Selecting the appropriate website builder can come off to be a herculean task when just getting started. We are here to delve into the cons as well as the pros of website builders for your small-scale business and also to discuss some important options that are available to you.
There are numerous website builder tools and services available in the market, a good number of them are perfect for your small-scale business. However, selecting the appropriate one for your business and marketing needs can at times be a trial or error experience. This frequently depends on your technical skill sets, the time you are able to use as well as your marketing budget. As time goes on you may notice that the appropriate website builder for small-scale business is no website builders.
The Pros and Cons of Website Builders
It is of great benefit to know the advantages and disadvantages of using a website builder for a small-scale business before enrolling for the appropriate one of your choice. For different situations, the pros might be more than the cons while some other times, the cons are said to be more than the pros.
The Pros of Website Builder
The Advantages of Website Builder include the following:
- The Cheap pricing options – You can get started with a small investment, which is appropriate for new businesses that require a small budget and since you will be building your website yourself it will be of great help.
- Selection from a template – Templates make it possible for you to have a sense of the finished product even before you get started.
- Having full control of the project – You will be in control of the content, design, as well as marketing aspects of the website. It will be of advantages if you are someone that loves to do things in your own way.
The Cons of Website Builder
- On Your Own – The need for an expert usually arises because website success usually comes down to the right design for better user experience as well as precise marketing messages to allow better customer conversion. When there is no expert to examine things for you, you are left to sort it out on your own.
- Time factor – However, as a small-scale business owner, you already have lots of experience on how time travels faster more than anything when you are into your business. Using a website builder will require you to learn new skills which will also consume time.
- The lack of custom options – At times it is usually difficult to customize your template exactly the way you want it or to work the way you want it to.
The Popular Website Builders
A website builder is just perfect for newbies in small-scale businesses that have small budgets, photographers, or artists. The well-known builder in the market has both strong as well as weak points.
The Wix
Wix provides a variety of themes related to small-scale businesses at an affordable price. When it comes to adding functionality to your website they offer extensive features.
Pros
- There are quite a number of template options that are good for small scale business
- Affordable price: 5 – 25USD per month
Cons
- The majority of templates depend majorly on high-end photography
- At times template designs can lack sophistication as well as having an outdated look
GoDaddy – GoCentral
GoDaddy has started putting more effort into their website builder, GoCentral. They provide a massive collection of templates for different kinds of businesses.
Pros
- Several templates don’t need high-end photography to look good
- Lots of templates for small scale businesses
- Affordable price: 6 – 30USD per month
Cons
- Many templates feel outdated or unbalanced on the lower level of design
- There are some templates that are very much similar to others
Shopify
This is exclusive for businesses that need to sell products on eCommerce or online. There are well-designed themes that are perfect for displaying your products.
Pros
- Templates are highly mobile-friendly
- There are a lot of professionally designed themes
Cons
- High charges of 30 – 300USD per month
- The price of many themes cost an additional 100 – 200USD
- If you need any shipping option outside of USPS, you will be stuck with 300USD per month plan
- If there is any payment outside of Shopify, extra fees will be charged
Squarespace
Squarespace is quite popular for modern as well as artistic template designs. It is the best choice for photographers as well as artists. They provide neat as well as heavy photo templates.
Pros
- It is the best choice for designers, fashion, weddings, artists, photography, and so on
- The templates are beautifully designed
- Affordable pricing – 12 – 46USD per month
Cons
- They rely heavily on possessing good photography
- There is a need for setup experts which costs a huge amount
- There are no templates dedicated to displaying services based on small scale businesses
Weebly
Weebly provides affordable prices. USD plan is also available with ads as well as a Weebly subscription domain. There is also a smaller variety of visually pleasing themes.
Pros
- It is the best choice for personal blogs as well as portfolio use
- Affordable pricing: 0 – 38USD per month
Cons
- The majority of themes depend heavily on photography
- They have quite very little variety of themes
- They lack service focus and their business themes are too photo heavy
The Appropriate Option for Small Scale Business
The well-known website builders are listed above which may be helpful for your small-scale business, most importantly if you are a newbie. Although being an established business with specific marketing needs as well as sales goals, the appropriate website builder here is not too involve in a website builder. It is advisable to hire an experienced web design company.
A professional web design company is expected to have a better experience than a site builder. There are something’s that a professional web design company will help you with such as marketing messages to convert customers, driving traffic to your site as well as user experience development, and so on. If you are worried about how to pay the bills because professional companies charge a huge amount of money, worry not, there are some web design companies with monthly, cost-effective pricing models that are like website builders. One of them is Cemah Creative which gives you the option for monthly pricing.
