Website builder platforms and where to start. We all know how important a web presence is for most businesses. However, when you are first setting up you may not be able to spend your limited budget on a web designer to create you a business website. We have taken the complication out of choosing a web builder platform; read the pros and cons of the 5 most popular platforms to help you decide where to build your website.
Wix
Paid packages starting from £4/month. https://www.wix.com/
Over 800 templates allow you to customise your website to look exactly as you want. Wix has a very intuitive operation, meaning it is not only for those confident in website building. The drag and drop building process is easy to pick up, allowing the creative process to be simple and fun. Although there is great flexibility when choosing the design and template once the site is live there is no way to switch templates. A template change would mean starting over.
Built-in industry feature are included in the plans. For example, a dog walking business template would include an online booking system.
However, the cheapest package only allows for a small website, with very limited space and would include Wix Ads on the site. Overall, this is a good option for a small business looking for a simple way to build a website.
Support from Wix is mostly provided on a ticketing service, a live chat facility is available in some languages but there are many articles and support videos available.
Squarespace
business packages start from £15/month https://www.squarespace.com/
The creative site builder.
Market Leaders Wix and Squarespace between them have 55% of the market.
Squarespace can be used as a template driven website builder, dragging and dropping elements where you want them. With the latest version Squarespace have chosen to market itself as a creative website builder. With access and complete control over the code behind the templates, if you know a bit of Javascript and CSS, there is no limit to the site customisation you can achieve. However, access to this if you do not have code experience may be confusing.
With more customisation options, comes more to learn. This means with the latest version the web building process is likely to take you longer to create a website. However, you can actually choose to use an older version to simplify things. Squarespace are trying for a balance between allowing first time site builders the opportunity to build and giving experienced developers a building platform to create whatever they want.
For 24/7 support, emails are the best way to contact Squarespace. The team behind this website builder are quick to respond and often resolve cases in a single reply. Or there is a chat-messenger available weekdays 8am – midnight.
Zyro
package prices start from £3.90/month https://zyro.com/uk
The cheapest site builder.
Although a fairly new website builder, launched in 2020, Zyro is the web building subsidiary of Hostinger with its 20 years of experience.
Aimed mainly at the small business market, Zyro allows users to create a simple website and publish in a short time. Dragging and dropping images on to a chosen template grid system means no coding skills are required. However, once chosen a template cannot be altered. Sometimes the grid system can make fine-tuning the organisation of elements on a page complicated, but with unlimited space and bandwidth and a free SSL certificate, Zyro is the cheapest option.
With its AI branding tool Zyro can help sort the creative side of the website building for you, from generating a logo to generating text, a good starting point that you can then edit to create exactly what you want.
Overall, Zyro is easy to get started with and the price is great for everything included, however, there is less scope for progression once your business builds.
There is no option for a free plan or a free trial with Zyro but it instead offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Shopify
14 days free trial then packages start from £19/ month https://www.shopify.co.uk/
The eCommerce site builder.
Despite Shopify’s easy-to-use platform, some previous experience with similar tools would certainly be helpful. Not least because the shopping cart allows for such extensive HTML and CSS customisation, full site potential takes fine-tuning.
No matter which package you choose, you will get unlimited web space and bandwidth to set up an unlimited number of storefronts. The Basic plan enables you to set up and run an online shop that is small to medium in size. With an SSL certificate, abandoned cart recovery options, discount codes, and gift cards, all included.
Shopify-created stores are all mobile-optimized by default, meaning your site will look great on any size screen.
Support, however, is mainly dependant on community help and Shopify’s archive knowledge base, although there is an internal helpdesk on an email ticketing system.
GoDaddy
starting from £4.99 p/month https://www.godaddy.com/en-uk/websites
Small businesses and freelancers who need an online presence fast will benefit from GoDaddy’s business-focused features, including a live chat widget, appointment booker, online store, popups, and marketing tools.
Inside, you can edit web design and use search engine optimization tools. On your right side, you will see the menus, and you can navigate them easily.
If you’re looking for a website builder that gives you complete flexibility and complete design control, GoDaddy’s simplified editor isn’t for you – it doesn’t give you the creative freedom that you get with other website builders.
The largest domain registrar mainly supports users over the phone, with over 50 local numbers. In general, operators assist you with basic sales questions or find you relevant tutorial articles. Due to GoDaddy’s primary focus on web hosting, the site builder could be seen as more of a secondary service.
Although we have looked at various website builders here there are of course many more to choose from especially if you are looking for something more specialised. However, while you are starting up or deciding on a website building platform you need to register the domain name you want to use. We advise registering as soon as possible, even if you just register the name to keep it for a future venture. Search domain-registration
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