website builder benefits optionsWhen it comes to online representation of a business, websites are the best way to do so. Most of the businesses need to have their web presence through websites to reach out to more customers, display their products and services and generate leads. It is a great way to put forward the idea of the business in the online landscape. When it comes to building a website, a business can hire a professional web design agency or a web designer. But it can cost thousands of dollars to get a great looking website. For small businesses with strict budgets, website builders are the best way to go. Website builders for small business offer multiple features and functionalities which enable the business to develop a good website with little efforts, technical knowledge and time.

In this article, we will outline the key features a small business should look for, in website builders, their benefits and the different website builders that are available in the market.

Features

Website builders should have the two key features which make them an alluring option for the small businesses which don’t have any technical know-how.

  1. Pre-made templates is the first and foremost thing that a website builder should have. Almost all website builders rely on pre-made templates. These templates help in giving an overview of how the website will look in terms of fonts, design and colours. These templates can easily be customized, mainly through a template design panel which allows you to change the fonts and colours with few clicks.

    2. Modern website builders have thousands of templates to choose from which allow the businesses to make a unique looking website and avoiding a mirrored website of a competitor.

  1. The drag-and-drop editor is the second most valuable thing that a website builder should have. A good website builder comes with a drag-and-drop feature that is WYSIWYG editor or What You See IS What You Get. It allows you to drag page elements and then drop them anywhere you would like them to be viewed.

    2. You can easily add images, videos, text blocks, audio, dynamic content, and header simply by dragging the particular elements around on the page.

The Key Benefits of Website Builders are:

Aside from above-mentioned features, there are various salient benefits of using a website builder.

  1. You don’t have to install anything or any software on your computer.
  2. You can always work on your website from practically anywhere where you have an internet connection.
  3. The host is entirely responsible when it comes to updating of software as well as scripts for you.
  4. The web hosting charges are included in the price.
  5. Few website builders also come with a free domain name.
  6. You don’t need to have a knowledge of coding, but in case you do have basic technical know-how of HTML and CSS, then it helps.

All these benefits make website builders for small business an ideal choice.

Now let’s look at the most popular website builders that are present in the market with a brief description of them.

1. Wix

It is among the best premium website builders present in the market. It comes with a lot of templates for you to choose along with thousands of customization options. Its templates are quite responsive which essentially means that your website will appear good on mobile devices too. The interface is easier to use, and some plans also support e-commerce.

2. Weebly

It provides responsive templates as well as an easy-to-use website builder. One can easily customize the fonts, text colours and sizes. It also includes basic e-commerce functionalities with the integration of PayPal or Google Checkout. In case you are technically sound, then you can easily get into its HTML and CSS codes and get greater customization.

3. Jimdo

This is among the latest website builders for small business which allows you to create any website or a Jimdo Online store. Its templates are well-optimized for search engines. It also has its own mobile app for both iOS and Android which allows you to manage your website while you are not on your computer.

4. Squarespace

It is a user-friendly website builder interface with beautiful and alluring responsive templates. You can use Squarespace in order to build a simple landing page to a full website for your business. Its various plans allow you to sell your products online and it provides integration with both PayPal and Stripe for payment processing.

5. Webnode

At present, it has over 27 million registered users, and it is among the largest player in website builder market. It can easily be a great choice out of different website builders for small business. You can create a multilingual website which makes this website builder stand apart from its competitors. It also provides easy to create a backup of the website which can be restored when needed.

6. WebsiteBuilder

It is quite a new platform which has an impressive number of great templates. You can easily set up your own online store due to its easier integration with Ecwid, or you can create a personal or business website if you want.

7. Shopify

This website builder focuses majorly on e-commerce websites and offers templates which are optimized for selling products online. You can also add your own blog to the store. It provides integration with different payment processors as well as tools to manage inventory as well as print shipping labels along with offering discount codes.

Content Management Systems like WordPress

Last but not the least is content management systems which are not exactly site builders but do fall in the similar category. Among the most popular one is WordPress.

A CMS can easily be used to build a simple website or even more complex website along with an e-commerce store integrated with it. A CMS can offer the most amount of both control and flexibility, but the major issue is that it has a steeper learning curve in comparison with simple website builders for small business.

Along with numerous templates which are available, a CMS like WordPress can easily be expanded with available plugins or extensions.

WordPress powers around 28% of all the websites that we currently know about. It is quite popular for its nearly five-minute installation. Even though WordPress is more complex than other online website builders, it is still quite easy to learn. Its editor allows you to publish pages and posts using an interface which is similar to Microsoft Word.

You can also use it to create an e-commerce website through the WooCommerce plugin, or you can also create your own social network through its BuddyPress plugin. There are hundreds of plugins and themes which are available for WordPress, both paid and free.

Conclusion

To create an online identity of a business, a website plays a key role. But making a good website that reflects the business properly can be a tedious and costly task. That’s where website builders for small business come into the picture. There are numerous website builders that are available in the market which allows development of good looking, impressive websites. A person can easily build a great website for his business without any technical knowledge using these website builders. There are hundreds of templates that are available which allows you to choose from and make a unique website. These website builders come with editors which allows you to change the font, colours and sizes. They also have drag-and-drop features which allow easier creation of the website. They also come with e-commerce functionalities and integration with various payment methods. Website builders are great alternatives for small business which have a strict budget and want a cost-effective solution.