How To Select The Right Website Builder For Your Small Business

When it comes to marketing, the internet is the best platform to bring your business to the next level. The reach of online marketing is unmatched by any other methods, provided, of course, that you implement your strategies carefully.

The first step to successfully marketing your products and services online is to get a business website made. You can choose three ways to build a website, with each one varying in price and required expertise.

Build it yourself. While this might sound like the most appealing option to some hands-on entrepreneurs, it’s not nearly as simple as it sounds. Building your own website requires experience in coding and can cost you a lot in terms of time.

Hire a web developer. If you don’t have the knowledge and skill to build your own website, then the logical conclusion would be to hire someone who does. However, this might not be the most viable option for small business owners, as hiring a high-quality web developer can eat at your budget.

The going rate for website building from a web developer can range anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, and this is one area where you are truly paying for what you get. If you want a stunning site that will bring you new customers, then cutting costs on an inexperienced developer is not the way to go.

Use a website builder. For many small business owners, using a website builder is the perfect compromise. Website builders are low cost, don’t require any coding skills, and will leave you with a professional-looking website in no time.

However, not all website builders are created equal, so it’s important to ask yourself some questions and do your research before starting to build your site. Here are some of the things you should consider when selecting the right website builder for your small business.

Understand your website’s purpose

Before you start shopping around for the right website builder, you first need to answer a few questions about what you want your site to accomplish and what features you need to achieve your online business goals.

What capabilities do you need your website to have? If you want to sell products, you have to find a website builder that supports e-commerce. Do you want your site to be a source of information for potential customers, then you will need a builder that can build a blog. Does your website need a reservation system or a photo gallery, and will you be making regular updates? These are all questions to consider.

Usability

One of the most important factors to consider when selecting a website builder, especially if you’re not the most tech-savvy, is the ease of use of the platform. Builders should be intuitive and user-friendly.

Look for a builder that allows you to preview text for easy editing, and that doesn’t require any HTML code. If you’re unsure about usability, consider signing up for a free trial, which many of the top website builders offer.

Website plugins

Plugins help transform your website from a basic source of information to a competitive destination that is easy for potential customers to engage with. Look for builders that include plugins for SEO, tagging, social media integration (an essential feature for successful digital marketing strategies), and anything else that you’ll need for your website to thrive.

In the same vein, look for website builders that can offer you backend data on the performance of your website. Having access to analytics that help you track your visitors’ behavior is vital to creating, implementing, and improving your digital strategies.

Mobile site capabilities

Online consumer behavior is constantly shifting, and you need a website builder that is in tune with how your potential customers

are surfing the web. The vast majority of website visitors are using their smartphones or tablets instead of desktops or laptops. This means that finding a website builder that uses responsive design.

Responsive design ensures that the website you create will look great no matter what device your visitors are using. It reformats your web content to fit any screen, which ultimately helps with SEO, as search engines like Google and Bing give preference to sites that look good on mobile.

Cost

Unfortunately, cost will always play a factor in what tools you choose for your business, especially if you are just getting your company off the ground or have a limited budget. Luckily, you can find tools at every price-point—including free website builders—though you may have to sacrifice some capabilities if you are on the lower end of the price spectrum.

It’s important to factor in other costs associated with having a website other than the builder. This includes fees for the domain name and web hosting, which some tools easily integrate within their pricing structure. Before selecting a website builder, make sure you have a thorough understanding of what you’re being charged.

Reviews

Just like any other product, it’s important to do your research when it comes to reviews and customer satisfaction. There’s no better way to learn about a website builder’s quality than to hear from others who have used it—either successfully or unsuccessfully.

Once you’ve figured out what you need and identified which products offer what you’re looking for, check out some website builder reviews to see what customers are saying about your top choices.

Customer support

Though website builders are a favorite method of creating sites because of the control and independence they offer, it’s important to remember that you might need help now and then. No matter how easy it is to create a website, there will come a time when something won’t work, and you’ll need someone to fix it for you.

Figure out how easy it is to get in touch with the company and test how quickly they respond. This could be of the utmost importance in the future, as every minute your site is down and you get no assistance could cost you money and customers.

Build a site that fits your needs

Ultimately, the thing to remember when selecting the right website builder for your small business is that you need something that suits you and your business. From design templates to web pages and add-on features, you need something that aligns with your brand.

Your website might be the first point of contact that potential customers have with your brand, so you want to make sure it represents your business and showcases everything you have to offer. The first step to achieving that is finding the right website builder.

Bookmark is a website builder that uses artificial intelligence to design your site. All you have to do is enter your company name and your industry and our AI will build your website in seconds. If you don’t like the result, you can make edits or simply ask the AI to run another design and it will be done in less than a minute!