8 Best Small Business Website Builders for 2021

There’s never been a better time to bring your small business to the internet. With the world’s change into the digital age and the push from the pandemic, there are plenty of benefits from turning to the internet for the growth of your small business. Why wouldn’t you want to have an online presence when so many people turn to their phones or computers to get information.

It doesn’t matter whether you're a local deli or sell custom-made metalwork, you can prosper from having a professional website.

If you’re a small business owner and you’re looking to bring your product or service to the internet, then you must be here to find the greatest website builder for your needs and skills.

Many of the website builders below offer free versions, but you’re here to build an online segment of your business that will require you to buy one of the premium plans, yet I’ve kept everyone’s budget in mind.

The list below takes into consideration the important factors such as budget, user-friendliness, and what is offered. There are tons of website builders out there, but these pack the biggest punch for their budget. These are the best website builders for 2021 to help you get your small business into the digital territory:

●    Wix

●    Squarespace

●    WordPress

●    Weebly

●    GoDaddy

●    HostGator

●    Shopify

1. Wix

There’s a reason why Wix is at the top of the list, it’s an excellent host for website building that will bring your small business to internet life. Not everyone is tech-savvy, so Wix made their setup and customization a very easy process.

With an unlimited product limit, an online store, and different methods of receiving payments, Wix is a powerful user-friendly site that will give you all the bells and whistles with a reasonable price tag.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re trying to sell clothing or books, you can create an alluring piece that’s sure to draw in more business. There are multiple layout designs to choose from and for setup, it’s a simple drag-and-drop system that anyone can use. Nearly every portion of the Wix layout designs are customizable so you can have a site that stands out above the competition.

2. Squarespace

Another personal favorite and user-friendly website builder, Squarespace is a great drag-and-drop website. This website builder offers a free trial for 14-days, so you can test the website builder and see if it offers the digital space that you deserve for your product or services.

Beginners can create beautiful websites as if they’d studied the arts for years. Squarespace took into consideration that people who aren’t tech-savvy would come to their platform to do it themselves. No need to delegate your website creation to another.

Like Wix, they offer multiple design layouts and have a variety of ways to accept payments. I believe that Squarespace has the nicest templates for websites, you can see in this example or this one to understand why.

There are also features to create gift cards, track customer orders, and create clothing previews built-in to the site rather than require extra plugins to achieve such feats.

3. WordPress

You may have seen several websites that say powered by WordPress, well that’s because over 455 million sites use WordPress including some highly notable brands. WordPress offers a lot of useful functions for small business owners making your online side of the business a success.

The downside of using WordPress is that there is a bit of a learning curve due to site layout and the amount of control you’re given over your page. You could always delegate out the work to someone who can use WordPress to build your site, but it is well worth taking the time to build your site using this platform.

There are hundreds of incredibly useful plugins that make WordPress an even stronger choice. Each plugin will take a moment to learn its function, but with plugins, you get such things as apps that allow for both digital and physical sales or digital downloads. Here are some of the most used plugins for eCommerce on WordPress.

WordPress offers a multitude of layouts to choose from, some free while others must be purchased.

This is a great site if you want to include a blog to your e-commerce store with SEO and analytical tools to help you get the maximum reach.

4. Weebly

Another drag-and-drop website builder that comes with a very reasonable price tag. However, that price tag starts to go up as you add more features to your site, so you may find that by then you’re paying twice as much for all the features offered by the websites at the top of the list.

There have been reports of the site being a little glitchy with the design which can look bad for your layout if it isn’t caught, but the site is always improving.

Take your time while you’re building your Weebly website and you’ll create a beautiful online store. Besides the occasional glitches, however, this site seems to be the easiest for beginners to use that still provides a unique looking website.

5. GoDaddy

Of all the website builders on this list, GoDaddy offers the cheapest route and is designed to be so easy that a child could build it. Alongside a great price tag, this is the fastest site for building your business website.

The trade-off is that GoDaddy is all about functionality rather than aesthetics, so its design options are rather limited.

There’s a great support team behind GoDaddy which will help you with any issues you may run into while building or running your site. There’s a free 30-day free trial with GoDaddy, so if you aren’t satisfied with your website once it’s built, there is no loss to cancel it.

6. HostGator

HostGator is a very simple to use drag-and-drop website builder, but you must select the premium plan if you want to allow for any sort of e-commerce. There are many choices for design and you can have access to live feeds from Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook which brings another avenue of advertising and marketing into your hands.

HostGator is a great choice if you want to keep the online portion of your business sweet and simple, but if you’re looking for additional tools and features for your e-commerce, you’ll want to go with another.

7. Shopify

A slightly pricier choice, but Shopify offers a lot of powerful e-commerce tools to help your business. Let’s just say that they make you jump through a few hoops to learn the real costs involved. If you’re willing to pay the monthly price for this site, they do offer loads of features to help new online sellers get their product out in the digital space such as tutorials on how to set up the site and maximize sales.

This route might be a better choice if you have a high volume of product which you sell and plan to bring productivity to the internet.

To get the most out of Shopify requires purchasing more apps and themes. The site is a little more complicated to set up and requires a good amount of time to ensure your website is exactly as you like it.

8. SiteBuilder

A simple option for building your online store is SiteBuilder. As simple as it is to set up SiteBuilder is unfortunately as simple as the site comes out. This isn’t bad if you’re okay with a simple website.

 Sitebuilder is a good place to start at an affordable place, but it lacks some of the more finesse features that are offered with the websites mentioned above.

 I would only recommend using SiteBuilder if you struggle with technology, but still want to do it on your own. It’s a great place to get practice and start getting your business noticed on the internet.

Reasons to Bring Your Small Business to the Internet

You might not be wholly convinced that you need to bring your small business to the internet, but there are a lot of great reasons why you should.

 â—    Find New Customers- Having a website helps new customers find and learn about your business. This can help local people learn about you and your location.

●    Cheaper than Conventional Advertisement- The internet has provided a great place for advertising. Conventional methods of advertising have become expensive while having a website is a much cheaper means of getting your product or service in front of people. We don’t know how long it will stay this cheap.

●    Customers Expect Websites- Many people assume that a business will have some sort of online presence, it’s just sort of the way things have gone. It’s a great way to educate your clients on who you are and what you do. The digital world is changing how the real world operates.

●    Credibility- When you have a professional-looking website, consumers will give you more credibility. This shows that your an open book that is here to serve or sell to the public. Having your own website looks more professional than only having a social media page.

The benefits of an online store continue to grow. You may find that having an online presence for your business is what you’ve needed for years. If you need help, you can hire someone here to do your building for you.

Taking advantage of the free-trials offered by some of the website builders might give you the time you need to realize that having a digital side to your local business is a benefit.

Don’t let this cheap resource go by the wayside when it could bring a whole new dynamic to how your local business operates. It may be cheap now, but as we all know, the more things become beneficial to business, the more the price will go up.

Basics of Web Building

If you’re coming to the digital space with little technology experience, then it can be a little overwhelming. Originally, websites required HTML coding in order to build a beautiful website, but the sites mentioned above don’t require any HTML skills. A majority of site builders are drag-and-click which means that you simply move the sections of your webpage to where you want them. Here are a few tips to help you get going.

Though some of the sites above are harder to use than others, they are all learnable without having to take web development classes, which none of us really have the time for when trying to run a small business. Don’t let the fear of trying to make a beautiful site deter you as it can aid your small business by generating more awareness, customers, and revenue.