What to Consider When Choosing a New Website Builder
Website builders have made it easier than ever to create a business website, eCommerce store, or blog without the need for hiring a web designer or developer. But whether you are creating your business website for the first time or considering switching to a new provider, choosing the right website builder for your company can be confusing. There are so many different options available, so it can be difficult to find one that is the right fit for your business.
When choosing the right website builder, you should give utmost importance to overall efficiency and functionality. After all, you’re trading out the expertise of a professional developer or agency, so you shouldn’t settle for anything less than what you could’ve gotten from that first option. While there certainly isn’t a perfect website builder, you can definitely find one that matches your business needs and brand identity.
Here are the basics that you’ll need to keep in mind when choosing a website platform:
How you intend to use the website:
Not all websites are created equal. The content and nature of your website will play a major role in how the layout and overall visual design will look like. For instance, business websites tend to be more straightforward and professional-looking, while personal blogs afford more creative freedom. Will your website be used for sharing company information and contact details, selling products, selling a service, a portfolio, or connecting sales leads? Be sure to opt for a platform that offers features that are a good match for your needs.
Your skills:
One of the best-selling points of website builders is that they have templates that automate most of the process. However, if you know your way around web design, you can take advantage of the wonderful tools and features that come with these templates.
Website builders like WordPress and Wix allow you to build your own website, and provide you with the option to integrate apps into your site. WordPress allows you to access a large variety of apps with their more expensive premium website packages. Wix has more built-in features, and still has an extensive app market. Ultimately, you can switch between either platform if you want to – you can migrate your WordPress services to Wix or vice versa. Find out more about the differences between Wix and WordPress and decide which one is more suited to your needs.
Price:
You should also consider your overall budget and the cost of building and hosting the website. Does the website builder offer premium plans? Can you pay monthly or will you be billed annually? Flexible payment options are better from a cash flow perspective, so look for a provider that offers a payment plan you can live with.
Customization options:
Do you want to have full freedom of customization over the site so that it will reflect your brand? Different platforms offer various levels of customization, but builders like WordPress only let you customize one page at a time.
Check how many themes there. It is easier to build a custom site when you have a large selection of website themes to choose from. It’s worth checking whether there are advanced design tools on offer too.
The good news is that even the most basic of website builders will allow you to customize the site to suit your brand in your chosen colors and add your logo.
Help and Support
Look at the customer support options. Most website builders are simple enough to eliminate the need for technical support. However, even if you are planning to build a simple business website that you can easily do yourself with a template, you’ll want to opt for a website builder that offers a high level of support. The last thing that you want is to find yourself struggling to get hold of somebody who can help if your website goes down unexpectedly.
Ease of Updating and Editing:
In addition to the previous point, you must also assess your prospective platform’s accessibility and ease of use. Does the platform allow you to easily log in and make updates and changes whenever necessary, or will you need help with this? At the basic level, Wix vs WordPress does not have many differences when it comes to logging in and making changes to your website when necessary, but on the other hand, if you have a developer use the platform to build you a custom site, it might be more challenging to make changes on the fly as and when you need to.
SEO:
Professional web designers use search engine optimization (SEO) to align their work with their client’s marketing strategy. If the website you’re launching is solely for business purposes, this is one of the most important things you should check. Does the website builder come with built-in SEO capability? SEO makes a huge difference to website visibility, so it’s helpful if there are SEO tools you can use. However, some website builders only provide SEO tools for premium users or those with eCommerce or business packages.
Making Your Decision
Once you have weighed up all of the above, it’s time to make a decision regarding which website builder to use for your company’s website. Start by thinking about what your company needs; whether that’s a simple and easy-to-use website for communicating information to your potential clients, or something more complex like a fully-functioning eCommerce store. Consider the best option for your budget and make a list of the features and functionality that you might need in the future as your business develops and grows. For example, you might only need a basic website now, but have plans to sell online in the future, in which case, it’s best to choose a website builder that will allow you this flexibility to upgrade your website to an eCommerce solution later on when your business reaches this goal.
Choosing the correct website builder to use for your company website isn’t always easy. Keep the above factors in mind to make a choice that is a good fit for your business.
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Best tips ever to choose website builder. Keep sharing!