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Originally Posted On: https://akwms.com/best-website-building-platforms-for-small-businesses/
Making the right decision on what platform to choose will help take your business where you want it to go. To make this decision easier, it’s important to understand what information you should look for when deciding on whether a content management system (CMS) is right for you and your company. Some factors include cost, security, ease of use, features, integrations and support options as well as scope and flexibility of future development.
Choosing A Content Management System:
Shopify
Shopify has many advanced e-commerce features, such as gift wrap upsells, or one click product feed. For this reason, it is an excellent choice for entrepreneurs that are just starting their ecommerce store platforms.
The disadvantage of this website builder is that it lacks customization tools. For this reason, it limits the business owners from using themes and designs for their business sites. Additionally, Shopify is not easy to use as other platforms.
Wix
Wix is a comprehensive website-building platform for small businesses. It offers hundreds of tools and templates and a drag-and-drop interface. These features are friendly for beginners. However, it is advisable to familiarize yourself with these tools and the entire platform before using them.
Wix is appropriate for startups because it has free plans and several priced plans that you can choose from. The paid plans are fairly-priced and come with a 2-weeks money-back guarantee. This platform also offers other additional features, such as email marketing and additional SEO support, that will benefit your website as your business grows.
Squarespace
Squarespace is an excellent website builder for entrepreneurs who are starting their eCommerce store platforms and are focusing on content and style. It is best for e-commerce since it offers all the features that small online stores need. For example, its built-in functionality allows you to track your customers and accept credit card transactions.
This website building platform is affordable. It also has more than 500 professionally-designed templates for small business owners to choose from. Squarespace also offers promotional and customization tools. This means that you can use the platform to incorporate a visual appearance that matches your brand.
Weebly
This platform, formerly known as Square E-commerce, enables small business owners to build their websites from scratch. It has a simple and clear interface that enables users to create responsive and appealing web pages.
Moreover, Weebly offers several templates and is easy to set up. This website builder also allows you to change a template without necessarily uploading the site content again. Its attractive and integrated e-commerce tools support website-creation flexibility. This factor makes it a great choice for people with online stores.
Weebly is suitable for small businesses because it has a free plan. You can also choose the paid plan and take advantage of the free domain it comes with.
One of the disadvantages of Weebly is that it has limited SEO capabilities. Secondly, the drag and drop feature does not allow the user to move elements to a specific location on the website. This website builder also has limited theme customization.
Webflow
Webflow is a platform that helps you build and design a responsive website for your small business. One of the primary factors that make Webflow unique is its ability to divide its professionally-designed templates into different categories: hosting, editor, CMS, and designer.
This website builder is also great because it has powerful customization options that business owners can choose from. For instance, CMS for small business allows you to focus on flexibility and create content that suits your brand and business goals. Webflow has an eCommerce plan and a free plan referred to as the staging plan.
Google Sites
Google includes Google Sites as part of its web-based office suite. This website building platform is the best option for small business owners who are on a budget. This is because it offers free and professional site creation services that suit your business needs and allows you to save for other business projects.
Additionally, it is easy to use to build a solid website. All you need is a Google account. This website creation tool also offers responsive website designs and real-time collaboration features. This means that you can use it to make your website accessible on all devices, including desktop computers and smartphones.
Moreover, it integrates well with other members of the Google app family. This means that if you use one Google tool, say Google Drive, to create content, you can easily incorporate this information into your website.
The disadvantage of Google Sites is that you can only use it to create a simple and basic website. This platform does not offer customization features or support for eCommerce. Additionally, there are only 13 templates that you can choose from.
WordPress
WordPress is the most famous content management system today. Technically, it is a back-end management system and not a website builder. However, it offers several free plugins that small business owners can use to build their websites. This back-end management system also allows you to customize and design your website using a drag and drop interface.
WordPress is a great option for small business owners on a budget because it is free. The only cost involved is hosting. However, you can also choose to pay for premium themes and plugins to help your website grow more. Therefore, WordPress is one of the best content management systems for businesses of all sizes.
In summary, the world has become digitally focused and created the need for entrepreneurs to establish an online space for their firms. When choosing the best website building platform for your small business, you should consider factors like ease-to-use, price, scalability, and SEO tools offered. The best builders are customizable, fast and easy to build with and suitable for businesses of different sizes and industries.
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