be available on the same page as the one you are editing, so you will not have to leave the page in order to contact someone from Site123’s support team.
Integration with Social Media
With Site123, you can link your website with 25 social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Instagram, Linkedin, Pinterest, Slack, Snapchat, and more. However, your website will only be displayed as an icon in the footer of your website pages.
Analytics
Many website builders offer their own analytics to their users. However, Site123 supplies its users with analytics via Google Analytics. Google Analytics is a trusted software that shows accurate and fast results, so it is a great way for you to track your analytics and know that the numbers you are seeing are accurate and up to date.
SEO
Site123 offers the basic SEO tools that can help you rank as high as possible on search engines like Google. It allows you to edit the meta title and meta description, customize your URLs, and add alt text to images. Also, Site123 has guides that show you how to do everything that we mentioned above, so you are covered on all ends.
Site123 is the last website builder on our list that is worth trying out if you want something simple and want to get help at all times.
Site123 is best known for its quick and simple set-up process and its low prices. It also has excellent customer support, especially from its live chat option.
Pros:
- Mobile and tablet-friendly
- Free plan
- Easy to use
- Excellent support
- Low prices
Cons:
- Users cannot change templates once their website is live
- Not suitable for those that need more flexibility and freedom
Summary
After researching and finding the best website builders for small businesses, we have chosen our top 10 picks with the help of our ranking system. So, if you want to find out which website builder is best for your business, you can use our recommendations as a guide and find the perfect match for your business.
Choosing a website builder is a tedious and demanding task, even more so for those who do not know what to look for. Also, there is a lot of tech talk surrounding website builders so it can be extra hard for those with no tech knowledge. Due to those reasons, we have compiled a list of our Top 10 Best Small Business Website Builders so that you can easily choose which builder is best for you and your needs.