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The Best Website Builders For Small Business

Which website builder to choose for a small business.

By Steve Benjamins

Steve Benjamins

Updated Jan 5 2024

Over the last few years I’ve helped tens of thousands of small business owners choose a website builder. My job is to try every website builder so you don’t have to. 

In this post I’m going to show you the best website builders for small business.

Let’s dive into it.

Overview

Website Builders Rankings

What Is A Website Builder?

A website builder (or site builder) is a drag-and-drop tool for creating your own website

Small businesses often use website builders because of their ease of use. Website builders do not have a steep learning curve— you do not need to be a web developer or understand HTML & CSS.  

Website builders are an all-in-one package and they include all the functionality you’d need for a typical small business website: web hosting, templates, blogs, photo galleries, forms and more.

Pricing

Some common questions about pricing and website builders:

Are there free plans?

Some website builders offer free plans. You’ll want to read my free website builders roundup.

The main thing to understand is that you get what you pay for with a free version—  there will be some limitation. Most free website builders include an advertisement or don’t allow you to add a custom domain name. 

Why are ecommerce plans more expensive?

Ecommerce plans are almost always more expensive. For example: 

So expect to pay a little more for advanced features like ecommerce. Here are a few more tips:

What’s the cheapest website builder?

I’d recommend reading my cheapest website builder roundup. 

The main thing to remember is that you get what you pay for. Basic plans often lack the advanced features that premium plans include. So make sure you understand those limitations before putting down your credit card.

Domain Names

Most website builders will allow you to register own domain through them.

Typically a custom domain name with a typical TLD (for example .com) will cost around $15. Private registration for your domain name will cost an additional $10. 

What is private registration?

Domain names must have up-to-date contact information for the public Whois database (this is a requirement). This contact information is accessible to anyone (including marketing firms and spammers) but with Private Registration the public contact information will not be your contact information.

Can I get a free domain name?

Most website builders will give you 1-year free if you buy an annual plan. But that’s about as close to free as you will get.  

Should you register your domain name with a website builder? 

We often do. It’s just easier— but you should make sure you have the option to move your domain name off that website builder. As an alternative you could also register your domain name with a third party provider like Namecheap but you’d to setup the DNS (which can be intimidating).

What About WordPress?

WordPress is a great tool that still powers a huge portion of the internet. 

Webste builders are easier to use but have a steeper learning curve. A CMS like WordPress has a steeper learning curve but is is more flexible.

Webste builders are easier to use but have a steeper learning curve. A CMS like WordPress has a steeper learning curve but is is more flexible.

That being said, it’s not a website builder per say. Instead it is a content management system (CMS). 

There are important differences. Here’s a quick overview:

Note: When I say WordPress I mean WordPress.org not WordPress.com— which is a seperate service.

Frequently Asked Questions