Every small business needs a strong online representation. It is not only about eCommerce websites that sell products on the Global Web. Having a solid site may result in wider accessibility as well as higher recognition and customer awareness of your brand among users worldwide. Whether you run a small fitness center or crave for selling services globally, building a website is an essential stage to handle a growing competition in the small business niche.
While most business owners search for the slightest chance to save a buck and refuse from hiring custom web developers and full-cycle agencies, website builders appear to be a better and more cost-effective alternative. On the one hand, users are not supposed to deal with coding or programming. No special skills are required. On the other hand, web-building software is affordable offering various plans to meet any budget. What is more, you can launch your small business online almost instantly. The path from signing in to publishing a ready-to-use site will hardly take you more than several hours. The only challenge is to choose a proper platform for your business. This is where our list of leading website builders for small business might be helpful.
Site123 is a great option for those who lack technical skills. The platform is extremely easy to learn and use thanks to the intuitive interface. Although professional developers and web designers might find the software pretty basic, newbies will appreciate its ease of use in addition to its core features.
SITE123 Features:
- Responsive Templates – SITE123 offers various themes for different types of websites that are ready to use on various mobile devices.
- Digital Store – The selection of themes includes ready-to-use online store templates for different types of online shops. Users only need to choose the template they want, add content, and start selling products online.
- Email Marketing – SITE123 allows integration with various tools necessary for user acquisition. They include email subscription instruments like MailChimp, Robly, GetResponse, and more.
- Multi Language Websites – You can reach a wider global audience with multilingual websites with SITE123. The system will automatically translate your text into the language you want as well as generate separate URLs for every website version.
- Custom Form Builder – This feature makes it easy to design and customize user’s unique custom forms. You can choose from 11 layouts available and change different elements, from send button text to running scripts.
SSL/HTTPS Encryption – SSL certification ensures website protection from attacks and online frauds. When you opt for SITE123, you get a built-in free SSL encryption protocol.
SITE123 Pricing
SITE123 offers several affordable plans that start from $10.80 per month for a basic package. However, you might need advanced plan to meet your small business requirements. It costs from $16.80/month, containing up to 1000 mailing list messages, 50 monthly orders, etc. If you need a more complex eCommerce website, A Professional Plan is the one you need. It costs from $22.80 per month. Try SITE123 today!
Designed particularly for building professional landing pages and small business websites, Ucraft is a good option for those who seek for a platform that is easy to use and update. The software lets users create straightforward business pages that hit the target audience directly. Creating an eCommerce website is easy thanks to platform’s webshop templates with already integrated product pages, “buy” or “add to cart” buttons, item filters and more.
Ucraft Features:
- Ease of Use – newbies will like the editing process that is very simple due to a drag-and-drop feature. Simply select a necessary element and adjust it on the page whenever you need it. The same thing with adding files and content;
- Wide Selection of Templates – Ucraft boasts a diverse selection of templates. They include one-page themes, templates for blogs, professional landing pages as well as themes for eCommerce and small business;
- Logo Maker – the software has its own tool to create a logo for your business. The tools are free and let users design icons, shapes, and other elements to establish a unique style for a website;
- Landing Page Creator – a user can create a professional landing page with the help of this tool. You need to choose any of the available templates and organize it in the way you need. You can also optimize the content and implement necessary SEO settings;
- Designer Tools – simple tools let users easily change and edit texts and headings as well as page layouts. UIKit makes it easy to customize forms and add exclusive style to your site;
- eCommerce Features – the platform makes it easy to implement SEO for each product setting tags at any time. Users will appreciate the ability to sell products from the website and social media platforms at the same time.
Ucraft Pricing
The platform offers several plans including a FREE plan for landing pages. It already includes SEO app. Integrated Google Analytics and other options. However, if you need a more complicated web store with a bunch of management and user acquisition tools, Pro Shop plan looks like a bargain for $31/month. The plan includes 24/7 support, free domain and hosting, SSL security, real-time sales tracing and more.
Unlike other websites builders from our list, Mobirise is an offline software. It means that a download is required to start building a website. The platform is compatible with both Windows and Mac. It is good for building small and medium websites as well as landing pages and business sites for services and product. The software was designed for newbies who are not involved in technical issues of the building process. At the same time, it is good for professional coders who are looking for fast prototyping capabilities.
Mobirise features:
- Easy-to-Use Interface – users can drag and block to a page and adjust it effortlessly. Editing content inside the box is as easy as using the text editor;
- Mobile Friendliness – the platform delivers adaptive bootstrap platforms that are mobile responsive on default. Mobirise has a Mobile Preview feature. It lets you have a look at the website appearance before publishing it
- Ready-to-Use Shops – the software has a range of prebuilt shop templates with already implemented carts, product settings, and filters to range products by price;
- AMP Website Builder – AMP builder ensures a faster and smoother site loading. Your articles get the AMP icon and will be shown first when a user access them via a mobile device;
- Absolutely Free – the platform is free for all users whether they use it for non-profitable or commercial purposes.
Mobirise pricing
As it was mentioned before, the software is free to use. However, you will need to think of hosting facilities for the website. This is where Github Pages may be a good solution to save a couple of bucks. At the same time, you will need to pay for a wider selection of premium themes, extra blocks and extensions for your website. The price for a customized template starts from $29.
This SaaS software was designed for non-technicians who do not want to deal with coding. uKit is a good platform for building small and medium websites as well as landing pages and portfolios. It has enough features to come up with a solid digital store that will run smoothly on the desktop as well as smartphones and tablets.
uKit Features:
- Responsive Templates – users can choose from over 250 different templates. They include landing pages and small online shops that are mobile-friendly;
- eCommerce Functionality – the feature lets site owners edit cart and product functions as well as handle the store settings and checkout pages;
- Integration with CRM – amoCRM is a handy widget to track your sales in real time. The tool lets users manage their products and monitor customers from a single dashboard;
- Mobile Site Editor – using this feature, you can tune your website mobile appearance, remove or add blocks without affecting the desktop version.
uKit pricing
uKit offers a $4-dollar Premium plan. It would be enough to build a decent website for small business. However, if you need a small or medium online store, uKit also has an eCommerce plan that will meet your requirements. Costing from $9.6/month it provides a full access to all Premium+ features in addition to digital store building instruments.
IM Creator represents a free flexible multi-purpose website building platform. It will be a good option for both individuals running small or medium online shops as well as companies looking for a chance to extend their business. The software delivers some great eCommerce features in addition to White Label opportunities.
IM Creator Features:
- Mobile Responsive Templates – users can select from an array of professionally designed themes as well as ready-to-use web shops. They might require some slight customization;
- Simple Editing – although IM Creator does not have a drag-and-drop feature, the platform uses so-called stripes. You can edit the template, remove any bloc and arrange the content the way you see it;
- eCommerce – web store owners will find it easy to add and manage their products, implement SEO settings, offer various currencies and payment options to their customers;
- Blogging – the tool makes it easy to design your own blog. t has a simple editor where you can change elements, add new posts, change page name, add white papers and link your blog to social networks.
IM Creator pricing
Premium Plan starts from $8 per month if you pay for a year in advance. It can be good for small websites and digital stores while artists, students and non-profit organizations can access IM Creator features free. The plan includes unlimited hosting facilities in addition to premium support and no ads.
The Bottom Line
Website builders made it easy for small business owners to create a site and represent their brand online. From now, there is no need in spending thousands of dollars to have a functional platform for any niche. Whether you face the need of building an eCommerce website or enter any other field that refers to small business, web building platforms come as a good alternative. Most of them are easy to use. They do not require special skills and make it possible to build a solid online shop from scratch within several hours.
At the same time, you need to be 100% sure a chosen platform meets your requirements when it comes to functionality and tools. You must ensure it provides all necessary options to launch your business online. This is where free trials may come in handy. They give you a chance to try the platform free and check how the system works. Examinations and tests reveal the software insights making it clear whether it suits your needs or not.
About the author: Howard Steele is a professional web developer with over 12 years of experience. In his blog https://superbwebsitebuilders.com he observes modern web building tools and provides in-depth website builders comparisons.