So, you have decided to start a small online business and you know exactly what you want to sell. You have made a business plan. You even know who your target audience is. Now all you have to do is make the website. If only you knew which were the best website builders for small businesses!

Gone are the days when you would need to hire an entire team of tech wizards to do this for you. I mean, you could, but why would you? Especially if you are starting small! 

Talking of small, if this has already whetted your appetite, take a look at our comprehensive resource which will give you all of the up-to-date information you need to start a small online business. You'll be able to see just how easy it can be. 

Don’t get us wrong, there are certainly pros and cons using web builder sites, and the ‘more traditional’ methods. You just need to do a little research to find out what will truly work for you, and this article will aim to help you do just that. 

Also, budgeting may be a key factor in this process, and you may be asking ‘Are there any free website builders for small businesses?’ After all, we could all do with a little help getting started, right? 

For now, let’s focus on some of the best website builders for a small business to start (and grow) with.

So, let’s get down to the nitty gritty! Grab yourself a coffee (and, oh go on then, a cookie or two). Put your feet up for five minutes and see what we’ve got for you!

Wix is an extremely popular cloud-based website builder choice for a small business. Their platform has been topping the charts of many ‘Best Website Builders’ reviews for years. With good cause.

Wix is now used by more than 200 million website owners. It offers a whole host of ready to use themes, and an extensive app market which offers practically any type of functionality you might wish for in your website. There are some fantastic ones to choose from that allow users to really unlock the power of Wix.

Also, Wix gives you masses of scope for creativity, meaning you can get your website exactly how you want it. Choose to keep it simple and sleek - letting your product speak for itself, or add as many bells and whistles.

The Wix Editor offers arguably one of the most intuitive drag-and-drop solutions for website owners. This allows them to modify their website content and design without the need (or expense) of bringing in a developer. 

For those short on time, Wix offers an innovative AI Website Builder. This tool goes beyond by analyzing your preferences and business needs to create a personalized website in minutes. From selecting the right design to adding essential features, it does all the heavy lifting. 

Weebly is a popular user-friendly, drag and drop website builder, with responsive themes.

The free version of Weebly is an accessible way of building a nice looking site for a hobby or even a small business. 

This plan is more than enough to cut your teeth on if you are just starting out. For example, a good way to use Weebly would be if you wish to publish a website primarily for blogging or showing your artwork. 

Then, as time progresses and you gain a larger audience, you may wish to do more with your site and start selling. You may then want to upgrade your plan and take advantage of the many professional features. 

The Weebly app center has multiple add-ons for social media, traffic boosting, e-commerce and much, much more.

Unlike other website builders for beginners, Weebly has an optional code editor, so if you are familiar with HTML your site can also be personalized through code.

Pricing plans include web hosting and technical maintenance along with security upgrades.

Learn How to Build a Weebly Website Successfully

Pixpa is a beautiful and intuitive website builder. There is one thing to note, however, before we get started. This website builder has a specific audience and therefore may not be suitable for some businesses.

In the words of Pixpa themselves, they are an “All-in-one portfolio website builder for photographers, designers, artists & creators”.

So, gorgeous though it may be, it simply isn’t likely to be for you if you are looking to start a website for your new Porta-Potty rental business (no matter how luxurious they may be)! 

Of course, if you are one of the named creative types, Pixpa can be an affordable and simple platform to use to build not only your website, but also your portfolio, online store and blog. 

With Pixpa’s versatile platform, you can create your site the way you want it - and Pixpa has everything you need to showcase your work, share ideas and sell your stuff online. Again, without an ounce of coding knowhow on your part.

Pixpa offers a whole array of stunning, mobile-friendly templates. Customizing your site is made so easy by using their simple and powerful visual style editor. 

With a super simple drag-and-drop page builder, adding further pages to your website is a breeze. Pixpa also offers an extensive set of built-in tools such as SEO Manager, Marketing Pop Ups, Announcement Bar, and much more. 

It's easy to start increasing your traffic and converting more leads. Not only this, but Pixpa doesn’t charge any listing fees or commissions on any sales or payments on your website. So, the money you make is all yours!

For peace of mind, online support is available 24/7 across all price plans. Yes, even if you’re stuck trying to do something at 3am, you can get it sorted and move on swiftly.

Wait! What? Canva? That’s a graphic design tool, no? 

Yes, but - hot off the press - Canva is also now offering a shiny new website builder function which has just been launched - alongside several other up-to-the-minute features. 

Design your website on Canva and it automatically adapts to any screen size, be it mobile, tablet or desktop. No more worrying about creating a site which looks amazing on your PC but then comes apart on a mobile! The beauty here is that it's all done for you!

Canva now also has ‘insights’ which is a limited web analytics feature so you can see who your customer is and where they are coming to you from.

An interesting thing to note with Canva is that the pricing structure is a little different to that of some other companies. 

With most platforms, you start with limited access to certain functions on a free or basic plan and you must upgrade to ‘unlock’ the other aspects. With Canva, every service on their site is available to you as standard. Even on the free plan.

The difference here is in the content. What you need from it will depend on what you wish to do with your website. There is a very generous amount of free content to use, however - as with many things, the best is worth paying for! That is where the other price plans come into play.

Even this structure is super simple and easy to understand with no added bolt-ons further down the line! Canva offers the following three solutions: 

Canva Free - Yep, as you guessed - no money needed for this one. This features everything you need to get started. Plus 5GB of cloud storage. Plenty of options and hours of fun! 

Canva Pro - As you correctly imagine, this includes all of the basics, plus a frankly dizzying array of features. Everything you need to set up your website, make it beautiful, market it, print merch with your logo on - the list goes on. This one includes 1TB of cloud storage. So, plenty of wiggle room to play with. 

This Pro option is for one person. But - “Wait!” I hear you cry. “What if I have a team, and they want to build and maintain the website - and create all of the marketing and design content?”

Well, then Canva even offers you the option to buy the whole package for teams of two or more people.

Canva for Teams charges begin with the first two to five people. You will be able to add additional people to your team when needed with the ‘Pay as you grow’ model. Canva Pro and Canva for Teams both offer 24/7 support.

Shopify is, without a doubt, one of the most used and respected website builders for small businesses.

This ecommerce website builder is known for its ease of use, intuitive design, and numerous marketing features.

A Shopify store can be connected to social media channels and multiple markets such as Amazon and eBay. This means that you are not limited to selling your products through your website alone. You can have multiple channels connected, all working through the same inventory system.

Again, you should consider the type of website you are looking to build as Shopify is not the cheapest option out there (especially considering that you will also pay transaction fees to Shopify).

However, with the user-friendly builder and the advanced inventory management system one might say that it’s worth paying a bit more.

Shopify doesn’t have a ‘free forever’ plan, but there is a free 14 day trial period - so, if you are tempted, you can get in there and check it all out with no obligation.

Squarespace continues to grow in popularity year after year because of its focus on quality design and creativity. Some think it is the best site creator. Squarespace is especially well known for its very professional appearance and layout.

It’s a great website builder for artists of all types, from photographers to designers and chefs, but it is also valuable for small businesses and shops alike. Pricing plans are mid-range and good value.

Squarespace has free web hosting and a great set of built-in marketing tools such as advanced email marketing campaigns, SEO and social media integrations. Our personal favorite is the Instagram integration, that allows users to shop from a website directly through Instagram.

With Squarespace, as no coding skills are needed, one can build perfect, functional and amazing looking web pages without knowing any HTML at all.

Many celebrities have taken to Squarespace to build their own websites as can be seen in their Celebrity Squarespacers section.

GoDaddy used to be known as an industry leader in hosting services, but today, they also offer a fast option for building any type of website or online store.

GoDaddy websites come with an SSL certificate, built-in email marketing, and search engine tools, but the fact remains that it is very user-friendly and its plans are very reasonably priced compared to some of its competitors.

This is a very easy website builder for small business. The entire process begins with the user answering a few questions and, based on the answers, GoDaddy’s ADI (artificial design intelligence) will generate a site in just a few seconds. Afterward, the theme can be chosen, edited and personalized until the perfect, final form is achieved.

Many of the plans below have the option to be billed monthly or yearly. Some even two or three yearly. These plans will usually include savings if billed over the longer periods. 

To keep things simple, all of the price plans shown below are listed by monthly cost. The top row of the table lets you know the billing cycle options for each company.

Please note that all prices are correct at the time of publishing, however, we would recommend that you check these details on the individual sites prior to making any decisions.

Wrappin’ up

As you can see just from these seven examples, there really is something for everyone!

As the market is positively swimming with website builders, we really would advise you to make a list of the things which are crucial to your own business needs before making your selection. 

These website builders, as you can see, are not necessarily a ‘one size fits all’ solution, however, this list should give you a good idea of some of the best website builders for small businesses out there.

From this, you can ascertain which features are going to be most important to you in building (and probably more importantly) growing your website and business. 

Speaking of which, if you are looking to start your own online business, don’t forget to check out our comprehensive resources. We have all the information you need to get started and also to make your online business a success!

Good luck, and happy building!