Are you into a small business and you’d love to digitalize your business?
Whether you’re after a simple website, ecommerce website or high quality free domain, we’ve tried and tested the many options available to start-ups and freelancers.
Here we have a rundown of the four best website builders for small businesses in the UK. Arming you with all the information you need to get cracking and supercharge your business with a free website builder trial today.
We looked at online reviews and spoke to other small business owners to get a clear picture of which website builder works best for different businesses, read on to find your perfect match.
Table of Contents
Best website builders in the UK today:
We’ve tried and tested more website builders than you can shake a stick at.
This article will review the four top website builders available today. Follow the links below to skip straight to our website builder reviews:
The best website builders will have stunning designs, be easy to use, promote your business and help your site rank highly in search engines.
How do I choose the best website builder for my business?
Choosing the best website builder to help your business really take off online can be daunting. Here are the three key factors to help you get it right:
| 1) Price
Price is the most important factor for most businesses. You want to know the builder you pick is affordable – and will stay that way as you grow. But most importantly, which provider will create the most value for you? There’s no point cutting costs on a free version that’s keeping you back from achieving sky-high sales online.
2) Time
Time is of the essence for both you and your customers. That’s why most first-timers we spoke to wanted a hassle-free, friendly site that is fully optimised for search engines.
3) Goals
Website builders come in all shapes and sizes. What do you want yours to do for you? Most people discover companies online, so making that killer first impression is key.
Think: will you be looking for an online store? 24/7 support? What about the ability to grow and customise your site over time? Pinpointing what you want your website to do will help you decide on the best website builder to use.
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Now you’ve got an idea of what you’re looking for, let’s tuck into a full-fat analysis of the best website builders out there for small businesses.
Wix review: Best all-rounder
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Ease of use ★★★★★ Features ★★★★★ Templates ★★★★★ |
Help & support ★★★★★ Value for money ★★★★★ Overall rating ★★★★★ |
Wix pros and cons
The good
✔ Unbeatable range of features
✔ Over 510 templates
✔ Impressive customisation
✔ Pricing plans for all budgets
✔ Free 24/7 phone & email support
✔ Unbeatable range of features
✔ Over 510 templates
✔ Impressive customisation
✔ Pricing plans for all budgets
✔ Free 24/7 phone & email support
The less good
✘ Templates can’t change once live
✘ Free trial sites have ads
✘ Could have more storage
✘ Templates can’t change once live
✘ Free trial sites have ads
✘ Could have more storage
Wix is easy to use, affordable and has an ideal template for most small businesses.
Wix pricing
Wix offers more price plans than most other website builders, so you can pick or switch to one that works for you.
You can click any of the plans below to read more or start a trial on the Wix website.
Wix verdict: Top marks for price, templates and design
Wix is an intuitive drag-and-drop website builder that creates beautiful, professional sites. It’s also the best rated in the world.
As a professional, flexible and easy-to-usewebsite builder, we cannot recommend Wix more highly to our readers. It has over 510 stunning templates, robust ecommerce capabilities and the best drag-and-drop tool we tested.
That means whether you’re completely new to creating websites or keen to customise every inch of your site, we think you’ll be chuffed to bits you went with Wix.
GoDaddy review: Best for growing online
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Ease of use ★★★★★ Features ★★★★★ Templates ★★★★★ |
Help & support ★★★★★ Value for money ★★★★★ Overall rating ★★★★★ |
GoDaddy pros and cons
The good
✔ Super easy to use
✔ Great features for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
✔ Simple signup process
✔ Competitive prices
✔ Go live in minutes
✔ Easy to migrate site to WordPress
✔ Super easy to use
✔ Great features for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
✔ Simple signup process
✔ Competitive prices
✔ Go live in minutes
✔ Easy to migrate site to WordPress
The less good
✘ Only eight templates
✘ Less control over features
✘ Only eight templates
✘ Less control over features
GoDaddy pricing
GoDaddy offers one of the cheapest ways to build your own website, starting from just £5 a month.
GoDaddy verdict: Plenty of bang for very little buck
GoDaddy has everything you need to build your own website – a user-friendly drag-and-drop editor and all-you-eat support. And you can put them to the test with a free 30-day trial.
GoDaddy hasn’t just designed a website builder – their features are all fine tuned to get your business succeeding online thanks to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), faster load times and marketing campaigns.
Squarespace review: Best for designs
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Ease of use >★★★★★ Features ★★★★★ Templates ★★★★★ |
Help & support ★★★★★ Value for money >★★★★★ Overall rating ★★★★★ |
Squarespace pros and cons
The good
✔ Stunning, professional templates
✔ Easy to customise code
✔ Solid ecommerce functions
✔ 24/7 support & fast response
✔ Stunning, professional templates
✔ Easy to customise code
✔ Solid ecommerce functions
✔ 24/7 support & fast response
The less good
✘ No free plan option
✘ Less easy to use than others
✘ Could have more apps
✘ No free plan option
✘ Less easy to use than others
✘ Could have more apps
Squarespace make some seriously stylish websites – but you can make them for less with Wix or GoDaddy.
Squarespace pricing
Websites
Online stores
Squarespace verdict: Pretty but pricey
Squarespace is a dream for arty types, especially if you’re more into the style of your website than its substance. The templates really are stunning.
But it’s more expensive than most alternatives, and we found it gives you less: less control over the look of your site, fewer features and it’s much less easy to use.
So if you’re a first-time website builder, you’d be better off with a less clunky and more intuitive platform like Wix or Weebly.
Weebly review: Best for beginners
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Ease of use ★★★★★ Features ★★★★★ Templates ★★★★★ |
Help & support ★★★★★ Value for money ★★★★★ Overall rating ★★★★★ |
Weebly pros and cons
The good
✔ Easiest website builder to use
✔ Stylish, professional templates
✔ Drag-and-drop is intuitive
✔ Easy to customise page designs
✔ Great selection of apps
✔ Easiest website builder to use
✔ Stylish, professional templates
✔ Drag-and-drop is intuitive
✔ Easy to customise page designs
✔ Great selection of apps
The less good
✘ Could have mobile editing
✘ Weebly logo on free version
✘ Ecommerce needs the Business Plan
✘ Could have mobile editing
✘ Weebly logo on free version
✘ Ecommerce needs the Business Plan
Weebly’s drag-and-drop function makes creating your first website ultra easy.
Weebly pricing
Weebly verdict: Great value and easy to use
Weebly was one of the most impressive website builders we tested and is ideal for beginners.
It costs around the same price as Wix and didn’t have quite as many features and templates, but for first-time web builders it is one of the easiest pieces of software to get to grips with.
FAQs
How do free website builders work?
Many website builders like to offer free versions of their software to open the door to as many people as possible. But these tend to be less useful for businesses wanting to impress their customers and really stand out online.
Here are the main issues small businesses tend to have with free website builders:
- Provider’s branding
Your site will look less professional to shoppers with other people’s logos on it. - Limited storage
That means not too much space to showcase your brand. - Ad after ad
Do you want to be promoting someone else’s business to your hard-earned customers?
That being said, the free version of a website builder is a good way to test the water and find out if it’s a program that you can work comfortably with.
Taking the time to experiment with a few free trials will pay off in the future because you’ll know first-hand which website builder will be best for you.
How do ecommerce website builders work
If you’re really gunning for the sales, you might want to think about using an ecommerce website builder like Shopify. There you’ll get a dedicated web shopping cart service and plenty of features to help boost your sales.
Shopify also has options that let you run product promotions, marketing campaigns and inventory lists from your site.
However, most website builders today make it easy to add an online store to your site. At the very least, you’ll be able to process credit card payments online and add cart and checkout pages with any website builder you choose.
For more information on payment gateways and online payment methods, take a look at our guide to payment gateways in the UK
Best website builders for small businesses: Do I need one?
Quite simply, website builders are a game-changer for small businesses.
They were made to help people who were too busy running a business to get online – and they took off as they’re much less money and effort than hiring an independent website developer.
The best part? The top website builders are just as professional looking and easy to customise as hiring a freelance coder yourself.
Whether you’re a king-size or small and mighty business, over a third of people will look online to help them decide if they’ll pay you a visit.
If you’re not online, you’re really missing out. The main points to look forward to with a website builder are:
| Cut costs
Website builder prices start from less than the cost of a coffee a month.
Get online fast
With slick, easy-to-use templates, you can be up and running in minutes.
Flaunt your style
Your online presence is your opportunity to make a real impression on your customers. Without a website, you could be missing out on potential customers and all important sales. Build one today and watch your business grow.
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We challenge you to tell the difference between website builder templates and sites created by freelancers.
Which is which?
Best website builders for small businesses: Our verdict and next steps
Our extensive tests found that Wix is the best website builder for small businesses and start-ups looking for a good balance of features, beautiful templates and cheap prices.
Weebly was nice and easy to use and Squarespaceis known for its beautiful designs.
But we were bowled over by GoDaddy as a website builder that really goes the extra mile to help small businesses not just get online, but actually thrive there.
Click any of the links below to get started with a free trial of any of these top website builders.
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Best all-rounder Full review |
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Best for growing online Full review |
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Best for designs Full review |
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<Best for beginners Full review |
