Having a website is the number one priority for any entrepreneur out there today who is focused on building a successful and profitable business online. While it wasn’t a necessity even just a decade ago, it is now a business essential. There are many benefits to having one – it acts as a worldwide 24/7 store front, boosts your client base, and makes it easier for your partners to find you.
However, if you’re just starting out, the choice can be very intimidating – so much choice, but which one is actually right for you? Website builders take a lot of the complex stuff out the equation, making it a lot easier for newbies to get started fast – and without having to spend a small fortune on finding a designer to create it all for you.
Here are five of the best – they’re not as well known, but all will deliver modern sites that look good on screens of all sizes and shapes, thanks to their focus on being responsive.
SITE123
This is best described as a universal web builder, as if you can imagine it, you can create it. This is a great choice for sites of any type, including landing pages, promotional websites, portfolios, and even online stores. Whatever you’re thinking of, this is a service that can make it happen.
It’s easy to use, and you don’t need to really have any past experience or technical knowledge to get started. Most work is done from a dashboard that’s easy to navigate, and there are a huge amount of templates to help you really get started with your specializations.
Together with language support, a huge free library of fonts and images, social media integration and a round the clock customer support team, you’ll get everything you need to get started. There’s a free plan available to help you learn the ropes, and five paid plans once you’re ready to upgrade.
IM Creator (XPRS)
If you’re an entrepreneur or a creative type, then check out IM Creator, which has been built from the ground up for eCommerce, portfolios, and business. Once again, you don’t need to be a coder – just pick from awesome templates and customize them until they’re just you.
Blogs and slideshows are also available with the more traditional portfolio style, and once again, there’s a free plan – there’s also a paid plan available should you want it, and even a white label option if you want to get into the reselling business model.
Mobirise
Unlike the others on this list, this is a downloadable tool rather than a cloud service (i.e. you do everything in the browser). This is a very simple program that’s made with complete newbies in mind – even if it’s day 1 on the internet, you should be able to get to grips very quickly with how it all works.
What’s neat about this is that you work with blocks – think of this website builder like Lego – and build a website using those. With over 600 blocks available, there’s plenty of choice. Another attractive thing about this builder is that everything is free – all you need to cough up for is the domain name and hosting. This is a great choice for someone who’s new, needs a great website, but wants to keep spending to the bare minimum.
Ucraft
This is a classic “drag and drop” style builder that means all you have to do is, well, drag and drop. Pick the element you want, drag it into place, drop it, and rinse and repeat to get great results every time. One thing I like about this is how intuitive it is – you don’t need to learn anything to make it work, and all the heavy work is done hidden away in the background. All you need to do is get the design just as you like it!
Of course, there are also templates that you can use, along with plenty of tools. While these might take a little more work to get used to, they’ll speed up your development time considerably, helping you to get up and running as fast as possible. As with others on this list, there is a free plan available along with paid plans, making this a great try before you buy site to test out.
uKit
If you’re looking to create a professional business website, then take a look at uKit, which has been developed for small businesses. Whether you’re already used to creating websites or this is your first time, the full functionality provided here makes this an easy and convenient option that’s very affordable.
You’ll find over 400 templates that fit just about any industry or niche, and, of course, they are all customizable. There are also several modules here that aren’t available in the other buiders, all geared up to help businesses develop a powerful online presence. Again, there’s a free plan along with paid plans to check out.
Those are the five best website builders out there today, and they all make it easy to create professional, up-to-date, and modern websites for savvy business owners in the 21st century. As they all have free plans, take them out for a spin and see which one works for you best!