How to Choose the Right Website Builder for Your Business

If you are a small business, you likely don’t have the monetary resources to hire an expensive web development agency to build your website. Luckily, there are multiple website builders on the web, but finding the right one for your business’s needs can be tricky.

Factor in usability, cost, plugins, compatibility, and user reviews, and you will be golden. Read on for more context:

Usability: Is the website builder user friendly? The builder should have intuitive design, so you can easily find features and upload your website content. You also should never have to learn HTML code. Modern-day website builders offer WYSISWG (what you see is what you get) windows to view plain text. Never use a builder that doesn't have this.

Cost: First, determine what your budget is. Then, select a website builder based on your budget. On average, the following figures can be applied to estimating the cost of a small business website, according to Executionists:

• Domain name – $10/year to upwards of thousands of dollars
• Hosting – $10 to $100 a year (depending on traffic and hosting needs)
• Continued website maintenance – $500 a year and up (depending on quantity and type of updates)

All in all, your website budget should be based on the strategic needs of your business.

Plugins: Plugins are bits of software used to augment a website builder’s capability. Make sure to select a website builder that has ample plugins for SEO, tagging, collaboration, and social media integration. (WordPress is my favorite for this.)

Compatibility: The smaller website builder companies will not integrate with other design, social media, and marketing platforms. Bigger website builders like Weebly, Squarespace, and WordPress integrate well with supporting platforms like Hootsuite (for social promotion) and CoSchedule (for editorial scheduling).

If you plan on using multiple platforms, consider the compatibility of the builder with your existing tools.

Restrictions: “Your web builder should not restrict you to using a certain number of text boxes and images per web page,” according to Best10websitebuilders.com. The length and content of your website should be up to your discretion.

Preview Mode: Editing is easiest when you can preview your web pages prior to publishing. Make sure you select a builder that allows you to preview the web page as it will appear published.

Reviews: When shopping around for the right website creator, read customer reviews. Reviews tell way more about a company than just the content on its website, and this is no different in the website builders’ world.

Customer Support: If one-on-one support is important to you, make sure you select a builder with dedicated account representatives. You may have to pay extra for this, but if you have questions on the fly, it’s worth it!

Text Window: It’s important to easily view your text on your website creator, so make sure you choose a website creator with a very large text box.

Jot down a list of what’s important to you, do some research, read reviews, and even sign up for free trials, and you will land on the best website builder for you and your business!