If you are a small business owner, startup, or entrepreneur and want to develop a website for your business, you either going to hire a website development agency or build your own website by using a DIY website builder.
While most small businesses and individuals which lack budget, they mostly opt for a website builder. But again, there are many website builders on the Internet. The first and most important question arises which is the best website builder, especially for small-scale businesses.
And this question matters a lot because every website builder has its own technical advantages and disadvantages which affect the website and its business prospects. But choosing the right website builder isn’t a rocket-science decision.
Whether you are
-a small business owner who wants to expand his business scope through a website
-a startup that needs digital presence or initial push
-Entrepreneur who want to present or expand his business concept
or artist, photographer, traveler, vlogger, consultant, blogger, writer, cook who want to increase business scope through a website, there is a perfect website builder for everyone.
And today in this blog, eSearch Logix will tell you which is the best website builder for small businesses and startups in 2022.
By the end of this blog, you will learn some important features about website builders that would help you choose the right platform for your website development.
So why wait then? Let’s start!
What is a Website Builder?
A website builder is a Do-it-Yourself (DIY) web development tool or software platform that allows anyone to quickly and easily build a website. It doesn’t require any professional coding or programming knowledge. Anyone with basic understanding of web can build website using a DIY website builder.
While most businesses are often confused in Hiring a Web Designer or Using a Website Builder, small businesses can make the best out of website builder. How?
Suppose you want to sell your products directly through online store, then a website builder will enable you to set up an online store by allowing you to:
- Create new product pages
- Fix your website menu
- Add an eCommerce blog to the site
- Upload and position your own images
- Change the background and colors of the different parts your online store
- Put your own personalized content
- Add media files
What Features Make the Best Website Builder?
There is no single formula to decide the best website builder. However, which platform is good for you is determined by the features it has and how to empower you to set up the site for your small business and establish a digital presence to attract potential target customers.
Being a professional website development company in India, eSearch Logix knows what features make the best website builder, especially for small businesses and startups. Here are those key features that make a good website builder:
- Ease of use
- Quality of website design templates and themes
- Website design template customization options
- Pre-formatted web page layouts
- eCommerce solutions
- Form builder
- Image galleries and image editing
- Blogging tool
- Social sharing functionality
- eCommerce integration
- Social media integration
- Website analytics and reports
- Custom domain name
- Domain email hosting
Why Small Businesses Should Use Website Builder in 2022?
Having a small business doesn’t mean your ability is small. Whether you are planning to expand your business locally, nationally, or internationally, a website builder gives you the power to establish your online presence at the most affordable budget range.
Website development is not just a single-day task you will need to regularly optimize your website for SEO to generate maximum leads and conversions. Here, website builder enables you to customize the site according to your future needs and market trends.
2022 is the year of new web development trends. According to the research study, the global Website Builder Software Market was estimated at USD 7,210 Million in 2019 and is expected to reach USD 13,600 Million by 2026. The global Website Builder Software Market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9% from 2019 to 2027.
As competition in the website builder software market is growing, top website builders like Squarespace, WIX.com, Shopify, Zoho, Weebly, BigCommerce, GoDaddy, HubSpot are providing advanced web development features to businesses at the most competitive prices.
If you pay attention to the recent market report in 2021, it tells that
- Around 71% of small businesses have a website
- 38% of people will stop interacting with a poorly designed site
- 3% of small businesses plan to invest in web performance
- Over half of eCommerce revenue is generated on mobile
- Nearly half of Google searches are for local businesses
- Consistent branding can increase conversions by 33%
- Businesses that blog get 67% more leads per month
(Source: fitsmallbusiness.com)
And a good website builder can help you take these competitive advantages in 2022:
- You can develop a website faster
- It costs less than a designer
- You have control over the web UX look and overall feel
- You don’t have to be a coder or developer
- You will have more flexibility
- Your employees can make changes to your website without training
- You can make site updates from anywhere
- Your website looks good on your smartphone
- Adding media features is easy
So are you feeling motivated to use it now?
Best Website Builders for Small Business and Startups in 2022
- Squarespace – Best Website Builder Overall
Squarespace is among the most popular DIY website builders that provide all the top features to build a website. It has in-built functionality which allows you to create an eCommerce store, blog, portfolios site, a small business website or create a landing page.
Squarespace is famous for its award-winning web design templates. Most of its templates are modern, bold, and minimalistic in design developed by professional web designers. It has user-friendly site editor and easy to drag-and-drop tools.
Key Features:
- User-friendly site editor
- Professionally web design templates
- Versatile with 100+ integrations
- AMP formatting available
- Good number of apps for additional functionality
- 24/7 customer support
- Good balance between design options and ease-of-use
What Makes it Unique: Squarespace allows you to enable AMP (Accelerated mobile pages) that reduces the size of images and improve site loading speed on mobile devices.
Forbes Ranking: 4.2 5
Best for: Photographers, travel bloggers, designers, and artists.
Pricing: Plans start at $12 per month
- Weebly– Best Website Builder for Low-cost Online Stores
Weebly is a good website builder reputed for its solid, low-cost, dynamic, and ease of use features. In 2008, Weebly was acquired by Square that integrated the power of square’s e-commerce expertise and Weebly’s drag-and-drop editor feature.
Weebly is the best option for retailers who want to sell more effectively and efficiently. Weebly gives you a lot of options to customize your site. You can select a design as per the industry or niche and add elements like text boxes and buttons. It contains the features to assist you build the audience through email and social media marketing tools.
Key Features:
- Affordable premium plans
- Real estate MLS integration
- Allow creating a membership site
- Accept recurring payments
- Sell gift cards online
- Hundreds of free stylish themes
- Unlimited storage & bandwidth
- eCommerce integrations
What Makes it Unique: You can switch themes in case you don’t like the Weebly themes keeping the content same.
Forbes Ranking: 4.4/5
Best for: Small business, local business, retailers, bloggers, creative designers, entrepreneurs, and eCommerce stores.
Pricing: Plans start at $6 per month
- GoDaddy– Best Website Builder for Service Providers
GoDaddy is one of the best website builders which has built its reputation in a short period of time. It is mainly popular for its domain registration and web hosting services. It has a comprehensive set of features that allow you to create a custom business website.
GoDaddy is highly easy to use as it requires zero technical skill. You can select a template you like and begin adding your content through an easy drag-and-drop editor. Its all-in-one domain registration, web host, and website builder contain the functionality to support you with digital marketing and search engine optimization.
Key Features:
- Extremely easy to use
- Capable to swap out templates after customization
- Solid in-built appointment booking system
- Unmetered bandwidth
- Artificial intelligence-based tools for design
- 24/7 customer support
What Makes it Unique: The unique feature of GoDaddy is that it uses artificial design intelligence to design a website based on your requirements and allows you to add stock images.
Forbes Ranking: 4.4/5
Best for: service-based small businesses like consulting agencies, fitness centers, spas, salons, marketing and SEO agency.
Pricing: Plans start at $9.99 per month
- Wix– Best Website Builder for Online store
Wix is another top website builder that offers something for everyone. It has a versatile drag-and-drop site editor which doesn’t restrict to content blocks. Wix offers great design freedom to create a highly customized website. It provides tons of features and capabilities, making it a good choice for all types of businesses.
If design is not your primary choice then Wix cloud is the best builder for your small business or startup. It has a limited range of premium templates. Wix is also popular as the best free website builder. You can use the free plans to build the website but on a subdomain with Wix display ads.
Key Features:
- 900+ designer-made templates
- 250+ apps and third-party integrations
- Easy to use
- Sell physical and digital products
- Customization capabilities
- Accept online bookings, reservations, and appointments
What Makes it Unique: Wix provides one of the largest libraries for those who is looking for an all-in-one website builder.
Forbes Ranking: 4.0/5
Best for: New small business owners, eCommerce businesses, retailers, online stores, shops.
Pricing: Plans start at $14 per month
- Shopify– Best Website Builder for eCommerce
Shopify is a widely known eCommerce website builder. It allows you to build your own online store, which is perfect for businesses that want to sell products through a website. Shopify is known for having a good collection of third-party mobile apps that can be added to your site.
Its editor isn’t an easy drag-and-drop editor; it may take a bit extra time to learn it. Shopify offers paid plans with in-built shopping carts and marketing features to support you sell online. Shopify is probably the best eCommerce website builder with over one million users globally. It is easy to use and very comfortable for beginners.
Key Features:
- Built-in SEO and marketing tools
- Powerful point-of-sale (POS) inventory
- Great eCommerce features and tools
- Large number of integrations
- mobile app marketplace
- Drop shipping options available
- 24/7 customer support
What Makes it Unique: Shopify offers its web development services at the most affordable cost at $9 per month. It allows store owners to add a button to website that they already own like blog.
Forbes Ranking: 4.0/5
Best for: Shopify is the best website builder for serious eCommerce small businesses. It is meant for developing online stores especially. Shopify is a good option for brick-and-mortar businesses that want to sell inventory online as well.
Pricing: Shopify Lite plan starts at $9 per month
- SiteSnip– Best Website Builder for Startups
SiteSnip is an emerging DIY website builder which has been developed by eSearch Logix itself. This platform enables you to easily develop, design, and manage your web presence flawlessly.
SiteSnip is designed for modern business people, entrepreneurs, and startups who want to creatively design a website with the latest functionality. It has free SiteSnip subdomain to give you the initial push to start your business online. It has a smooth editor that assists you design and customize the website with high-quality templates.
Key Features:
- Custom domains
- Free SiteSnip subdomains
- Easy-to-use editor to create and launch website
- Award-winning web design templates
- Powerful tools to help you grow your business
- High customization features
What Makes it Unique: It is extremely easy to use and cost-efficient. Anyone can start from scratch or select from a large catalog of modern templates to make your own website.
Forbes Ranking: NA
Best for: Startups, small businesses, and entrepreneurs
Pricing: Offers free trial. SiteSnip is also a popular Free Website Builder. Premium plans also available.
- MyShopWop– Best Website Builder for Online Store
MyShopWop is a highly-advanced eCommerce website development platform owned by eSearch Logix. It is SaaS-based software equipped with modern tools and features to create an online store quickly and easily.
MyShopWop has been developed especially considering today’s eCommerce business requirements. It lets you set up your store seamlessly, validate your business, and get market share faster than your competitors.
It has built-in eCommerce marketing tools to empower you analyze your marketing campaign and sell you more. It has highly easy-to-use customization features to design the store easily.
Key Features:
- Easy Customization
- eCommerce marketing tools
- Over 2000 community members
- Faster online store setup and launching features
- POS system
- Use subdomain or custom domain
- Google Tag Manager (GTM)
- Inventory Management
- Popular APIs
- SEO tools
What Makes it Unique: It has a comprehensive suite of modern features such as Inventory Management, Customer Panel, Google Tag Manager (GTM), Whatsapp API, with heavy storage size at highly affordable prices.
Forbes Ranking: NA
Best for: MySHopWop is meant for small businesses and startups who want quickly establish their brand online. It has a large number of community number and happy store owners.
Pricing: MyShop is a free eCommerce website builder but also offer premium plans for starter business and enterprises.
Also Read: Affordable SEO Services for Startups
The Final Verdict
To conclude, there is no magical all-in-one platform that comes with all extraordinary features. The best website builder is one that gives you all the essential power to build and maintain a modern website with the right balance between cost and features.
You need to ask yourself to narrow things down and be clear about what you want from a website builder. Do you just want to establish your online presence? Or, do you seriously want to sell online and make more customers?
Analyze all these important things while comparing the website builders and choose an option that fits your needs and budget. Squarespace is overall the best. But for eCommerce, you can choose Shopify, BigCommerce, MySHopWop, or Magento. Even if you are not sure, take a free trial and check how much it is good for your business.
Now, the mike is over to you.
Which website builder do you think is the best? What factors do you consider while selecting a website builder?
Share your knowledgeable thoughts in the below comment box and let our audience know something useful from you.
Or if you want more help in developing a website, consult eSearch Logix, which is a reputed name in website development. We have highly-experienced web developers and software engineers who use modern technology such as AI & ML-based algorithms, advanced programming to build your website at almost same cost with features that a website builder can offer you.
We are saying this because we have our own DIY website builders SiteSnip and MyShopWop.
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