What is the best website builder for entrepreneurs?

Whether your small business has been running for a while or is just getting started, you might wonder why it is so important for your business to have an online presence. Research shows that a staggering 93% of consumers used the internet to find a local business in the last year and that 87% of consumers read reviews for local businesses. This means that having a website is a non-negotiable since it opens your business up to more potential customers, as well as offers you greater flexibility and control over your brand’s online presence compared to social media, increasing its credibility.

While building a website can appear to be a complicated and expensive exercise, requiring coders and designers, that doesn’t have to be the case at all! A number of tools have sprung up over the years to reduce the complexity and costs associated with creating and hosting websites, allowing even laypersons to put together simple websites that can be used as a customer touchpoint without the need to know how to code. In fact, with a bit of extra work, many of these tools allow one to build powerful websites that include functionality such as e-commerce using nothing but drag-and-drop editors. Given the number of options available, it’s a more cost-effective option for entrepreneurs to build their websites themselves, instead of paying someone else to do it for them. Here we look at a number of features to help you decide which website builder is right for your small business.

Which features are important for new business owners?

Costs: Although we can’t stress enough how important it is for your business to have a website, it shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg to create and host a professional website for your business. It’s important to check what can of payments you can expect because while most providers bill you monthly, some offer reduced rates if you pay annually.

Ease of Use & Support: Considering that you’re building the business’s website yourself to save costs, the solution should be easy enough that you don’t waste time trying to bring your ideas to life and end up frustrated. The ideal tool shouldn’t require any knowledge of coding, offer professional templates for you to base your designs on, and, should anything go wrong, provide you with personalised support no matter the time of day.

Features: As a small business, there are a few basic features that you’ll need in order for your website to appear professional and offer the core functionality that customers require. These include being able to link your own custom domain name and hosting your website. Some tools offer the ability to integrate plugins into your website, increasing the features available to you. While certainly powerful, they are not necessary for a basic business website. In fact, if your business has grown to the point where the website requires such advanced features (like comprehensive e-commerce functionality) – then it may be better to consider an outright e-commerce platform like Shopify, or you may consider hiring a professional to manage your website.

Reviews: Reviews are a great way to see what other users think about your chosen website-building platform. Here you’ll be able to quickly gauge how easy users find the tool, as well as the pros and cons they’ve found while using it, a great help in the decision-making process.

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