50 Best Free Business Website Templates and WP Themes

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author avatar Written by Lesley Haught

In this post, you will see and be able to free download (or use online) free business website templates. Perhaps these are the best templates and themes for business websites from all that can be found on the Web.

The collection includes both WordPress themes and web templates for different business website builders. The only thing that unites them all is the free opportunity to use it to create a business website.

By what criteria did I select these free business templates?

Most of the free business website templates that I came across were either not 100% free or frankly terrible quality. As a rule, they had an outdated design and were not responsive. I had to sort through literally hundreds of free templates for various platforms to select these top fifty.

The main criterion is the presence of a modern, stylish design. As a professional web designer, I brushed aside all themes created ten years ago and by amateurs in haste.

At the same time, I tried to focus on free WordPress themes that are of premium quality. Alas, there are not many such free WP themes for business websites. Usually, developers prefer to sell them rather than allow them to be downloaded for free.

Fans of free website builder software will be delighted by the excellent free business templates that can be used online without the need to download (like WordPress).

Top 50 Free Templates and Themes for Business Websites

All templates from this collection are absolutely free. Some you can download for free, others you can use right away on the platform website. In the description, I highlight the strengths of each business template and indicate what type of business website it would be ideal for.

NOTE: Don’t be put off by the fact that many templates have a rigid business positioning. For example, for websites of roofing businesses or AI referrals. Look at the design itself and the structure of the template – you can replace the images and theme of the template with anything you like in the drag and drop builder or HTML. The most important thing is that you like the business template you have chosen – changing the business category is not a problem.

Free Tech Company Template

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Free Tech Company Template

Ultra modern free business templates for a tech company by Wix. Made in a dark style with a large graphic image on the first screen. It looks very impressive and will be a great solution for an IT or AI company website.

Free Business Book Website Template

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Free Business Book Website Template

Black, white and red. Ideal colors for a business book website. As minimalistic as possible and at the same time stylish – all attention is focused only on the book.

Free Roofing Company Template

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Free Roofing Company Template

Free website template for a company specializing in the roofing business. It has a classic clean design with a wide video header, light background and content blocks explaining the company’s services.

Free Metric Business Website Template

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Free Metric Business Website Template

Another stylish free template that is suitable for any business company – consulting, IT, finance, marketing, legal services. Any line of business. This template is almost ready to use – just replace the company name and tagline in the header and your business website is ready to go.

Free Gutenify Business Dark Themes

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Free Gutenify Business Dark Themes

Excellent free block-based business WordPress theme made in dark colors. Also universal and suitable for creating a business website of any direction.

Free Landscaping Business Template

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Free Landscaping Business Template

As the name suggests, this free template is ideal for quickly creating a landscaping business website. The template has a light design made in soothing colors with an emphasis on green.

Free Farming Business Template

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Free Farming Business Template

Beautiful free template from Webnode for creating a website for farming business. Made in a rustic style, with beautiful images in warm sunny colors, this is the perfect template for an organic farm.

Digital Agency Free Template

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Digital Agency Free Template

Another great and at the same time free dark template. Originally designed by the developers for a digital agency website, but perfect for any IT and Tech company.

Free Momentum Landing Page Template

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Free Momentum Landing Page Template

A bright and simple layout from Webflow is the perfect solution for creating a business landing page. Easily replace images and headlines with your own and start selling in half an hour.

Free Bizworld Lite Corporate WP Theme

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Free Bizworld Lite Corporate WP Theme

Another completely free corporate WordPress theme, which, according to its developers, was specially created for business, IT companies and corporations. The theme is responsive and displays correctly on different screen resolutions.

Free AI Company Template

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Free AI Company Template

Spectacular free Wix template for AI companies and not only. Wix is generally characterized by ultra-modern designs, and in this free theme, this is fully expressed. The default template is designed for a self-driving car website, but its design and structure will suit any technology business. Just replace the title, photos and content with your own and your business website is ready to go.

Free Emma’s Flowers Template

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Free Emma’s Flowers Template

Classic template design for flower business websites. Calm pastel colors, seasoned minimalism, thin elegant fonts are the perfect combination for an online flower store or a private florist’s website.

Free Interior Design Website Template

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Free Interior Design Website Template

Free DUDA website template for interior design agencies and interior remodeling and painting companies. The template is as versatile as possible and allows you to create a website for any creative business.

Free Biznus Retail Website Template

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Free Biznus Retail Website Template

Biznus is a classic website design for small and medium-sized businesses. A wide header with a spectacular photo, a clear structure of content blocks describing the company’s services, strict business fonts are a great choice for any small business.

Free Business WordPress Theme

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Free Business WordPress Theme

A versatile multipurpose free WordPree theme with a classic design. This theme will allow you to build a website for businesses in different areas – IT, Insurance, finance, education, medical, architecture, lawyer and others.

Free Construction Company Template

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Free Construction Company Template

Modern eye-catching free template with video header for construction business website. It has a simple and clear design consisting of blocks, large elements and large titles. Looks great on mobile phones.

Seamstress Free Website Template

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Seamstress Free Website Template

Despite the fact that the declared theme of this template is seamstresses, it’s great for many other business areas. A distinctive feature of this template is a pleasant homely design made in warm pastel colors using decorative fonts and a minimum of text content.

Free Electrician Services Web Template

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Free Electrician Services Web Template

This template is the perfect solution for companies specializing in providing electrician services. In fact, it is perfect for many other business topics. The template has a classic business layout structure – logo on the left, menu in the center, contact phone number on the right. Immediately below the spectacular header, there is a large, noticeable button – “Get a free quote today”. Everything is done so that your website visitors become your customers.

Propel Free Business Template

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Propel Free Business Template

Simple yet modern multipurpose free website template. It’s well suited for creating almost any website. Large images, the usual arrangement of menus and design elements, stylish icons for content sections – all this makes the template as versatile and easy to use as possible.

Free Barnsbury WordPress Theme

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Free Barnsbury WordPress Theme

Free universal WordPress theme with classic structure to launch a website for farming and agriculture business. This is expressed in the abundant use of green colors and appropriate images. But once you change the color, say, to blue, and the images of vegetables to tech products, this template is ready for launching a website for an IT agency or any technology business.

Free Locksmith Business Template

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Free Locksmith Business Template

Simple responsive template for locksmith business website. Having a block structure and a minimum of graphic elements, this template is perfectly displayed on any device – be it a PC or a smartphone. Like many other Wix templates, it’s multifunctional – you can easily customize it for any type of business.

Seamstress Free Website Template

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Seamstress Free Website Template

A minimalistic free template for creating consulting businesses websites. It has a clean light design with stylish graphic images that complement it perfectly. There is not even a need to replace these images. It’s enough to replace the website name, tagline and text in the content blocks with your own and your free business website is ready to start. Given the presence of a drag-and-drop editor here, it will take you a maximum of half an hour to complete everything.

Free Workspace Website Template

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Free Workspace Website Template

A free user-friendly business template with a fixed left-side website wide menu. For those who like when the menu is located not on top but on the side and always fixed in one place. This layout structure makes it easier for visitors to find the information they need on the website and generally looks unusual.

Minimal Free Agency Template

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Minimal Free Agency Template

Minimalistic responsive agency website template. Corporate wide header, centered content, not bright colors of elements, stylish black and white icons – a great free website template suitable for a variety of businesses.

Digital Advertising Free WP Theme

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Digital Advertising Free WP Theme

Another attractive free WordPress theme for digital agency. Despite the unusual design, it is absolutely adaptive and displays perfectly on any device. The yellow color of the elements, if desired, can be changed to any other. Green for example, in my opinion, would also look good.

Free 3D Printing Business Web Template

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Free 3D Printing Business Web Template

Bright modern free template for any tech business. Not necessarily a 3D printing company. It will be an ideal solution for small businesses producing and/or selling machinery and innovative products.

Web Consulting Free Template

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Web Consulting Free Template

Quality free website template for web consulting company. It has a strict corporate design and looks professional and respectable. With minimal modifications, this template can be used for almost any type of business.

Cleaning Service Free Web Template

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Cleaning Service Free Web Template

Lightweight, clean-style website template for cleaning business. Thanks to the white background, light blue header with a bright image, the layout is perceived easily and airily. Which is required for the Cleaning Business.

Elemento Conference Free Theme

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Elemento Conference Free Theme

Free stylish free WordPress theme for IT companies, agencies and corporate sector. This free theme is responsive and built using the Bootstrap framework.

Moving Company Free Website Template

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Moving Company Free Website Template

Bright block free template for moving business. At the top there is a spectacular video header with a large “Start Online” button and a phone number. Below are sections Our Services and Testimonials. A great option for a free template for a service business.

Handyman Small Business Template

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Handyman Small Business Template

Black and white free template designed in a minimalist style. Suitable for small businesses where it’s important to focus on photographs. For example – interior design, house repairs, architecture.

Moving Company Free Template

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Moving Company Free Template

Another free moving company website template by Duda. A simple, intuitive layout with a comfortable structure and a light, light color scheme. The template is resposive and looks great on mobile.

Free Avitech WordPress Theme

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Free Avitech WordPress Theme

According to the developers, Avitech is a modern, super fast and lightweight WordPress theme with almost unlimited customization options. Like many of the free templates in this collection, it is multi-functional and suitable for launching a website for any business.

Moving Company Free Website Template

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Moving Company Free Website Template

Bright, spectacular free template with the use of graphic images. I really like this style of design – it always looks modern and won’t get bored in a couple of years like many others. It can be used to create both a corporate website and online service websites.

Electrician Services Free Template

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Electrician Services Free Template

Clean and minimalistic free template for tech companies. The template greets visitors with a wide header with a slogan and a bright orange button for which you can set any inscription. Below are sections – About us and Services. Nothing superfluous and exactly what is needed for a small business website.

Free Carpenter Business Web Template

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Free Carpenter Business Web Template

Take a closer look at this template if you need a simple and user-friendly website with a great image on the home page and a minimum of any elements. Initially, this template was designed for carpenter business, but once you change the image in the header, slogan, logo, and it can be used for any website, including a personal one.

Free Renovater WordPress Theme

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Free Renovater WordPress Theme

An excellent free WordPress theme for creating websites for construction and architecture companies. The theme has a bright yellow color scheme, which is associated with construction machinery and equipment. The developers of this theme made it adaptive and as flexible as possible for editing. In addition, it’s fully compatible with the Gutenverse plugin.

Free Staffing Agency Template

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Free Staffing Agency Template

Fresh bright free template for staffing agency website. The template has a good structure, where all the important information about the company is displayed on the home page. The bright colors of the design are pleasing to the eye and make the website stand out from other boring business websites.

PR Agency Free Website Template

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PR Agency Free Website Template

Strict discreet free template for PR agency website. If you are not a fan of bright colors and flashy images, then you should like this template.

Home Décor website Template

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Home Décor website Template

Stylish free website template with full screen widescreen photos. It’ll be an excellent solution for businesses where it’s important for visitors to show photos of objects/products in the best light. For example, for a hardware manufacturer or an Interior design studio.

Free Agency WP Theme

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Free Agency WP Theme

Free multipurpose WordPress theme made in classic corporate style. Without much modification, the theme is great for launching websites for consulting companies, translation agencies, marketing agencies and law firms.

Free Marketing Agency Template

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Free Marketing Agency Template

Lightweight free template in green colors. Looks great on mobile phones and tablets. An ideal template for small businesses with a small list of services and products.

Locksmith Free Website Template

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Locksmith Free Website Template

The strict, minimalist design of this free template is suitable not only for a locksmith business, but also for a gun store, auto repair shop, law agency. Just replace the images in the header and content with your theme (like the current ones) and you will have a great simple website for a small business.

Logistics Free Website Template

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Logistics Free Website Template

Stylish free template with a masculine design and appropriate color scheme. The template is designed to create logistics and transportation websites.

Free DecorMe WordPress Theme

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Free DecorMe WordPress Theme

Dark free WordPress theme with block structure. Suitable for interior design agencies, construction and renovation companies, architectural firms and any other type of business related to the design and design of buildings.

Mobile Marketing Free Template

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Mobile Marketing Free Template

One of my favorite styles of website design – simple yet effective looking. Its main advantage is that at a glance at the website it’s immediately clear what services the company provides. If necessary – change the image in the header and logo to others – and you can easily change the theme of the template to any other.

Free Business Consulting Template

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Free Business Consulting Template

A quality free template with a classic structure for creating a website for the Business Consulting Agency. Change the colors to the ones you like, change the name and slogan and your business website is ready. It’s simple and most importantly, it’s free.

Free Locksmith Business Template

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Free Locksmith Business Template

Love bright website designs? Then you will love this bright orange free template with large header images. Replace the image with your own and change the color of the header to, say, business blue, and you will have a great website for any line of business.

Zeever Business WordPress Theme

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Zeever Business WordPress Theme

Stylish black free WordPress theme for dark website designs lover. Thanks to the block structure, it can be universally used to launch any small business websites.

Free Gaming Company Template

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Free Gaming Company Template

Great free template for Gaming Business. The header, in addition to the main image, contains four blocks with game announcements. If desired, their number can be made less or more. Or remove them altogether. This template, like all other Wix templates, is responsive and displays well on the screens of any device.

NOTE: To make it easier for you to choose the right free business templates, I recommend that you first visit review: 30 Modern Small Business Websites Examples and see what modern small business websites can look like when built on various platforms.

30 Modern Small Business Websites Examples for 2024

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author avatar Written by Lesley Haught

You must have thought of designing your own business website at some point in life. But why is it necessary to have a company website? A solid online presence has been an active push for consumers or your target audience. A corporate website can truly make or break any business. An online storefront can make a huge opportunity for many entrepreneurs to grow their businesses. For all of these reasons, it is essential that every small business have a business site.

You can find many examples of small business websites that are jaw-droppingly amazing. A good business website shows that your brand is credible, professional, and worthy of people’s customs.

Good Examples of Business Websites

For your ease, we have listed down 30 examples of small business websites.

NOTE: All these examples are developed on different platforms – business website builders and CMS. The main purpose of this review is not to single out any particular platform, but to select business websites with an attractive and successful design.

BrandVillage

Made with WordPress

BrandVillage business website example

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BrandVillage is an award-winning branding agency. BrandVillage believes every business’s success depends on its community reputation, brand identity, strategy, and guidelines. It offers various graphic design services, including logo design, website design, packaging design, and more.

Its website design gives an impression of a responsive and user-friendly. Moreover, you find a consistent theme of great photography on bold backgrounds to give extra interest. 

Venkataramanan Associates

Made with WIX

Venkataramanan Associates small business website example

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Venkataramanan Associates is an award-winning architecture firm operating out of Bangalore. VA promotes a positive approach to collaboration of engineering, technology, and design innovation to influence its design capability.

VA website features a quality design that uses sliding photos of their projects on the Homepage. The site is easy to navigate with an excellent user experience and allows potential clients to get in touch with the business.

WeTalkMoney

Made with Weebly

WeTalkMoney website example for business

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WeTalkMoney is your financial planner, financial advisor, and personal guide to walk into life after retirement. Get your investing strategies, personal finance tips, and ways to build wealth with WeTalkMoney.

The website shows standout photography at the beginning and center of its Homepage. A horizontally sliding deck of testimonials and white typography gives a sleek, professional layout that will stop visitors in their tracks.

Keen Home

Made with Shopify

Keen Home business website example

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Keen Home offers proactive hardware and software products to let you live comfortably and efficiently at home. You can get a balanced home temperature system by clicking their website.

On the website, you will find large, professional-quality photos, beautiful typography, and page transition effects that add beauty to the look. You can easily navigate through the products through a navigation menu that is simple to use.

The Friday Habit Podcast

Made with Squarespace

The Friday Habit Podcast small business website example

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If you want to improve your business, you must listen to their Podcasts. They help entrepreneurs to build the business that works for them.

The Friday Habit Podcast uses a perfect design for the website with minimal visual elements and photos and images. The simple design strategy helps to keep the user focused on the related podcasts.

Wisteria

Made with WordPress

Wisteria website example for business

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Wisteria is one of the global market leaders in recycling facilities. Its product portfolio consists of wind sifting, conveying, dosing, and spreading.

The Homepage takes a bit of an unusual approach. You will see a full-screen background image along with a brief statement about what Westeria does. As you scroll down, you’ll see several images with headlines so you can navigate to different site sections.

CPC London

Made with Strikingly

CPC London business website example

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CPC London is a market leader in producing affordable 35mm motion picture film prints for projection.

You can see how beautifully it uses a video background on the Homepage and plenty of attention to detail throughout the site. The main navigation menu appears on the right side, which is very easy to find, and when you click on one of the main links in the menu, sub-navigation options appear.

Ception

Made with Wix

Ception small business website example

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Caption offers an Artificial-Intelligence powered system to increase productivity, sustainability, and safety of industrial operations related to construction and mining.

The caption uses a dark blue background and lots of high-quality photos. The site also includes images of ongoing projects as you scroll and interact. Links in the navigation menu lead to major sections of the site so you can move around with ease.

Knapsack Creative

Made with Squarespace

Knapsack Creative website example for business

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Knapsack Creative is a small creative agency that builds websites by capturing the client’s vision and goals through a simple, collaborative process. You will get clean, dynamic, and professional.

You will find a stand-out online with vibrant images on the Homepage that feels like an art exhibit. You will also love handwriting-style text when you scroll through the site, paired with a subtle background.

Taqnia International

Made with Jimdo

Taqnia International business website example

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Taqnia International invests in R&D initiatives for portfolio companies with top research centers. Moreover, it offers technological services and equipment to innovative technology companies.

You will love the relatively simple design of their website. As you scroll down the page, you will notice many subtle animations to the images and effects that add a nice touch. Navigation has been thought about too, with social media icons in the end.

Zubak Group

Made with WordPress

Zubak Group small business website example

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Zubak Group offers services for the sale and maintenance of new and used vehicles. They provide high-quality car repair services, selling of new and used cars, car rental, insurance, and inspection, road and home assistance, medical services, and much more.

You can see their online presence on the website with an efficient user experience. You will find a great example of a small business website that has efficiently used a combination of web development and design process. Using a video reel with subtle white background is a guarantee to impress other businesses.

Puffin Packaging

Made with WIX

Puffin Packaging website example for business

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Puffin Packaging offers wool insulated packaging for food.

You will see an eye-catching and perfectly color-coordinated website. There are some cool responsive features as you move down the Homepage, like animated text and moving icons. All of the images used on the site go perfectly with the background and typography colors, making for a remarkable user experience.

Infloexa

Made with Weebly

Infloexa business website example

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Infolexa is a software company that provides customized oracle service cloud and application integrations for organizations.

The design of the site is very subtle and clutter-free, incorporates just one image with less illustrations. It makes use of white background to add a strong visual element to the site and a handful of highlight colors.

SpokenLayer

Made with Squarespace

SpokenLayer small business website example

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SpokenLayer is a digital audio creative studio, specializing in custom, high-quality, and short-form content.

The exceptional design that includes big, bold typography and some subtle effects is eye-catching. The site includes plenty of written content aimed at its target audience. Of course, you’ll also find all the necessary details about the services they offer and how they can help.

CUBEevo

Made with Webflow

CUBEevo website example for business

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CUBEevo is a creative digital agency with solely focus on helping businesses explore and evolve forward thinking ideas into newfound possibilities.

If you click their website, the experience is enhanced with some unique transitions with dark blue theme. It gives a subtle and a positive user experience. This may also help to keep visitors on the site for longer periods of time. You’ll also see some subtle effects and videos when scrolling the Homepage.

Japan Mobility

Made with Duda

Japan Mobility business website example

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Japan Mobility simplifies the relocation process and gives you the care and support that you need from the day you arrive in Japan.

Website consists of subtle red and white theme with transition background patterns throughout the site. They provide some excellent visual effects without being overwhelming or dominating the design. And professional images complete the outstanding look.

Republic Capital Group

Made with Jimdo

Republic Capital Group small business website example

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Republic Capital Group offers wealth management services and financial advisory to the RIA, asset and wealth management communities.

The website uses a simple overlay design, with high quality photos. As you scroll down the page or navigate the site, you’ll notice many subtle animations and effects that add a nice touch. Finding information is very easy thanks to a logical structure and a clear navigation menu.

Kuna

Made with Shopify

Kuna website example for business

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Kuna smart home provides security system to help you prevent break-ins and protect what matters to you most, from anywhere in the world.

There’s nothing confusing about the website layout. A sophisticated palette with beautiful images overlaid by beautiful text, the website directs potential customers to the brand’s main services from the landing page.

Infinity Works

Made with WordPress

Infinity Works business website example

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Infinity Works is a platform that provides digital cloud based transformation consultancy services.

Service website seems boring, right? That’s not always true, and this website can prove it. Take a look at the dramatic full-page photos that fill the Homepage. This business website makes use of bright white text, minimalist navigation, and a library of high contrast landscape images. The result is serious yet sleek.

Prometheus Group

Made with Webflow

Prometheus Group small business website example

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Prometheus Group is a financial advisory agency that offers financial planning and investment strategies for individuals, corporate or charity.

The Homepage takes a bit of an unusual approach by adding clipart and illustrations. Above the page, you’ll see a full-screen clipart images along with a brief statement about what PPA does. As you scroll down, you’ll see a number of images with headlines that link to different sections of the site.

Skipio

Made with Duda

Skipio website example for business

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Skipio offers automated messaging tools, so you can start two-way conversations, build personal relationships, and enjoy lasting, repeatable success with sales and retention.

The site is very clean and clutter-free. It makes use of blue and white color to add a strong visual element to the site. Photos with different background color are used, and all of the colors work together to create a really nice visual.

Islango

Made with Wix

Islango business website example

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Islango is an online yachts and cruise booking platform that allows visitors to book for sailing vacations around the globe.

The website of this sailing service provider uses a full-screen video background on the Homepage and plenty of attention to detail throughout the site. The navigation menu opens up as you click on the hamburger icon to the left side of the screen.

ARCH Motorcycle

Made with Squarespace

ARCH Motorcycle small business website example

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ARCH Motorcycle offers creative and innovative American motorcycles with a unique blend of performance, customization, and attention to detail.

The most colourful effects are showcased on the Homepage, uses a full-screen video background. You will see more colours and some subtle illustrations as you scroll down. Both the header and footer include links to the primary pages.

Helideck Certification Agency

Made with WordPress

Helideck Certification Agency website example for business

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Helidecks is a service provider of offshore fixed and mobile helicopters for the safe and compliant operations.

You will find a dark blue background features real life photos of past and ongoing projects. The site is also equally functional and helpful. The high-quality photos add a drastic visual appeal for you.

Hingham Auto Repair

Made with Weebly

Hingham Auto Repair business website example

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If you are planning to add life to your car then please visit Hingham Auto repair site. You will find a high class auto service in this garage. Hingham caters to all services from brakes to oil change to routine vehicle inspections.

Their website includes information on the various services. The layout is fairly simple and clean, and by scrolling down, you can access all of the content on the site.

Mangomolo

Made with Wix

Mangomolo small business website example

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Mangomolo is the leading streaming/VOD provider in the MENA region, offering an innovative turnkey solution catering to all media outlets.

Website of Mangomolo uses a clean and minimalist design and showing team members on the Homepage. As you scroll down, large images and clients will appear. Company information is readily available and a nice touch is the use of subtle colour hues throughout the site.

Brave the Skies

Made with Shopify

Brave the Skies website example for business

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Brave the skies provide you a platform to help you create, launch and grow your online store with Shopify.

The use of a chimpanzee on the Homepage gives an image to the visitor what Brave the Skies does and what can it do to your ecommerce business. A clean design, while presenting all of the content you would expect from the website is a true example of small business website

Alive 5

Made with Duda

Alive 5 business website example

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Alive5 is your one inbox for live chat, send a text message, or connect via Facebook. Alive5 lets you engage with your audience with integrated CRM.

You are going to love the big, cliparts and lots of scrolling effects on their website. The navigation menu jumps to specific pages, or you can just scroll down.

The Best Website Builders for Small Business (and not only)

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author avatar Written by Lesley Haught
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In this review, I will discuss choosing the best website builder for small businesses. You will learn how to select a website builder, which factors are most important to consider first, and which are less critical. I will also share my observations and conclusions from testing over a hundred different website builders.

Before diving into the review, I’d like to explain why, when we talk about a website for a small business, using website builders is a more rational and generally more successful solution than offline CMS or any custom solutions.

The key reason is that most modern business website builders are not just limited to website creation software. They are genuine online business platforms. By using them, you not only create a website but also populate it with content, edit the design, upgrade its functionality, and enhance it with additional apps.

But the main thing is the system – an online system for managing your business where you track visitors, analyze which of them convert to customers and which do not, what products they buy, and much more.

You might argue that many CMS and custom solutions can do this too.

Absolutely true. However, modern business website builders can do this much more affordably than if you were to seek web development from a design agency or freelancers.

Moreover, using website builders, you can manage all these processes yourself because modern website builders are user-friendly, unlike many programming engines.

So, let’s get started.

NOTE: To write this piece, I’ve spent tens of hours on research and personally tried more than 30 website builders. As a result, I was able to come down to the 7 best website builders, which are ideal for small businesses. You won’t have to settle with or even try out mediocre solutions thanks to this review. In the final part of this listicle, I have also given my recommendations for choosing a website builder and pointed out the common mistakes made by business owners when selecting a website builder. So do read on till the end.

What is a website builder?

Website builder is software that allows you to design, edit and subsequently fill websites with content. Most modern website builders are online platforms that include a visual website design editor, hosting and domain name. The best ones have drag and drop editors, which makes it much easier to create website pages without having to react HTML/CSS code. Thus, a modern website builder is the easiest and most affordable way to create a website.

Top 10 Best Website Builders

Below I have collected and described the most powerful, convenient and functional website builders. Each of them has its own specialization – some are good for small business websites, others are only for ecommerce, others for doctors, etc.

WIX – Ideal for Small Business

Wix is probably the best universal website builder. And more than 62 million websites all over the world have been created using it, that’s more than 200M users (according to official data for 2021). And that is the highest record for all online website builders, both in the free and premium segments. Despite its versatility, Wix’s capabilities are fully revealed in the development of small business websites. For this, Wix has hundreds of all kinds of templates – for a wide variety of business categories. Thanks to this, Wix can be used to build great restaurants websites, websites for real estate agencies, travel businesses, hotels, beauty salons, law firms and many other small businesses. Well, why is it that people like Wix and use it? Let’s find out.

Very Simple

Wix is easier and more user-friendly when compared to most other website builders. Very few website builders have the same intuitive interface as Wix does. Even without any knowledge of web development, you can successfully create a website using Wix. You don’t need to know anything about web design, HTML layout, or programming.

Wix drag&drop editor

Wix drag&drop editor

Universal

Wix can be used to create many different kinds of websites. From simple blogs to comprehensive websites with forums, membership options, online stores, etc. – everything is possible with Wix.

Wix website templates categories

Wix website templates categories

Moreover, it has more template categories than other website builders. This means you can find the website templates for even some rare niches like driving schools, yoga instructors, farm produce delivery, and many others.

More than 700 Quality Templates Available

Wix is one of the leaders among website builders. And the claim is further substantiated by the fact that it has more than 700 template options. And these options cater to a wide range of color preferences and design tastes. Also, the template options that you get with Wix don’t compromise on quality. All the templates are fully responsive and created by professional website designers.

NOTE: Having great, up-to-date business templates is one of the most important things to look for when choosing a business website builder. To make it easier to choose the right business templates, check out this collection: 50 Best Free Business Website Templates and WP Themes. Here are the best free business templates that are currently available on the web.

Free

Wix’s free plan comes with better functional capacities as compared to other platforms. Most builders limit their free plans to nominal features so that you can just try out the builder. But Wix offers a full-fledged, feature-loaded plan for free. Of course, the premium plans offer several more features. But for simple blogs and personal websites, Wix’s free plan usually suffices.

WIX coupon code

AI Availability

Wix has recently started to use AI. And the use of AI makes website development even easier. If you choose the Wix Artificial Design Interface (ADI) mode, you can create a website by just answering simple questions about your site’s purpose and your preferences (color scheme, style, font, and the like). AI will do the heavy-lifting for you. And your website will be ready within 10 to 20 minutes. This is a perfect option for beginners.

Wix ADI

Wix ADI

More than 300 additional Apps

In addition to built-in functional capacities, Wix offers access to more than 300 different apps through the Wix App Market. These specialized apps allow you to perform even more detailed website customization and open up new functional avenues. And the best part is that all these apps are available for free.

Embedding Codes and Custom Elements

For more experienced users, Wix allows embedding custom code, widgets, and custom elements to the websites. You can use the Velo by Wix option for this. And this is what significantly improves the standard Wix editor experience. While it doesn’t give you the freedom to change the existing HTML code of the website, you can certainly add some more elements that you may need.

Wix Embedding Codes and Custom Elements

Wix Embedding Codes and Custom Elements

If you’re a beginner webmaster, this feature won’t matter much to you. But, for advanced users, it is a huge plus.

Security

All the websites created with Wix have SSL security certificates. It also applies to free Wix websites. Most free website builders don’t offer an SSL certificate with the free plan. As opposed to WordPress and other CMS with open code, your Wix website won’t need frequent system updates. That’s why you needn’t worry about security. Hackers won’t get access to your website because you forgot to update it. No upgrades – no problems with website cracks.

Automatic Backups

In my opinion, Wix’s automatic backup point creation is a perfect feature. It gives you an option to return to your website’s previous version, that is, the one before your latest changes. It reminds me a bit of the “History” feature in Adobe Photoshop – just click on the latest save and go back.

Wix revisions history

Wix revisions history

For whom will Wix be the best solution?

Those who have minimum knowledge of website development;

Those who want to develop a small website (up to 30 pages);

Those who want to create a free website;

Those who want to build a website for unusual and rare activity;

Those who want to set up small online stores;

Those who need a website for selling “virtual” products (photos, graphics, music, and so on).

How much does Wix cost?

Wix is a free website builder without any time restrictions on use. This means you can use a free Wix website for as long as you need. For more advanced functionalities, there are several paid plans that you can consider.

Shopify – Best for Online Stores

Shopify is the absolute leader among ecommerce website builders. A lot of website builders allow you to run online stores, but no one does it as professionally and thoughtfully as Shopify. And you’ll soon realize why. Unlike most business website builders, Shopify doesn’t try to be a universal solution. Instead, it specializes in helping users set up online stores.

Sell with Shopify

Sell with Shopify

And in time, Shopify has developed many functional options and extra capacities for online sales and drop shipping that it has left all its competitors way behind. However, in this process, it turned out to be more complicated to use. And, of course, more expensive. Although, this is not an issue given the sheer amount of capabilities it has. So, why is Shopify the leader among ecommerce platforms?

NOTE: Perhaps for small businesses, this website builder may seem too expensive, and some of its options are superfluous. But when you gradually develop your small business and start introducing more and more new additions to the website, you will understand how good Shopify is. No other business website builder has as many ecommerce features as Shopify. You just find what you need and turn it on in your website.

Highly specialized platform

Shopify isn’t trying to please everyone. It just aims to become the best online sales and drop shipping solution. And this specialized focus resulted in lots of functional options and extra ecommerce apps. Plus, there are all sorts of free and premium ecommerce themes. All these were created with a great understanding of how ecommerce businesses operate.

More than 100 free themes and thousands of premium options

Shopify has both free and premium themes from third-party developers. For example, there are more than 1200 premium themes for Shopify sold on ThemeForest alone. Premium themes allow making your online store’s design more unique. Thanks to so many options, you’ll able to find appropriate themes even for selling products in rare niches.

Shopify templates

Shopify templates

Hundreds of useful apps and plugins

Shopify has lots of free and premium apps and plugins. These were created to significantly improve the functionality of Shopify online stores. I’ve highlighted this in red for a reason. And it is that these apps can provide an important competitive edge for your ecommerce business.

Shopify app store

Shopify app store

Here are some examples of Shopify apps and plugins and what they do:

Judge.me – You get automatic client mailing that requests to leave a comment about a purchased product. You can either send the request via email, push notifications, or SMS. You can quickly collect real client reviews on your e-store and increase conversion through this.

Oberlo – It a great pick for drop shipping. This app interacts with your suppliers, and orders are serviced semi-automatically. Shipping tracks are automatically entered. And the shipment of the order by the supplier is automatically confirmed.

ROI Hunter – It integrates with your Shopify site and sets up dynamic Google and Facebook ads. For Google ads, this plugin independently creates a product feed and remarketing tag. And for Facebook ads, the plugin creates a product catalog and Facebook remarketing pixel. Moreover, ROI Hunter can configure dynamic remarketing ads. It shows ads to visitors who expressed interest in your store but left without making a purchase.

Ali Hunter– it automates the analysis of drop shipping products and stores on AliExpress. It aids in finding new products and also analyzing and tracking competitors’ stores. This plugin can save you several hours.

Shopify Shipping

Shopify Shipping is a unique offer that helps save money on goods delivery within the USA. You can buy and print discounted shipping labels when filling an order. At the expense of Shopify and DHL’s partnership arrangements, UPS and USPS, you can extend delivery discounts to your clients up to 75%.

Shopify Payments

With Shopify, you can use PayPal, Stripe, Square, and other payment intake solutions. But there is also a built-in solution – Shopify Payment with several advantages:

Financially beneficial: With Shopify Payments, there are no extra Shopify fees.

User-friendly: All the tools are accessible in a single Shopify account. You don’t need to shift from the payment system account to your Shopify store account.

Shopify Fulfillment Network: a possibility to use Shopify warehouses for goods storage and delivery to clients. It is similar to the Amazon Fulfillment service.

Shopify dashboard

Shopify dashboard

Integration with trading platforms

Shopify has several options for integration with some popular marketplaces and trading platforms like Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Google Shopping, Instagram, and more. This allows store owners to sell goods on their site as well as on other popular trading platforms at the same time. This is a convenient feature and helps save a lot of time.

 

For whom will Shopify be the best solution?

For drop shipping salesmen who already sell their goods through Amazon, Instagram, and Facebook and now want to broaden their market by setting up their online store.

For those who wish to set up medium-sized or large online stores.

For quick ecommerce business startups within the USA.

Shopify dropshipping

Shopify drop shipping

How much does Shopify cost?

Shopify doesn’t have a free plan. But it offers a 14-day free trial (no card required). After this period, you’ll get the option to switch to one of the premium plans. The plans are Basic Shopify ($29 per month), Shopify ($79 per month), and Advanced Shopify ($229 per month). More details about Shopify plans.

Squarespace – Perfect Website Builder for Photographers

Being a professional website designer, I personally like Squarespace. It is one of the few website builders that help you make beautiful and aesthetically flawless websites in a minimalist style.

Squarespace

Squarespace

Squarespace was initially created as a website builder for photographers and artists to create great portfolio websites. This platform is for people and web developers with artistic taste, to summarize it briefly. The latest Squarespace 7.1 version comes with more functional capacities than ever before. But truth be told, most of them are far from perfect. Now let us understand Squarespace’s peculiarities in detail.

Dreams Come True for Photographers and Artists

Betting on visual content demonstration, Squarespace can satisfy the tastes of even the most demanding photographers, designers, artists, and other creatives. Website visitors need to be shown photos, graphics, and videos from the best perspectives. And Squarespace is one of the best website builders for such purposes.

squarespace editor

Squarespace editor

Moreover, you’re can easily get sales with the help of visual content. For this, you’ll need the Business tariff plan, though. (Check its price here.)

Excellent Template Design

Squarespace has the most beautiful website templates in the market. Of course, there aren’t too many options (about 100 templates are available). And not all categories are available either. But the templates that are available are beautiful, of high quality, and fully responsive.

Squarespace website templates

Squarespace website templates

NOTE: Squarespace templates often use a minimalist style, complemented with large beautiful images and big yet simple design elements. It’s well-suited for small sites that aim at showcasing their photos or their products’ photos in the best light. However, don’t expect your Squarespace website to look spectacular if you, for example, are a lawyer and your site is focused on legal services.

Greater Opportunities for Blogging

Squarespace is perfect for creating a blog. It has a lot of valuable functions that include a simple way to edit posts, deferred publication planning, rich customization of the comments system, AMP support, RSS, tag adding, the possibility to add several authors for one post at a time, iTunes podcasting integration possibility and many more.

squarespace blog option

Squarespace blog option

Drag-and-Drop Editor

Squarespace has a built-in drag-and-drop editor for easy customization of your website. It allows you to change the design by simply dragging and dropping the required elements at the required place on a page.

NOTE: Squarespace’s drag-and-drop editor isn’t bad. But my personal experience suggested that it is not so intuitive and requires some getting used to. Unlike other top website builders, Squarespace’s drag-and-drop editor comes without a traditional dashboard on the left side of the screen. Instead, all the options appear after clicking on template design elements. That’s why if you have already used technically advanced website builders like Wix or Weebly, then you’ll need some extra time getting used to Squarespace’s drag-and-drop editor.

Free SSL Certificate

There is no free plan in Squarespace, but the monthly plan charges that you pay include the cost of an SSL certificate, which is a great thing.

Squarespace Analytics Tools

Squarespace offers its own solutions for website visitor analytics through the built-in Squarespace Analytics App. Integration with Google Analytics is also possible in case you need more data.

Squarespace analytics tools

Squarespace analytics tools

Unlimited Bandwidth and Storage Space

Squarespace offers unlimited bandwidth and storage space for all plans starting from the most basic one. There is also no limit on the number of web pages your website can have.

For whom will Squarespace be the best solution?

For photographers, designers, artists, and anyone else who needs a stylish portfolio website;

For bloggers who are looking for an alternative to a WordPress blog;

For those who wish to build a small ecommerce website that sells designer things, handmade goods, posters, photos, or graphics;

For those looking forward to developing a personal website, like public figures, musicians, sports persons, and show-biz stars.

How much does Squarespace cost?

Squarespace doesn’t have a free plan (but there is aa 14-day trial) and it can hardly be called affordable. The lowest-prices Squarespace plan starts at $12 per month (paid annually) and is commensurate with the top competitors’ plans.

Squarespace coupon code

A more functional Business plan costs $18 per month. The Basic Commerce plan allows online sales without any transaction fees and will cost you $26 per month. Advanced Commerce, the most powerful plan, requires you to shell out $40 per month. It includes all the capacities that Squarespace has on offer for its clients. Check out a more detailed view of Squarespace plans.

Webnode – Best for Multilingual Websites

Webnode is one of the oldest website builders (created in 2008) that is constantly developing and making its clients happy. And today, there are over 40 million websites all over the world that are powered by Webnode. Now I’ll tell you exactly why people trust Webnode and what it’s got better than its competitors. Though it has some cons, too, the strong pros make Webnode a value offering.

Beautiful and Responsive Templates

In 2016, Webnode rolled out an important update with its drag-and-drop editor and website templates. At the moment, it’s got a collection of more than 200 beautiful and responsive templates. All of which are available for free.

Webnode website templates

Webnode website templates

Easy-to-Use

Webnode is far from being a leader in functional capacities since it falls behind Wix and Weebly. Nevertheless, it is intuitive and user-friendly. Webnode is convenient even for beginner users.

Ideal for Multi-Language Websites

Webnode allows for multi-language website development as it supports 20 languages. That figure is higher than what any other website builder supports. And that’s what makes Webnode the best website builder for launching multi-language websites.

Option to choose any language

Option to choose any language

NOTE: To create a multi-language website with unlimited language support, you need the Profi plan ($22.90 per month). With the Standard plan ($12.90 per month), your website would support only two languages.

No Limit On The Number Of Pages In The Free plan

Webnode is a free website builder. With the free plan, you can develop a fully functional website, get free hosting (100MB storage and 1GB bandwidth), and a free third-level domain name. Also, there is no limit on the number of pages that your website can have.

Free SSL Certificate for All Plans

Webnode takes responsibility for your website’s security and offers free SSL certificates for all websites built using it. (Including those that have been developed for free.)

Website Backup and Recovery

Webnode allows creating backups and recovering previous versions of your website. This function will especially please beginner webmasters who can easily correct mistakes using this feature. Backup creation is possible in two ways – online and offline. With the offline option, you can save your website’s backup directly on your computer. Find out how to do that here.

Adding HTML/CSS Code

Webnode makes it possible to easily add HTML/CSS code and extra widgets. You can add your HTML code to the header, footer, or anywhere else on your website.

Option to add HTML/CSS code

Option to add HTML/CSS code

Visit here to know how it can be done.

Affordable prices

Another great advantage of Webnode is its affordable premium plans. As compared to other top website builders, Webnode has the lowest prices. Like Wix, Webnode also has a simple Connect Domain plan that costs $3.90 per month (against $5 for the Wix plan). The most basic premium plan, Mini, costs $7.50 per month. A similar plan with Squarespace costs $12, and as for Wix, it’s $14.

However, note that, unlike competitors, Webnode’s Mini plan doesn’t remove Webnode ads from your website. The basic eCommerce plan (Standard) is available for only $12.90 per month. Wix’s minimum ecommerce plan costs $23, and for the basic Squarespace eCommerce plan, you’d have to pay $26. Shopify’s basic plan costs $29. The price advantage is obvious – you’ll have to pay much less with Webnode.

For whom will Webnode be the best solution?

NOTE: Despite the available free plan, I don’t recommend Webnode for creating a free website. Webnode free plan possibilities are considerably limited compared to Wix or Weebly. You can try other builders if your aim is to develop a free website.

But I recommend using Webnode in the following cases:

For multi-language website creation. Webnode is the best solution in the market;

For beginner webmasters who want to develop a personal website;

For making small online stores, since the cost of starting up an online store is low with Webnode;

For creating small business sites (using the Mini or Standard plans).

How much does Webnode cost?

Webnode offers a free plan without any limits on use and four affordable premium plans. The most basic Limited plan costs $3.90 per month. It is the same as the free plan but with the possibility to use your domain name. Mini plan ($7.50) has got broader capacities but doesn’t remove Webnode ads. Standard Plan costs $12.90 and has got even more options, not to mention the possibility to make online sales. The top Profi plan costs $22.90. It’s got maximum capabilities and supports all 20 languages for multi-language website creation. Here are more details about Webnode’s plans.

Pixpa – Good for Portfolios and Selling Art Works

At first glance, Pixpa doesn’t look like a small business website builder. It’s somewhat reminiscent of Squarespace – just like Squarespace, it’s designed to develop portfolio websites. But it has its own advantages that Squarespace doesn’t have. And it’s not just more affordable prices.

Pixpa website builder

Pixpa is betting on the development of three types of sites – portfolio websites for photographers, artists and illustrators, blogs and an online store. Of course, all this can be packaged in one website.

Easy Portfolio Website Creation

Simplicity and convenience are the distinguishing features of Pixpa. Pixpa has a simple yet functional drag and drop editor with an intuitive interface. You should not expect super-wide features from it (like Wix, for example), but they are quite enough to customize the template you like the way you need.

Minimalist and Responsive Templates

Pixpa has about 40 website templates on topics: Photography, Design, Art & Illustration, Graphic and Web, Architecture, Music and Performing Arts, Fashion, Models & Actors, Beauty & Style, Health & Wellness, Personal & Lifestyle, Wedding, Health & Wellness, Blog, Business & Services, Consulting & Coaching, Food & Restaurants, Real Estate & Properties.

I specifically listed them all so that you can be convinced of their diversity. In terms of category selection, Pixpa outperforms most other portfolio website builders. Because Pixpa is more about business than just building a portfolio website.

Pixpa templates

All Pixpa templates are responsive and automatically adjust to any screen resolution. Without additional actions on your part, which of course will greatly simplify the life of beginners.

NOTE: What I personally like about Pixpa as a web designer is the easy change of website template. Most website builders don’t allow you to easily change the template of a live website (Wix – hello!). With Pixpa, this is possible with just one click – you simply select a new template and Pixpa will automatically adapt the content to fit it. Very simple and fast. And that’s pretty cool for me!

Advanced SEO Features already in basic plan

Pixpa has built-in SEO tools for advanced website SEO customization. Remarkably, this option is already available in the Basic plan, unlike most website builders.

NOTE: Pixpa has fast loading pages due to progressive loaded images on the pages. This works similar to lazy loading in WordPress. Images are loaded on the page not all at once when it is opened, but as the page is scrolled. The benefit is especially noticeable for websites with long pages with lots of images, such as photo galleries or blogs.

Adding and editing CSS, HTML, Javascript already in the basic plan

Adding your own CSS code and manually editing the HTML code of pages is a feature of many advanced website builders. But not many builders offer this opportunity in the basic plan. Pixpa is one of them. This, no doubt, will be appreciated by more experienced web masters with the appropriate skills.

Sell without a transaction fee

Pixpa allows you to not only create various image galleries on your website, but also sell them. And at the same time with zero commission, which favorably distinguishes Pixpa from many other online stores (Squarespace and Shopify, hello to you!).

In fact, on Pixpa, you can create not the usual portfolio website, but a fully functional online store. For example, selling paintings or posters. Or even printed T-shirts. In short, any product where the visual component is of primary importance. In this case, the benefits of Pixpa will be fully revealed.

Pixpa has many more features than I have listed here. Check them all on the official website.

For whom will Pixpa be the best solution?

For photographers, illustrators, graphic and web designers who want a minimalist portfolio website at an affordable cost.

For those who would like to create an online store without transaction fees to sell photos, art works, posters, paintings and any other creative products and more.

Anyone who needs a small website with good functionality at a cheap price.

NOTE: want to see what websites built with Pixpa look like? Check out these 20+ Pixpa website examples to see what your website might look like with this website builder.

How much does Pixpa cost?

Cheap prices is another Pixpa plus. Pixpa has a 15 day trial period, after which you will be prompted to choose one of four plans as standard: Basic, Creator, Professional, Advanced. Pixpa allows you to have additional discounts when paying yearly (50% Off!) and 2 yearly (63% Off!). Thus, the already affordable prices have become even more profitable.

Pixpa coupon code

Judge for yourself:

BasicCreatorProfessionalAdvanced
Pay monthly$5/mo$10/mo$15/mo$25/mo
Pay yearly$2.50/mo$5/mo$7.50/mo$12.50/mo
Pay 2 yearly$1.88/mo$3.75/mo$5.63/mo$9.38/mo
NOTE: you can get an additional 50% off any Pixpa plan if you use our 50% Off Pixpa coupon code.

Weebly – Best Free Website Builder

Weebly was the first website builder I ever used. It’s one of the oldest online website builders that began operation in 2007.

Weebly website builder

Weebly website builder

Being one of the best free website builders, Weebly has lots of advantages, some of which you’re unlikely to get with other website builders. What I like about this builder is that it’s got a good balance (between functional capacities and simplicity of use) and has ample opportunities for creating larger sites. With regards to the latter, Weebly is second to none.

Easy To Use

Weebly is really easy to use. You’ll have to spend the least possible amount of time and effort to master its interface. Weebly’s drag-and-drop editor is extremely easy and intuitive, but I must say that it appeared to me not that flexible when compared to Wix.

Weebly editor

Weebly editor

I would have liked more capacities for changing templates and editing them. However, the ease and user-friendliness of this builder are still worth appreciating.

Perfect for Larger Websites

Most of the good website builders are aimed at small website development. They are limited in terms of pages, sections, categories, and subcategories. Moreover, managing larger projects using such platforms isn’t as easy as you’d like. But all this isn’t true for Weebly. Weebly, perhaps, is the best online website builder if you want to build a sizable informational website. It has a well-considered website architecture that is great for multi-page websites with a big enclosure of sections and subsections.

Website made on Weebly

Website made on Weebly

Also, it is as easy to handle a larger website with Weebly as it is to handle a smaller one.

Unlimited Depth of Navigation

Weebly allows creating an unlimited enclosure of categories, sections, and navigation menus. That’s what I felt lacking in Squarespace, where you can create categories for only first-level enclosures. Weebly automatically creates a drop-down menu for you in accordance with your multilevel website structure. It’s really wonderful!

Membership Site Creation

Using Weebly, you can build membership sites with the possibility of showing certain content to only a certain group of users. It’s possible to give them personal access passwords or let them independently register on the website to gain entry to the membership area.

Weebly membership options

Weebly membership options

Learn more about Weebly membership features here.

NOTE: Creating a membership website is possible with the Pro plan and plans above it. With the Pro plan, you can have up to 100 members. With the most expensive plans, the limit on the number of members gets lifted.

Adding and Editing The Website Code

It’s been my long-held observation that experienced webmasters (especially web developers) consider Weebly to be the absolute leader among all online website builders. And that’s not for nothing. The point is that Weebly, unlike most of its competitors, allows editing the HTML/CSS code of your website. It can be via the Embed Code element. And it is really comfortable to work with. You can edit the CSS code and see how your website has changed in the preview section. (Select the Auto Preview option in the settings.)

Weebly HTML/CSS editor

Weebly HTML/CSS editor

As a result, you can perform more accurate customization of your website as per your needs.

NOTE: Be very careful while manually editing the HTML website code. Ensure that you don’t accidentally make changes that may hurt your entire website’s operation. Given that Weebly hasn’t got an automatic website backup creation option (like Wix and Webnode), wrongly editing the code can create major problems for you. You’ll have to contact Weebly support in order to restore your website. That’s why you should edit the code only if you have the required skills and experience.

Apps and Widgets

Weebly has the Weebly App Center, where you’ll find a great collection of apps, widgets, and tools to integrate with your Weebly websites. Judged based on the number of additional apps available, Weebly is the third-best platform (after Shopify and Wix).

Weebly editor

Weebly editor

Using apps and widgets allows making your website even better. For example, you can add complicated tables or text animations to attract your users’ attention. What’s remarkable about this is that the Weebly App Center can be accessed on all plans, including the free version.

For whom will Weebly be the best solution?

For creating bigger sites with a large number of pages and sections;

For creating free websites;

For beginner webmasters without any experience in site building;

For making business websites;

For webmasters with HTML layout and programming skills;

For making eCommerce stores.

How much does Weebly cost?

Weebly has one free and several premium plans. Note that Weebly has different plans for users from the USA and Europe. There are 3 premium plans for the USA: The Personal plan, available for $6 per month, allows adding your custom domain name. There is also a plan for $12 per month and the Performance plan for $26 per month. For European countries, there are 4 premium plans:

Connect (Similar to the personal plan, available for €6 per month);

Pro (Positioned as a plan for groups and organizations, available for €10 per month);

Business (For small businesses and online stores, available for €20 per month);

Business Plus (For larger eCommerce sellers, available for €30 per month).

Find out more details about Weebly’s plans.

Jimdo – Good for Simple Small Business Sites

Jimdo belongs to the category of older website builders (it exists since 2007) that keep on evolving and getting better.

Jimdo website builder

Jimdo website builder

In 2017, Jimdo released an artificial intelligence-powered version of its website builder – Jimdo Dolphin. Jimdo Dolphin is now one of the best AI website builders at a very affordable price. For the most part, it was Jimdo Dolphin’s existence that made me put it on the best website builders list. Jimdo Creator, a version for more experienced users, appeared to me not functional enough. It contains more advanced settings than Jimdo Dolphin, but it’s obviously a weaker variant than Wix, Weebly, and Squarespace. That’s why when I’m talking about Jimdo, I mean Jimdo Dolphin.

Very Fast

Jimdo Dolphin is the fastest website builder among the ones that I have used. You can develop a simple but high-quality website in only 3 minutes. Literally, in just 3 minutes! If you spend about an hour on its final customization, you’ll get a perfect simple website.

Very Simple

Jimdo’s simplicity and user-friendliness are commendable. It was more comfortable and easier for me to edit a website using Jimdo Dolphin than using Wix ADI. The reason was that Jimdo allows editing websites in real-time. This means you can immediately see the results of your actions.

Jimdo editor

Jimdo editor

Free

Jimdo has a free plan – it’s an undeniable pro, but in my opinion, its possibilities are very restricted. It’s fair to say that there are some free website builders that have fewer restrictions and more functional options in their free plans.

Jimdo coupon code

Quality Website Templates

Jimdo offers beautiful and quality website templates. They look equally good on different devices like smartphones, older mobile phones, tablets, or PCs.

Jimdo website templates

Jimdo website templates

NOTE: Keep in mind that if you choose Jimdo Dolphin, you cannot switch to Jimdo Creator and vice versa. What is more, you should know that Jimdo doesn’t support the possibility of HTML website code editing. Website editing is limited to what you can do using the visual Jimdo drag-and-drop editor.

For whom will Jimdo be the best solution?

For beginner webmasters with minimum skills;

For immediate website creation (when you need a website right now);

For developing simple websites for small businesses.

How much does Jimdo cost?

Jimdo offers 2 kinds of plans – for creating standard websites and for online stores. For standard websites:

Play – A free plan that is good for nothing but testing Jimdo;

Start – A basic premium plan without ads and with your custom domain for $6 per month;

Grow – Recommended for business websites (for $15 per month);

Unlimited – As obvious from the self-explanatory name, the plan has no restrictions. The cost of this plan isn’t stated on the website.

For online stores:

Basic – Similar to the Start plan, but aimed at ecommerce (for $15 per month);

Business – For more advanced online stores (for $19 per month);

VIP – The top ecommerce plan, the price for which isn’t mentioned on the website.

More details about Jimdo plans.

My expert tips for choosing website builders for businesses

Finding a good website builder is a challenging task. Not because there aren’t enough of them. But rather because there are too many different website building platforms, and the choice gets overwhelming.

Now even though website builders are great, choosing an unsuitable website builder can be extremely detrimental to your business.

You cannot put off or avoid the choice either because an effective website is essential for any business in the modern world.

In this section, I’m going to clearly explain how to choose a website builder for small businesses and what criteria should be taken into consideration.

Where to start choosing from?

To begin with, you should decide on the challenges that your website is going to solve for your business and what is going to be the goal of the website.

There are usually three main kinds of business websites.

eCommerce

These types of websites are online stores that sell different products and services. Their main purpose is to sell physical or digital products and directly receive payment.

If you want to find an eCommerce website builder with all the relevant features for ensuring and facilitating online sales, check out my article on the best eCommerce website builders.

Business Representation

These are the websites that are a company’s official address on the Internet. They are not directly linked to making sales or earning revenue. The purpose of these websites is to inform the audience about a company’s activities and the goods and services it offers.

Specialized business websites

These are the websites, which have certain (often peculiar) functionalities specific to a certain type of business. For example, a website for a hotel with the possibility of booking rooms online. Or a restaurant’s website with the ability to look through the menu and book a table.

In this guide, I’ll be focusing on choosing website builders for developing the second and third types of business websites.

Now let’s move on.

The first question that beginners struggle to find answers to is…

NOTE: For a better understanding of what high-quality and modern business websites can look like, check out this review: 30 Modern Small Business Websites Examples for 2024. All of the presented websites are related to different business niches and are made on different website builders and CMS.

Free or premium?

To be honest, you can build a business website at no cost using free website builders. But you should be ready for certain restrictions.

Usually, it is in the form of having the website builder’s banner ad (or a button). All free website builders place their advertisements on the sites built using the free versions.

The second thing is that you don’t get the option to use the domain name of your choice. There are only 2 website builders, which allow using a custom domain name in the free plan.

The third restriction of free website builders is the limitation related to bandwidth, storage space, and sometimes even the number of web pages that can be created. Yes, you read it right – your website can have only as many pages as allowed by the chosen plan.

In my opinion, thus, if we are talking about business, small businesses specifically, a free plan’s capabilities will never be enough. Even if the chosen website builder is the best in the market.

Thus, it is always better to choose a low-cost premium plan and create a professional website using your own domain name and without ads or hard limits.

Which website builders are reliable?

It’s a reasonable question to ask, considering the fact that a website builder is a visual editor, web hosting, domain name registrar, and email sender all rolled into one. All these things together are packed in the integrated SaaS service with unified technical support.

Now, how reliable these services are going to be and how well they’ll function together depends on both the technical support and the coherence of the work of the entire website builder team.

It is especially important to emphasize the age of the website builder though. Website builders that have been constantly offering their services for 10+ years, improving their drag-and-drop editors, creating more contemporary templates, and adding new options are, of course, more reliable. Such companies have served hundreds and thousands of clients. And thus, it won’t be a ‘worth considering’ option for them to stop their business or not offer proper services.

Meanwhile, a lot of newly launched website builders don’t have the hassle of preserving their reputation. Further, many of them go bankrupt shortly after the launch, leaving those who chose the builder in a major fix.

Here are the most reliable website builders for businesses (and even individuals):

There are also Shopify and BigCommerce, specifically suitable for building online stores.

All these website builders have been operating successfully for several years and aren’t going to curtail their activities.

What points should be first taken into consideration?

The key point to be considered while selecting website builders is whether it has quality templates relevant to your business. The more such templates will be, the greater choice you’ll have.

Why is this important?

Well, some website builders offer universal templates suitable for any industry/niche.

And let me be clear here – it’s not the best solution.

It’s always better to find a specialized template that is designed to your industry-specific requirements.

By “quality templates” I mean not only stylish and contemporary designs but also responsiveness. And not all website templates are inherently responsive. This means that most of them will face problems while displaying on mobile phones or other devices.

Is having a drag-and-drop editor mandatory?

Yes. Your website builder must definitely have a drag-and-drop editor. It allows building a website without having HTML and programming skills. You just drag the website elements using your computer mouse and drop them where you want them to be. Easy!

Even if you know how to edit the CSS code manually, the absence of a built-in drag-and-drop editor should be a red flag.

All (without exception) leading contemporary website builders have a drag-and-drop editor.

NOTE: Not all drag-and-drop editors are alike. Some website builders have outdated drag-and-drop editors, which allow only slight edits in the template. The other, more contemporary ones are much more flexible. For example, Wix’s drag-and-drop editor allows dragging content blocks and design elements with 1-pixel precision. What is more, it contains options for setting up the website color scheme too.

What other parameters are important when choosing a website builder?

Every website builder has several plans. There are normally 3 to 5 plans that you can choose from. They vary in terms of the prices and the features that you’ll get.

Always make sure that your chosen plan does not have restrictions on the number of pages that your website can have.

Alert: Also, be sure to verify that you’ll be able to use a custom domain name instead of being confined to the one offered by the website builder. Not all premium plans allow this!

Pay attention to the storage space and bandwidth too.

And it isn’t necessary for website builders to have unlimited storage space and bandwidth. For starting small business websites it will be enough to have 1GB Storage space and 2GB Bandwidth.

20 Best Ecommerce Website Examples in 2024

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author avatar Written by Lesley Haught

How about taking a look at a couple dozen great ecommerce website examples? These online store examples are built using the most popular ecommerce platforms – WordPress (WooCommerce), Wix, Webflow, Godaddy Website Builder, Squarespace, Shopify and Magento.

“With great website comes great responsibility,”….or was it entirely different? However, websites are immensely vital to showcase your products and services worldwide. You are responsible for designing and uplifting your website to attract potential clientele to make a sale.

Ecommerce is gaining popularity amongst website designers due to many reasons, and one of those is the recent pandemic. The Covid has presented itself as an opportunity to create online shopping websites that let you transact with your potential clients. If you visit the web, you can find many inspirational ideas that you can keep as a baseline for your Ecommerce store.

Talking of designing and crafting the stunning website that you have in mind, you must first have a sample or inspiration based on which you can create your website. Specifically speaking of examples of Ecommerce websites, this article will help you in deciding what your website will look like in the final phase. Moreover, this article will provide options for the different ecommerce website builders you can use to build your Ecommerce website.

Below are the reviews of the 20 best ecommerce website examples:

WordPress Ecommerce Website Examples

A huge number of websites have been created on WordPress CMS, including online stores. Here are some excellent examples:

FACE TO FACE Fashion Ecommerce Site

FACE TO FACE Fashion Ecommerce Site

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Face to face style screams out feministic style that is cool, vibrant and empowerment of our casual women. This Italian clothing website is visually appealing and aesthetically vibrant with bold and beautiful color combinations of the products. However, the white space containing text has been given.

The website sells clothes for different occasions on which the categories are developed. The website’s layout is unlike most Ecommerce stores as it uses carousals showing the products. HDR photography of the models makes the products stand out with a white background.

Maison Charlotte Beaude

Maison Charlotte Beaude

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Yet another fashion-related website…but this one is different from the previous one as there will be a lot going on your screen at once. The white background goes perfectly with the colored product photography that is available in a perfect size for viewing. The 3-column product layout doesn’t merge the product line even if the background of each product seems to be the same.

This website has an animated arrowhead with a black circle behind it, so your pointer doesn’t get lost. Such Ecommerce website examples can be used as a base for selling product lines with diverse categories, as is done in this website with bags, foulards, and belts.

Steffie de Leeuw Art Online Store

Steffie de Leeuw Art Online Store

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Steffie, who is an artist from Amsterdam, wanted a website that would act as a portfolio as well as an Ecommerce website design to sell her work. This website delivers on both the front. From the very first impression, this kind of website will deliver and provide a glimpse of your artisan talents. With a dark blending off-white background, the colorful artworks stand out independently.

The 2-column layout for product lines is enough to highlight every aspect of the design, and if a closer look is needed, the buyer can always click on the image to view it closely. The design and artworks are carefully categorized into just three sections. The best thing about these kinds of websites is they are personalized to the designer’s requirements and how you want to interact with the world.

Wix Ecommerce Website Examples

Wix, being the leader among free website publishers, has great ecommerce templates and great options for creating ecommerce websites. Learn more about Wix by checking out Wix Review.

Bensimon Boutique

Bensimon Boutique

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As is the trend, this jewelry website has a white background to highlight the HD images of the products. The menu’s uniqueness provides many options you can use on your website to sell your jewelry. The menu displayed reaches east and west of your screen making it attractive and easy to read.

If you are interested in letting your clients know that you deal in custom-made jewelry, this website offers a brilliant example of how to do that in style. This website has a unique menu that highlights the trending products to attract customers.

Black Sheep Bikes Store

Black Sheep Bikes Store

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In many countries, riding a bicycle is not just a healthy pastime but has been engulfed in their daily routine. The owner of this business spotted a potential in the bike niche and tapped into it via this elegant website design. The white space is utilized systematically in this Ecommerce website design, and the HD images with natural backgrounds give out an enticing vibe. The color contrast of aqua and white is soft to the eyes, and the client will tend to stay and discover the website.

This website sells customized bikes and related accessories. One would know this because of the shopping cart’s display on the website’s top side.

Celia Bernardo Fashion Online Store

Celia Bernardo Fashion Online Store

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Celia Bernardo is a Spanish woman who designs sustainable and timeless clothing for women. The main motto is to make the woman shine in the crowd. Do you feel that your brand might have similar sensations? Then this might be the website you are looking for as it features colorful, bold, vibrant, and super comfortable products. The colors used are very light and reflective.

If you observe, you will see that this website highly depends on images and videos of models wearing the clothes, which makes the buyer more attracted to the products. The website’s menu is simple at first look, but it holds many pages inside.

Webflow Ecommerce Website Examples

Webflow is a powerful online platform that is somewhat similar to the familiar WordPress, but more flexible and easy to use. Despite the fact that Webflow has a free plan, it is not suitable for free development of an online store. Webflow is not a full featured free ecommerce website builder and ecommerce is a premium option available only in paid plans. Check out these online store examples built on Webflow:

Lark Distillery Shop Whisky

Lark Distillery Shop Whisky

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“Shaken, not stirred” … just like the legend, Lark Distillery has designed an awesomely good Ecommerce website that reflects the 30-year-old Tasmanian legacy of beverages. With its earthy colors and rusty ambiance, the website gives out a punch of the whisky that the company is selling. The white texts are visible in the dark background of the whisky images.

A genuinely eye-catching feature of the website is the white-colored icon menu through which you can navigate the whole website. Afterward, when you scroll down the website, the menu changes to a hanging version with a shopping cart icon and a display menu.

Aro Single Product Ecommerce Website

Aro Single Product Ecommerce Website

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This is one of those online shopping websites that focus on a single product rather than categories of different products. The sleek and simple website delivers the message to its customers in a very subtle and natural way. The white space is used boldly to showcase the product, and the contrasting dark font makes it easy for the viewers to read.

The most exclusive feature of this website is that it doesn’t offer any product pricing straightforwardly. The designers want the clients to click on the pre-order button and learn the details about the product. With its simplicity, the website only provides details about the usage of the product and the story behind it.

SOS Foods Online Shop

SOS Foods Online Shop

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This is another Webflow Ecommerce website inspiration that could be used to sell household or kitchen items with a minimalistic sort of design. The combination of dark colors and white background looks outstanding yet has its sense of simplicity. The Syrian range of spices with incredible packaging photography displays the minimalism of the owners of the Ecommerce Company.

This Ecommerce website design has many features you would like to implement in your website due to its effortlessness. Amongst those features are the filters that can be used to search the products distributed in order of taste, application, and process.

GoDaddy Ecommerce Website Examples

GoDaddy is not only about domains and web hosting. GoDaddy has its own website builder that works well for creating small online shops. Check out these couple of GoDaddy ecommerce examples:

Landis Originals Shop

Landis Originals Shop

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Landis Originals is the perfect example of a business run by a couple from the comfort of their home. They produce custom handmade gifts and engravings that could be used for many occasions such as weddings, birthdays, or anniversaries. The color palette used in this website is maroon and white, which gives out an earthy vibe and feels natural to the product line.

One of the distinctive qualities of this website is that it seems to be designed by non-professionals positively. This type of website will be easy to build for anyone who doesn’t have the budget to hire a website designer.

Siphon Draw Apothecary

Siphon Draw Apothecary

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GoDaddy Ecommerce website examples like these make you desire to design your website. By the looks, the website seems very simple to build. The white background alongside the colorful images and the dark grey menu/button theme seems very attractive and soothing. For the product photography to stand out, it has been done with dark and natural backgrounds.

The home page shows the categories, which are also displayed as a menu on the shop page. Furthermore, a link is given to another sister website on the menu displaying the nutrition side of the business.

Squarespace Ecommerce Website Examples

Squarespace is one of the best website builders for creating online stores with great ecommerce themes and many useful features. Check out Squarespace Review to learn more about Squarespace’s ecommerce business opportunities.

AAKS Online Store

AAKS Online Store

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AAKS is one of the examples of an Ecommerce website that was made keeping in mind a person and her cultural background. This website has been designed by a lady belonging to Ghana and exhibits the handmade designs of handbags. The white space has been utilized perfectly to highlight the HD quality images of the handbags. The hovering of different images related to a particular product gives a mesmerizing look to the product line.

The best part about this Ecommerce website is that the top menu remains straight to the point by giving options to view the products and learn more about these products only. If viewers want to know more about the company or any other information, they must move to the bottom of the page.

Ruffles and Bells Online Shop

Ruffles and Bells Online Shop

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Ruffles and Bells is a website dedicated to an Ecommerce company that creates magical moments on wedding days. If you have a passion for decorating and styling events and are looking for website inspiration, then look at this website. the designers have planned well in advance regarding the font and the size of images as the layout has to deliver the impact to the potential clientele. The white space and the images with light grey or dark grey backgrounds contrast very well.

If you look at this website closely, you can observe that the company provides physical products and has a tab on the menu for teaching services.

Bembien Accessories Ecommerce Site

Bembien Accessories Ecommerce Site

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Bembien is a New York-based Ecommerce company led by a businesswoman inspired by the nostalgic look of a young woman carrying her handmade bag across the street. Her experience at Vogue and her connection to a small village in Bali, which used to weave various products, gave birth to this fantastic business. The website’s design is simple yet elegant and provides the viewers with a good look at the product line.

The products are limited to just three categories, so the organization of the whole website is unsophisticated. The beauty of the handbags and the scarves are enhanced due to the white background and the hovering effect on the images.

Shopify Ecommerce Website Examples

Shopify is ranked #1 in many best ecommerce platforms ratings. It’s an ideal platform for creating large e-commerce projects. Check out the Shopify Review to find out why.

Custo® Pre Order Ecommerce Site

Custo® Pre Order Ecommerce Site

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‘Necessity is the mother of all inventions’… CUSTO is also a technological invention created by Belgian problem solvers who wanted to save wasted time searching for your lost parcel. To reach out to a maximum number of customers, the Ecommerce Company had to design a sleek and aesthetically impressive website. The light grey and white colors complemented each other and were chosen because the product also had a similar color combination.

Websites made for a single product often have the advantage of creating a hassle-free, simple shopping experience. Similarly, this website doesn’t have a shop button or a shopping cart icon but only a single link to pre-order the product.

MAEN Watches

MAEN Watches

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MAEN is an Ecommerce website that will conquer the hearts of watch-loving clients through extravagantly stunning products that are shown all over the website. The color combination of white and black is flawless and produces great HD quality product images of silver-chromed watches.

This website has some distinctive qualities that many of us as website designers can use for reference. Among those qualities is the application of 5 different currencies for buying the watches, which provides ample opportunity to international clients. Similarly, there is a favorite button so that clients can select and save the watches they like to make a buying decision at the end.

Visionist Eyewear Store

Visionist Eyewear Store

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Visionist is a Shopify Ecommerce website example that displays a wide variety of flamboyant glasses and frames. Various light-shaded colors have been boldly used against the white background to supplement the viewership.

The website has many features to guarantee customer satisfaction, which is unique from any other website in the market. First is the close popup. You’re welcome to provide a $20 gift voucher to be used with the first sale. Secondly, the intriguing black button says ‘Book a Video Consult.’ Thirdly, the three extra services (Quiz about the wish list, Virtual Try-on, and Real-time styling advice) would keep the clients glued to the website for a long time.

Magento Ecommerce Website Examples

Magento is a popular open-source ecommerce CMS based on PHP. Here are some interesting Magento online shop examples:

Lala Berlin Fashion Online Shop

Lala Berlin Fashion Online Shop

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Lala Berlin is a fashion Ecommerce store that amalgamates white space and great sunlight imagery of the product designs. This Magento Ecommerce store can be your inspiration if you want a well-developed and carefully led structure with excellent photography placements.

The website looks straight in the eye and says online shopping. The menu and product categorization on the home page suggest that everything else is secondary; the company is here to make a sale. The website also rewards for becoming a member and shopping from the store. Moreover, there is an option to trade your used Lala products against points that could be used while shopping online.

N21 Fashion Ecommerce Site

N21 Fashion Ecommerce Site

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N21 is a fashion Ecommerce store started by an Italian business that focuses on trendy wear for Men, Women, and kids. The home page is heavily illustrated with the photography of the product categories making it easier for the visitors to navigate or jump to the desired section.

The uniqueness of this website sits in its sophisticated background working. The website grabs your location and displays the language and currency accordingly. There is a long list of countries where you can buy an N21 product. Additionally, the website directly addresses online shopping as each menu button and link resonates with the Ecommerce methodology.

ME+EM Ecommerce Website

ME+EM Ecommerce Website

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ME+EM is a United Kingdom-based online fashion store that prides itself on producing flattering, functional, forever clothing for women. The owner has emphasized the business being business-to-customer with no third party involved. The white background emphasizes the colorful images of the models wearing the various designs, and the checkered style layout gives off an exciting new look.

As you enter the website, it locates you and tells you that the store ships in your country. The menu displays the client’s country of origin and sets the country’s language and currency accordingly.

How to Create a Forum? – Check Best Forum Software and Builders

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author avatar Written by Lesley Haught
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Right from building an online community of likeminded people to dedicating a forum for customer queries clarifications, online forums can solve several problems in a quick, simple, and effective manner. Alongside with the best website builders the World Wide Web has some really special online forums catering to niches such as job exchange boards, college and university class discussion boards, customer support portal, and more.

As a webmaster managing a forum, you can leverage your content to attract the first few hundreds of members, and can then trust user generated content to take things on auto pilot. Once activated, a forum grows every day in terms of its content appeal, and of course, the member base. Monetizing a forum can be managed in several different ways. Also, you could make your forum double up as an online meeting place of subject matter experts, which can really make your reputation skyrocket.

Let’s learn about some more special features, functions, capabilities, and applications of web forums, after which we will guide you with a list of some of the best, time tested, and proven effective free and premium online forum building software.

Online forums are like magnets for great content, and the best part is that you do not have to invest time or money in getting this content, as experts in various subject matters will automatically create and reply to threads on your forum. This makes the forum swell quickly, fast tracking your success and growth strategy’s execution.

Sophisticated forums can double up as great sources of supplementary sales, as forum building software help you manage auctions, integrated payments, and fixed price sales easily through thread pages. At the least, you can redirect customers to sales pages through your forums.

Market analyses can be easily managed through a populous forum, as features like polls and surveys can be integrated with thread pages. This makes forums of great appeal for marketing consultancy services.

An online forum can be made to double up as a client support system, wherein customer queries are answered buy authorized personnel, as well as other customers. This proves to be a great boost to the marketing and customer support efforts of a firm.

Of course, managing online forums comes with some challenges also, such as effective moderation, differentiation in terms of interface and user experience, provision of advanced features without compromising security, etc. Though some best free website builders have opportunity to build forums with them – you should pay attention to specialized tools. Trust these best forum software to help you create, improve, and sustain your online forums, bypassing all these challenges.

PhpBB

forum software

PhpBB is among the most widely used bulletin board software, being used by millions of forums across the virtual globe. Right from personalized forums helping geographically separated families and friend circles stay closely knit to specialized massive forums pertaining to niches such as internet marketing, online job exchanges, etc., phpBB is empowering millions of such web forums.

Discerning coders can easily write their custom codes and insert at proper places in the master code, all this without even having to seek permission from the parent body governing phpBB; this facilitates the creation of truly unique and customized forums. Dozens of modules and modifications are freely available, which can be plugged into the phpBB files to add more features to the software.

Also, revamping the look and feel of the forum board is simple enough with several style databases. PhpBB is a perfect blend of efficient forum management, smart customizations, and all this for free!

vBulletin 5

free forum website builder

Developed by vBulletin Solutions Inc., vBulletin 5 is an Internet forum website builder. The software is great if you’re looking to build a website using dependable community software. The vBulletin software package powers over 10,000 sites globally. vBulletin 5 in particular provides users with a easy to use engaging platform with a robust design, on a cloud based storage design.

This version comes with a newly developed UI that allows great social engagement. The new version of this site builder makes it easier for users to build their website, with customizable design templates. It is written in PHP and makes use of the MySQL database server.

vBulletin 5 is a great all in one package for those looking for an platform that allows for simple forum management, smart and easy customizations. It even features with mobile friendly version so you can build your website even when you are on the move.

MyBB

best forum software

The MyBB forum builder software is a powerful, open source, intuitive and fully expandable software package that allows you to effortlessly build your own website, and is absolutely free. This forum builder comes loaded with all the high-end features that you would expect from a premium software bundle.

It supports everything including forums, threads, public posts, private messages, content and profile searches and everything you would expect from an efficient and engaging community website builder. MyBB also allows for extended functionality through the use of plugins and themes. This allows you to expand your community according to your preferences.

The software is so versatile that it even features a “Merge System”, which allows you to switch from your old forum builder or any other popular forum software, with ease.

Simple Machines Forum

best forum creator

Simple Machines Forum is a professional-level, free, open-source forum site builder that is developed by hundreds of volunteers from communities across the world. It come preloaded with powerful custom made template engine that gives you complete control of the layout of your website or message board and it’s unique Server Side Includes function allows your forum and your website interact with each other.

Simple Machines Forum is an all in one forum building software package that gives you an easy to use forum building platform that comes built-in with many powerful features for you as well as your site’s users. Simple Machine Forum is a next generation forum building software that is written in the popular language PHP and uses a MySQL database.

Vanilla

forum website builder

Vanilla is a cloud and open source-based community forum building software, which powers over 700 thousand sites, forums and threads. It is a highly flexible and integrative forum builder and is one of the most powerful community-developed software solutions in the world. Vanilla follows the design philosophy that all online communities should be spontaneous, engaging and should reflect the true values of your brand.

It is multi-faceted design that aims to provide you with all the features you could possibly need from a bulletin board based site, while at the same time, consuming the least resources from the server. The Vanilla site builder allows developers to create a customized community age that has and in-built rewards program for positive participation. It also has an auto-manage feature for content and even allows members to moderate the site.

PunBB

best forum maker

PunBB is an extremely fast and lightweight forum building software that was released under the GNU General Public License code. Its primary goal is to the fastest, most compact and graphic-intensive site building software, compared to any other discussion board software. It is also optimized to be faster and a more efficient forum board design template. The pages created using this software are XHTML-compliant.

PunBB is written in the widely used PHP language and requires hypertext pre-processing tools. The software also requires a cloud-based database to store the forum data, which is done using the support of MYSQL, SQP lite, and so on. And in the rare case that you run in to any problems, there is an experienced support team that is ready to assist you.

Invision Power

best forum website builder

Invision Power is an open source forum building software package and allows you to setup your community website according to your needs. It is a highly flexible and integrated set of applications that provide a great platform for building web-based communities. Invision Power Services allows for almost every aspect to be enabled or disabled at will, along with many other configuration options.

It also allows developers to monetize their community with advertisement support. You can also sell products or subscriptions by adding IP Nexus. Invision power allows you to customize their software with your own combination of apps, hooks and images.

Search Engine Optimization is a unique in-built feature of Invison Powers and assists search engines in indexing your content, so that users can find it faster.

FluxBB

top forum software

Boasting of super quick installation and set up along with a remarkable simple and clean user interface, FluxBB is a perfect speedy solution for those with pretty simple forum creation requirements. GNU General Public License gives you all the flexibility to tweak the backend, permission systems are flexible, community modifications are easily and freely available.

Prevention of all kinds of clickjacking attacks, enabling of direct action links to notification emails, streamlining of the forum building process, and improvements in the default styles have made FluxBB all the more powerful. Recently, anti-spam and security features of the platform have been ramped up, and smarter membership access privilege features have been added to the mix.

Use this free forum builder for effortless and quick forum website building.

Phorum

free forum creator

Phorum is among the oldest surviving forum creations software available today, so much so that the makers brand it as ‘the original PSP and MySQL software’. Using Phorum, you can manage all kinds of web forum projects, right from message boards receiving 2,000 messages a day to networks of forums hosted on a single server.

Customization makes Phorum a really special forum building tool for webmasters, as they can include external authentication, message personalization, user profile experience customization, and more with the tweaks that the platform is able to accommodate. With the HTML coded templates, changing the front end of the website is as simple as 1-2-3, especially for discerning coding experts.

The package is available for free trial, after which you can go for the paid version that doesn’t have an advertisements.

Best Directory Website Builders and Directory Software

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author avatar Written by Lesley Haught
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Website or business directories have been around almost since the dawn of the internet. There has always been a need to compile lists of businesses, companies, and websites with relevant contact information. This tradition dates back to the pre-internet era when company directories existed in physical form. You might recall those large, colorful books your father would regularly consult for information.

With the advent of the internet, the task of locating websites and businesses shifted to online directories. If these directories were dedicated to businesses, they are known as business directories. If they were devoted to websites, they are commonly referred to as web directories.

In recent times, there has been a resurgence of interest in directories. The primary reason is that search engines have become exceptionally discerning – almost too discerning. Their artificial intelligence systems either can’t provide (or won’t provide?) a comprehensive list of businesses or companies based on specific criteria, or the lists they do offer are too restricted.

Don’t believe it? Try instructing ChatGPT to provide you with a list of 100 legal firms in Los Angeles specializing in divorce proceedings. Was it successful? Exactly. That’s why people tend to resort to pre-compiled lists of companies in directories.

Directories are curated by real people, and although some information may become outdated over time, their value is evident. They provide a rich source of information that often exceeds what is readily available through search engines.

What is a Directory?

A directory, in the context of the internet, is a specialized platform that lists and categorizes information about businesses, individuals, websites, or any specific niche information. These directories typically include data such as business names, addresses, contact information, services provided, and even user reviews. In essence, a directory is a digital library that is organized for easy access and retrieval of information.

Purpose and Benefits of Directories for a Businesses

In a business context, directories can provide substantial value. They offer businesses increased visibility, thereby boosting brand recognition and reputation. Directories can improve local SEO and contribute to improved search engine rankings, resulting in higher web traffic and potential sales. Furthermore, directories serve as a platform for customer reviews, facilitating trust and credibility for businesses listed.

Top 7 Directory Website Builders

Now let’s delve into the seven most effective solutions for creating a contemporary directory. I’ve endeavored to pinpoint the main advantage and possible drawback of each. In this way, you can discern whether or not this directory software is right for you.

1. Brilliant Directories

Brilliant Directories

Brilliant Directories stands as a premier directory website builder because of its impressive range of features. It’s an all-in-one directory platform that includes email marketing tools, payment processing, customizable membership plans, lead generation tools, and more. This makes it perfect for organizations looking to build a comprehensive directory website without the need for additional plugins or software.

One key advantage of Brilliant Directories is its flexibility. With over 100 integrations, businesses can connect their directory to a vast array of third-party applications to enhance their directory’s functionality. It also offers a wide range of themes and design options, allowing businesses to create a website that reflects their brand’s aesthetics. Plus, its website templates are fully responsive, meaning they’re designed to look good on all devices, whether desktop or mobile.

On the other hand, the extensive range of features offered by Brilliant Directories can be overwhelming for beginners. The learning curve may be steeper than some other platforms, and while the platform does provide customer support, response times can sometimes be longer than expected. Its pricing might also be a bit high for smaller businesses or startups on a tight budget.

2. Appy Pie

Appy Pie

Appy Pie is a no-code platform that makes it easy for anyone to build a directory website. The drag-and-drop interface allows users to create a website without any coding knowledge, which is perfect for beginners. It also stands out because of its versatility, as it allows you to create mobile apps in addition to directory websites. This dual functionality can be a significant advantage for businesses looking to reach mobile users.

Appy Pie’s simplicity extends to its design options. It offers a variety of templates that you can use as a starting point for your directory website. From there, you can customize your site’s look and feel by changing colors, fonts, and images. Appy Pie also includes SEO tools to help your site rank better in search engine results.

However, while the platform’s simplicity is a strength for beginners, it may be a disadvantage for advanced users who desire more control over their site’s design and functionality. Additionally, although Appy Pie offers a free version, this comes with significant limitations. To access all features and remove Appy Pie branding from your site, you’ll need to upgrade to one of their paid plans.

3. Directorist

Directorist

Directorist is a powerful directory plugin for WordPress, the world’s most popular website builder. This makes it an excellent choice for businesses that already have a WordPress site and want to add directory functionality. Directorist is designed to be highly customizable, with numerous options to adjust the look and feel of your directory.

One of the biggest advantages of Directorist is that it leverages the power of WordPress. This means you can extend your directory’s functionality using any of the thousands of plugins available for WordPress. Directorist also allows you to monetize your directory through paid listings, ads, and claimable listings.

Despite its many advantages, Directorist is not without its drawbacks. Because it’s a WordPress plugin, you must have a WordPress site to use Directorist. This means if you’re not already familiar with WordPress, you may have a steeper learning curve. Furthermore, while Directorist is feature-rich, its support service might not be as dedicated as those seen in standalone directory builders.

4. 360Directories

360Directories

360Directories is a comprehensive directory software known for its robust features and user-friendly design. With it, businesses can create directory websites complete with interactive maps, search functionality, and various listing options. These features make it easy for site visitors to find the information they need.

One notable feature of 360Directories is its ability to create community-based directories. These can be excellent for city or town directories, industry directories, or any other group where members want to share information. Moreover, 360Directories also offers social media integration, allowing businesses to share their listings across different social platforms.

However, a potential downside of 360Directories is its slightly outdated interface. This could affect the user experience and make the site feel less modern. Furthermore, compared to other options, 360Directories might be a bit pricey, especially for small businesses or startups with a tight budget.

5. GoClixy

GoClixy

GoClixy provides a directory and business listing software with built-in SEO tools, multiple payment gateways, and multilingual support. It’s designed to be user-friendly, even for those with limited technical knowledge, making it a good option for business owners who want to create a directory website without hiring a developer.

One of the standout features of GoClixy is its SEO-friendly design. All pages on a GoClixy directory website are optimized to rank well in search engine results, helping to increase visibility and drive traffic to your site. Additionally, GoClixy supports multiple payment gateways, making it easy for businesses to monetize their directory.

On the downside, while GoClixy is designed to be user-friendly, some technical knowledge is required to get the most out of the software. For example, you may need to understand basic HTML or CSS to customize your site fully. Additionally, while GoClixy offers a free version of its software, this is significantly limited compared to the paid version.

6. MarketGrabber

MarketGrabber

MarketGrabber offers a range of industry-specific directory software solutions. This means that it’s not a one-size-fits-all directory builder. Instead, you can choose a version of MarketGrabber that’s tailored to your specific industry. Whether you’re looking to create a job board, a real estate directory, or a classifieds site, there’s a MarketGrabber solution for you.

One of the primary advantages of MarketGrabber is this industry-specific focus. Because each version of the software is designed with a specific industry in mind, you get features and tools that are relevant to your needs. Moreover, MarketGrabber also includes SEO tools to help your site rank well in search engine results, and it supports multiple payment gateways for monetizing your site.

However, MarketGrabber’s narrow focus can be a disadvantage if you’re looking to create a more general directory. Furthermore, because it’s industry-specific, MarketGrabber’s pricing is a bit higher than some other directory builders. If you’re on a tight budget, this could be a significant drawback.

7. VEVS

VEVS

VEVS stands out for its range of website solutions, including a directory and listing software. With VEVS, you can create detailed listings complete with descriptions, images, and interactive maps. This can be particularly useful for businesses that want to provide as much information as possible about each listing.

A unique feature of VEVS is its interactive maps. These allow users to see exactly where each listing is located, which can be incredibly useful for directories of physical locations. Moreover, VEVS offers a variety of templates, so you can choose a design that matches your brand’s aesthetics.

Despite its advantages, VEVS might not be as feature-rich as some of the other options on this list. For example, it lacks some advanced features like community tools or a dedicated mobile app. Furthermore, VEVS is one of the pricier options on this list, which might put it out of reach for some small businesses or startups.

How to Choose the Best Platform for a Business Directory

Choosing the best platform for a business directory website can be a daunting task, given the wide array of available options. However, by considering certain key factors, you can make an informed decision that aligns with your business needs.

Understand Your Requirements – Before you start looking at different directory website builders, it’s crucial to understand your business needs and objectives. Do you need a simple directory, or do you require advanced features like ecommerce integration, payment processing, or email marketing? Knowing your requirements will help narrow down the list of suitable directory website builders.

Ease of Use – Consider the level of technical expertise required to use the platform. If you’re a beginner or non-tech savvy, look for a website builder with an intuitive interface, preferably a drag-and-drop editor.

Customization Options – Ensure the platform provides enough customization options to match your brand identity. Check if you can change colors, fonts, layouts, and add your logo without much hassle.

Pricing – Price is an important factor for most businesses. Ensure that the platform you choose offers good value for the price. Remember, cheap is not always the best, so look for a platform that balances features and pricing.

Scalability – Your directory website might grow over time, so choose a platform that can handle this growth. The platform should be able to accommodate more listings, higher traffic, and additional features as your business expands.

Support and Resources – The platform should provide strong customer support and abundant resources like guides, tutorials, and forums to help you get started and address any issues you may encounter.

SEO Capabilities – A good directory website builder should have built-in SEO tools to help your website rank higher in search engine results. This is important for driving traffic to your site.

Mobile Responsiveness – In this mobile-first era, make sure the website builder creates sites that are responsive and look good on all devices, from desktops to smartphones.

Integration and Plugins – Lastly, look at the available integrations and plugins that can extend the functionality of your website. This could include social media integrations, payment gateways, email marketing tools, and more.

By taking into account these factors, you can ensure that you choose the best directory website builder that meets your business’s specific needs and goals. Remember, what works best for one business might not work for another, so take the time to research and test various options before making a decision.

Remember, creating a successful business directory is not just about selecting the best directory website builder; it’s about understanding your audience, delivering valuable content, and continuously improving based on feedback and performance metrics. With careful planning and execution, your directory website can become a valuable resource for your audience and a powerful tool for your business.

Best Medical Website Builders for Clinics and Doctors

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author avatar Written by Lesley Haught
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In this review, I will talk about the development of medical websites – from what a modern medical or healthcare website should be like to choosing the best website builder for doctors and medical practice. I’ve tried to explain this in simple language so that not only my colleagues in web development, but also representatives of the medical industry – doctors, clinic and private practice managers, healthcare business owners – can understand me.

Did you know that every 20th search query in Google relates to medicine and healthcare? After all, whether it is for finding DIY cures, self-diagnosis based on symptoms, or for seeking the right care, people do visit a lot of health and medical-related websites to find the information that they need.

Physicians themselves also often visit websites to collect useful medical information. These can be not only large medical portals such as WebMD and Health.com, but also author’s blogs of doctors and scientists from the field of healthcare.

The second-largest group of Google search queries is performed to find a suitable doctor, therapist, or health clinic and to make an appointment.

What is remarkable, people looking for a doctor or clinic to make an appointment do such searches three times more often than those who are just interested in learning more about health issues. This means that people scrutinize hospitals and private doctors’ websites before making their choice.

That’s why it’s obvious that a well-thought-out medical website with professional design and convincing content would win half the battle of customer acquisition for you.

So, let’s see what are the best website builder fo rdoctors that you can use to build the perfect healthcare website. Moreover, we’re going to compare their prices and the functionalities offered.

How do good medical website builders differ from ordinary ones?

Before reviewing the best medical website builders, I’d like to tell you more about the criteria behind their selection. It will help you understand why these platforms found a place in this list and not the others.

When we talk about using website builders, including those for developing medical and healthcare websites, you need to understand that they are all SaaS platforms.

This means that every month you’ll have to pay a small fee that includes hosting, domain name, technical support, and, of course, website development.

With that small fee, you can perform website development on your own with the help of a visual drag-and-drop editor. This makes the process of website building extremely simple even for newbies. You can learn more about drag and drop editors here.

A website builder for doctors that doesn’t have a contemporary drag-and-drop editor is going to be difficult to use. You might even have to know HTML and CSS basics to begin working with such a platform. Or you might have very limited configuration and website customization options available to you which translates to simplicity but at the cost of design liberty.

You may think that you don’t need a design liberty for your medical website. But you are most likely a doctor or a clinic manager and cannot understand website design as professional web developers understand this.

And here’s what I’ll tell you from the position of a professional website developer with experience since 2005. Your visitors will very well understand the difference between a cheap website with an outdated design layout (designed 8 – 15 years ago) and your competitor’s website with a fresh website design and an excellent usability.

As a result, the credibility of you as a doctor or your clinic may be undermined because your website does not inspire confidence. A visitor can think like this:

– If they have such a weak and buggy website that doesn’t look good on mobile, how good are they at healing? Will they be more considerate of my health than of their website?

In most cases, the answer will not be positive for you.

Thus, the first criterion that should be considered while selecting the best medical website builder is that it should have a simple yet powerful drag-and-drop editor.

The second important criterion to consider while choosing the best website builder for doctors includes contemporary website templates related to the medical and healthcare niche. The available templates must not only be visually appealing but also have the necessary features and customization options. Moreover, the templates must be responsive. Unless your website displays perfectly on any kind of device like mobile phones or tablets, you won’t be able to reach all your audience.

Take a look at these two examples of medical website templates. Both of them are adapted for mobile devices and are considered responsive. But is this true?

bad medical website design

This website template for medical clinic was created in 2014. I specifically made a screenshot from a screen of my widescreen monitor, which is used by many users.

A medical clinic that chooses this template will also get: a dull and boring design, unreadable fonts, a barely noticeable menu (which I found far from at first) and an inconvenient structure.

And here is an example of other medical template created a couple of years ago:

good medical website design

As you can see, it is well adapted to widescreen (and not only) monitors. In general, it looks modern and more attractive due to the well-thought-out color scheme.

The logo of the clinic and three green blocks immediately catch your eye – links to the three main medical areas in which a clinic specializes. This is very convenient because a visitor will immediately go to the department he’s interested in, which will increase the conversion.

By the way, the phone number in the header is much more noticeable than in the first version. Even though that a smaller font is used here. And this means that there will be more calls from potential customers. Another plus to conversion.

For medical and health websites, conversion is of paramount importance because it determines how many visitors to your clinic’s website decide to become its patients.

The third criterion for consideration is search engine friendliness. Your website builder must ensure that Google and other search engines perfectly index the website. I t must be SEO-friendly and have all the necessary SEO and marketing options for promoting your website on the web.

What do we usually get in medical website builders?

While we do seek a lot in an ideal website builder for doctors, most specialized website builders for therapists, hospitals, and clinics don’t come with much to boast of.

They hardly have drag-and-drop editors and make it unlikely for you to be able to build a contemporary website on your own. Moreover, most website builders for doctors only have a small selection of medical templates. And unfortunately, these templates, very often, have an obsolete design.

That also means most of these templates are not responsive. To ensure mobile access to your website, you’d have to develop a mobile version of your site separately. As it was done about ten years ago.

However, if you want a contemporary website that doesn’t look like it was built in the early 2000s you cannot settle with these outdated options.

The Best Medical Website Builders

Enough of the problem, let me now introduce you to some contemporary website builders that are well-equipped with everything you need to build a modern medical website. Please note that some of them are in the Top Best Website Builders for 2024 outside of any category.

These website builders are decidedly the best platforms for creating any kind of medical website. Whether you want a website for a therapist, a dentist, or a large medical organization or hospital, these site builders help. Moreover, these website builders also let you launch a medical blog or forum with their broad spectrum of features.

WIX

WIX website builder

WIX free website builder

Wix, as the most popular free website builder, occupies the top spot among online website builders. And it is one of the most appropriate website builders for developing medical websites.

Wix has the largest share of websites built using a site builder platform, second only to WordPress (the CMS, not the online builder).

Now let’s see what Wix can offer in terms of a medical or healthcare website development. We’ll also be shedding light on how much it will cost.

Professional Medical and Health Templates

One of the greatest advantages of Wix is that it has a lot of quality and professionally designed website templates. These templates are available for a wide variety of niches including the medical and healthcare niche.

medical website buildermedical website buildermedical website builder
medical website buildermedical website buildermedical website builder

What’s better is that Wix’s web designers didn’t try to create universal medical templates. Instead, they created options for the following sub-niches:

Medical Clinic Website

Therapist Website

Dentist Website

Psychotherapist Website

Family Doctor Website

Psychologist Website

Dietitian Blog

Nutritionist Website

Website for Home Healthcare Company

Wellness Blog

There are options for some even rare niches like:

Website for Medical Testing Center

Alternative Therapist Website

Baby Consultant Website

Sports Psychologist Website

Individually, there is also a perfect template for Health Communities that you can use.

All these website templates look great (that’s not surprising for Wix) and are responsive. This means they will display perfectly on any device whether it is a desktop, mobile, or tablet. The same is true for operating systems too as you can create a website for Mac, Windows, or Android without any trouble.

So, thanks to the availability of modern medical templates, Wix allows you to run professional-looking medical sites without having to significantly change the templates. In simple terms – you just need to change the name of the website, texts and, possibly, the image in the header and the website of your clinic is ready to be launched. Another advantage of Wix as a website builder for doctors.

Easy Drag and Drop Editor

Wix has one of the best drag and drop editors in its class. It is powerful and incredibly flexible in customization at the same time. You can manage the placement of the block and design elements with a per-pixel accuracy. This lets you build a website that looks nothing like everyday templates and exactly like you want it to look.

NOTE: Most website builders have got drag-and-drop editors that allows changing block order (above – below), replacing titles, images, and color scheme modification. However, with Wix, you can change the whole template completely or even create one from scratch. It all depends on your desire and imagination.

Despite multiple settings, the Wix drag and drop editor is simple to use. All management options are located within the reach of one or two clicks. The editor’s interface is logical and intuitive and you are likely to quickly get used to it.

SEO features

Another plus of using Wix for website development is that search engines perfectly index websites built on the platform. Plus, it has various SEO options that ensure better reach and rankings.

SEO is of key importance for any medical business since people find doctors and clinics through queries on Google, Yahoo, and other search engines.

And if your clinic’s website won’t have at least basic search engine optimization, then it’s unlikely to get rankings or search traffic. That’s why it’s important to choose an SEO-friendly website builder.

Find more details by taking a look at WIX’s SEO advantages.

How much does Medical Website on Wix cost?

It might sound surprising, but Wix is free to use.

Of course, the Free plan has certain limitations. The most substantial one is that you won’t be able to use a custom domain name. Moreover, you’d also have to deal with the Wix button at the top of your website.

My recommendation for medical website aspirants is that you should test the free Wix options for a week or two. Once you are satisfied, switch to one of the Premium plans.

Wix premium plans

WIX Premium Plans

Combo – $14 per month

This is the basic plan that will be good for personal therapists’ or doctor’s websites. However, it won’t suffice for creating a clinic’s or hospital’s website.

With the Combo plan, your website won’t have Wix ads (Wix button), and you’ll also get a free SSL certificate and a free domain name for 1 year as a gift.

Unlimited – $18 per month

The Unlimited plan has got the best ratio of price and quality. And perhaps it is the most profitable Wix plan.

This plan is good for building larger websites since its Storage Space limit is increased to 10 GB (against 3 GB in Combo). This means that your website can house more articles, photos, and videos.

You’ll also get a one-time $300 gift for running ads ( $100 each for Google Ads, Bing Ads, and Local Listings.) Moreover, they’ll give you free annual access to premium apps – Site Booster and Visitor Analytics.

NOTE: Though you have to pay $216 yearly for using the Unlimited plan, you get more than what you pay. The Wix gift for ads vouchers, the domain name, and extra premium widgets cover up the costs you incur, thus, making your website practically free for the first year.

Pro – $23 per month

It’s a more advanced Wix plan that comes with a Storage Space of 20 GB. The main difference between the Unlimited and the Pro plan is the feature to create a professional logo for your medical office or clinic in the latter.

You also get all commercial rights for your logo and its source code in different formats and more than 40 sizes.

VIP – $39 per month

VIP is the highest-paid, non-eCommerce Wix plan that comes with 35 GB of Storage Space. With VIP, you get everything available in the Pro plan plus 24/7 priority customer care.

This means that you can connect with the Wix support team via phone, without having to wait in queue for a staff member’s attention.

Though Wix is extremely user-friendly and you won’t need custom support often. But for medical businesses, in particular, the website must be operational 24/7 even on holidays and weekends and constant support can make that happen.

Webflow

Webflow website builder

Webflow website builder

Webflow is another great free website builder for doctors that I recommend for developing medical websites.

Webflow was initially created as web development software for web designers who needed a reliable and simple platform for launching websites. To ensure that, Webflow provided users with a built-in drag and drop editor and allowed creating websites without having to perform layouts and manual HTML code edition.

To some extent, creating websites through Webflow resembles the WordPress experience. But it is more simplified and user-friendly.

Wondering how Webflow would be interesting for doctors and clinics? Let’s check out.

Free and Paid Medical Website Templates

Webflow is in the second spot among website builders in terms of the number of medical and healthcare templates. You might notice that most Webflow templates are premium. But the good part is that the cost varies from $49 to $79, which is the average range when compared with WordPress and Shopify.

And as a web designer, I must admit that Webflow medical templates are of high quality and unique in design. These templates are created in different styles and color schemes.

Webflow medical templates

Webflow website templates

NOTE: Some website builders that have large template collections are characterized by the monotony of web templates designs. They usually have the same core web design, with meager changes in the location of the elements and the color scheme. That’s not the case with Webflow. Webflow’s templates are unique in terms of design.

The one thing I like the most about Webflow medical templates is that they are ready to use. Just choose a template, rename it as per your will, change the text, and you are ready with a medical website.

Here are some examples of ready-to-use templates for developing a medical website for doctors:

medical website buildermedical website buildermedical website builder

For dentists:

denticare website templatedentist website templatedentist website template
dentist website templatedentist website templatedentist website template

For Veterinary Websites:

veterinary websiteveterinary website templateveterinary website builder

For Health Websites:

health websitehealth website templatehealth website builder

Free SSL and Automatic Backups

One of the best medical website builders (not just for the medical niche), Webflow has great security features too.

All Webflow websites get free SSL certificates – With every plan, even the free one.

Furthermore, Webflow also has an automatic backup system. Thanks to that, Webflow users can restore the website to their last saved point.

The feature may come in handy especially if a mistake or hack attack distorts your website. You can always rely upon the Webflow backup system and save your money and save yourself from the panic.

Ecommerce Features for Medical Websites

In addition to creating informational medical websites and blogs, Webflow allows the creation of feature-loaded online stores too. It may be either in the form of an online pharmacy or a store connected to a clinic’s website, where the patients can buy necessary medicines and equipment, without having to visit the clinic.

Apart from the sale of physical products, Webflow also lets you sell digital goods. For example, you can sell online medical consultations with payment directly on the website, or even online medical literature.

The most noticeable eCommerce advantages of Webflow include:

A wide choice of payment methods including Stripe, PayPal, Apple Pay.

Automatic sales tax calculation.

Online store’s integration with Facebook and Instagram.

How Much Does A Medical Website on Webflow cost?

Like Wix, Webflow is a free website builder. Of course, the free plan is going to have some restrictions, but it is enough to test the waters.

Webflow pricing

Webflow site plans

Further, you get to choose from the following premium plans:

Basic – $12 per month

This is the basic premium plan that will be enough for creating a simple personal website for medical professionals.

With the website, you get a custom domain name, a free SSL certificate, and 50GB bandwidth per month.

CMS – $16 per month

The CMS plan is good for creating websites for clinics and hospitals. To begin with, you get 4 times the bandwidth (200 GB) compared to the Basic plan. Plus, 2000 CMS items.

Secondly, this plan lets you appoint up to 3 guest editors. These can be your staff members who will fill the website with new content and keep the old content updated.

NOTE: the CMS plan is the most appropriate option for small medical websites. With just a difference of $2/month as compared to the basic plan, you can many times more features.

Business – $36 per month

This is the most advanced non-eCommerce Webflow plan. The business plan is ideal for developing a large medical portal or a website for a significant medical institution.

Your website can have great traffic (bandwidth – 400GB), 10000 CMS items, and up to 10 guest editors.

Ecommerce Plans – from $29 per month

For creating online stores Webflow has got three separate eCommerce plans.

The key difference is that there is a transaction of 2% in the basic eCommerce plan, Standard, which comes at $29 per month. The more powerful Plus and Advanced plans don’t have this transaction fee and cost $74 and $212 per month respectively.

You can learn more details about the possibilities and prices of Webflow eCommerce plans on the official website .

Webnode

Webnode website builder

Webnode website builder

Webnode is a popular free website builder that has got tons of unique advantages.

One of the key advantages is the possibility to develop websites that support up to 20 languages. This is ideal if you want to create a large multilingual website for your medical practice.

However, Webnode is not as flexible or user-friendly as other website builders like Wix, for example. It’s also far from being the leader in terms of the number of templates available for the medical niche. However, it is a great pick at its price point.

Let’s see how.

Fully responsive medical templates

Webnode might lag behind Wix and Webflow in terms of the number of medical templates. But you can at least rest assured that the available templates are made by professional web designers and are fully responsive.

This means that your website will look perfect on any device.

Webnode health templates

Webnode health website templates

Webnode dentist templates

Webnode dentist website templates

Webnode cosmetic brand templates

Webnode cosmetic website templates

In fact, you can use any Webnode template for creating a medical website. All the templates are easy to customize as you can change titles, images, color schemes, and even the size of every design element. That’s why it isn’t necessary to have a template that is specifically for the medical niche.

Creating multilingual websites for clinics

Most medical website builders allow creating websites that support additional language versions. But Webnode’s well-considered and detailed multilingual features are unmatched.

If your practice sees patients from all over the world, then supporting languages other than English is mandatory. And Webnode allows the creation of medical websites that support 20+ languages. This is more than in any other online website builder for doctors.

Lower prices

What makes Webnode so popular is its attractive pricing. The basic Webnode plan which lets you use your domain name costs only $3.90/month.

Here is a comparison chart of Wix, Webflow, and Webnode’s pricing:

Connect a custom domainCombo – $16/monthLimited – $3.90/month
Basic plan with no adsUnlimited – $22/monthBasic – $12/monthMini – $7.50/month
Most popular planPRO – $27/monthCMS – $16/monthStandard – $12.90/month
Plan with all featuresVIP – $45/monthBusiness – $36/monthProfi – $22.90/month

 

How Much Does Medical Website on Webnode cost?

The free Webnode plan is nothing as compared to the free version of Wix. But the premium Webnode plans are much lighter on the pocket than Wix’s. And your monetary savings become more evident over longer periods ( 1 year and more).

Webnode pricing

Webnode pricing

The plans include:

Limited – $3.90 per month

This is the basic Webnode plan that allows connecting your own domain name. It includes 200 MB of Storage Space and 1 GB Bandwidth. This plan is good for compact websites for private practitioners.

Mini – $7.50 per month

The Mini plan is ideal for websites with more traffic as it offers 1 GB of Storage Space and 3 GB of Bandwidth. In addition, you also get a free domain for 1 year and access to website statistics and the form builder.

Standard – $12.90 per month

It’s a more profitable plan in terms of price-quality ratio. With this plan, you can launch a large website for a clinic or hospital and support thousands of visitors every month. You 3 GB Storage Space and 10 GB Bandwidth and 20 email accounts. There is also the possibility to connect Google Analytics and Google AdSense and the opportunity to sell through the website or create websites with membership registration for up to 100 members, and more.

Profi – $22.90 per month

This is the most powerful Webnode plan. The Profi plan can be used for developing a large medical portal or an online pharmacy.

You get 7 GB storage, 100 email account, and unlimited bandwidth.

You can learn more details about the plans on the official Webnode website .

Squarespace

Squarespace website builder

Squarespace website builder

Squarespace is another top website builder for doctors. If you’re in the healthcare industry and loking for a website that combines sleek design with user-friendly features, pay your attention to Squarespace. This platform is a dream come true for anyone who wants a site that’s not just functional but also drop-dead gorgeous.

Now, let’s check the specific features that make Squarespace an excellent choice for medical websites.

Beautiful Website Templates

Squarespace isn’t a medical website builder, so it doesn’t have a specific category for health and medicine, but it offers a variety of templates that can be customized for medical and healthcare websites. These templates are designed to be visually appealing and user-friendly, making it easier for patients to navigate and find the information they need.

They aren’t just proffessional looking but also responsive, ensuring a seamless experience across different devices and operating systems. So, we can consider it as one of the best website builders for doctors.

Squarespace website templates

Squarespace website templates – Health & Beauty

User-Friendly Design and Customization

Squarespace offers a user-friendly design interface that is both powerful and easy to navigate. The drag-and-drop editor allows you to place elements with precision, offering a high degree of customization. This is particularly useful for medical professionals who may not have extensive technical skills but still want a unique and professional-looking website.

Robust Security Features

Security is a top priority for medical websites, and Squarespace doesn’t disappoint. All Squarespace websites come with free SSL certificates, providing an extra layer of security. This is crucial for medical websites that handle sensitive patient information.

SEO Capabilities

Squarespace offers a range of SEO features to help your medical website rank well in search engines. This is vital for medical practices, as patients often use search engines to find healthcare providers. Squarespace’s SEO features are easy to use and can be customized to fit the specific needs of a medical website.

Ecommerce Options

Squarespace also offers robust e-commerce capabilities, allowing medical practices to sell products or services online. This could range from selling medical supplies to offering online consultations. Payment options are diverse, including Stripe, PayPal, and Apple Pay, providing convenience for your patients or clients.

Cost of a Medical Website on Squarespace

Squarespace offers a free trial period, allowing you to test the platform before committing. After that, you can choose from several premium plans:

Personal – $12 per month

This basic plan is suitable for individual medical practitioners who need a simple online presence. It includes a free custom domain and unlimited bandwidth and storage.

Business – $18 per month

This plan is more suited for small to medium-sized medical practices. It offers advanced analytics and allows you to have unlimited contributors.

Commerce – $26 per month

This plan is ideal if you’re looking to add an online store to your medical website. It offers zero transaction fees and powerful e-commerce analytics.

Advanced Commerce – $40 per month

This is the most comprehensive plan, suitable for large medical practices or those needing advanced e-commerce capabilities. It offers abandoned cart recovery, advanced shipping, and a range of other high-end features.

You can read more details about the plans on the official Squarespace website .

Best Website Builders and Platforms for SEO

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author avatar Written by Lesley Haught

For a long time, I’ve been eager to highlight the importance of SEO capabilities in website builders through my site. I know from firsthand experience how important it is to choose an appropriate platform for your website from an SEO perspective.

I’ve not just promoted the website for my own web design agency, but also carried out search engine optimization on a lot of my client’s websites too.

And while doing all of that here is what I figured out – Not all website builders and platforms are good for SEO. Websites built on certain platforms are more likely to achieve better SEO results, whereas it is harder to rank higher in Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) with the websites built on some other platforms.

In this review, I’ll tell you which website builders and platforms are ideal for SEO and why.

Best SEO Website Builders for Beginners

All web platforms can be divided into two categories – for beginner users and for experienced users.

Beginner users are those who don’t have any web design, HTML layout, or programming skills. But they can do basic tasks, for example, sign up for Facebook and create their own email.

Here, I have mentioned four website builders aimed at beginner users with different primary focuses but with great opportunities for SEO.

NOTE: The website builders in this list are not arranged in the order of their ratings and show no evidence that one platform is better or worse than another. Each of the website builders listed here has its own particular scope of application.

Wix – Free, simple, and universal

Wix is a leader among online website builders and all that is not for nothing. In view of most independent lists, Wix is a top choice when it comes to drag and drop website builders. And as for SEO, Wix is really good at it too, since it comes with dozens of useful options, tools, and widgets for SEO.

Wix – Free, simple, and universal

WIX SEO tools

Also, Wix was one of the first website builders to abandon Flash technology and switch to HTML5. Thanks to that, web pages on Wix get easily indexed on all search engines.

NOTE: In the past, Wix has had some problems with search engine optimization on its websites. But then the management reconsidered the importance of SEO for their clients and did a great job in this direction. Now, Wix is one of the most SEO-friendly online website builders. However, you might still see old-school SEOs hating Wix, recalling its past shortcomings.

Wix is suitable for SEO due to its following features:

More than 500 perfectly responsive templates

Wix does not just have the largest template library but all Wix templates are created by professional web designers and have a responsive web design too. This means that the templates display correctly on any device screen, whether it’s a mobile phone, a laptop, or a tablet.

Search engine optimized website infrastructure

Websites created on Wix have a simple search engine optimized infrastructure and thus search engine bots easily index webpages and pass on the links within a Wix website without difficulty.

Wix also has server-side rendering (SSR), which allows rendering website pages on the server and not in the customer’s browser. As a result, website page load speed increases, even if the customers have a slow internet connection.

Free SSL certificates with all plans

All Wix websites have HTTPS as Wix offers a free SSL certificate with all their plans, including the free one.

Automatic structured data creation

Wix automatically adds structured data to its website pages. You don’t have to make an effort to add schema markups. Though you do get the option to manually create schema markups and add them to certain pages and use specific schema types like products, ratings, FAQ, and also statistics.

Automatic robots.txt and sitemap.xml file creation

Wix automatically creates robots.txt and sitemap.xml files. Moreover, it also gives you the option to edit the contents of these files, if necessary.

Automatic canonical tags creation and management

Wix automatically creates canonical tags for all new pages (like WordPress does with installed SEO plugins). In the Advanced SEO tab, you can also delete the canonical tag for a certain page or add one, if it isn’t already there.

Integration with Google Marketing Tools

Integration with Google Marketing Tools

WIX Marketing Integration

One of the greatest advantages of Wix for SEO is the possibility to integrate every possible marketing tool from Google with your website. Primarily, the integration option with Google Search Console directly from the Wix dashboard makes it simple, quick, and convenient.

You can also integrate Google Analytics for getting expanded statistics, and add Google Tag Manager for launching your advertising campaign.

NOTE: In the near future Wix is looking forward to taking a decision on launching Wix managed solution to offer integration with Google Optimize. This will allow analyzing the efficiency of a Wix website SEO’s status with the help of A/B testing. Also, it is possible to integrate Google Optimize using Google Tag Manager. Here’s Google’s guidance for such integrations.

Integration with Google My Business

Your WIX website’s integration with Google My Business will be useful for local SEO. Thanks to it, you’ll be able to create and further edit your company’s profile directly through the Wix dashboard. Again, this integration can be performed in a few clicks, which saves time while delivering excellent local SEO results.

Personalized SEO Setup Plan

This is a unique Wix option that makes it much easier for beginners to perform search engine optimization on their websites. Wix takes into account the particularities of your website and business and then gives you a step-by-step SEO Setup Plan. Just implement the given recommendations as per this plan in order to carry out all the basic SEO activities for your website.

NOTE: In order to use Wix SEO Wiz you’ll need to connect the website to Google Search Console. After this, SEO Wiz will create a step-by-step plan for you to perform your website’s search engine optimization. You don’t necessarily need to carry out all the steps right in the order they are stated in the plan, but the steps you miss will be highlighted as incomplete. You just have to finish implementing all the Wix SEO Wiz recommendations in order to make your website SEO-friendly.

SEO apps in the Wix App Market

One of the greatest Wix advantages that makes it one of the best website builders is that it has a large app collection available in the Wix Apps Market.

These additional solutions can be added to a ready-made Wix website, which increases its SEO and other capabilities. This may be comparable to WordPress plugins.

Here are some of the best SEO and marketing apps offered by Wix App Market:

rankingCoach SEO – It analyses your website and the websites of your competitors, and then creates a step-by-step SEO strategy specifically for your website. All SEO guides are in the form of simple how-to videos.

Rabbit SEO – A comprehensive tool for searching the most appropriate keywords, analyzing competitors’ keywords, website page optimization, and many other things.

Site Booster – It will automatically register your website in business directories, review websites, and popular mobile apps and business listings like Google Maps, Yahoo Local, Bing Maps, Business Data Index, FourSquare, SMB Home Online, Yelp, and some others.

Visitor Analytics – This is a multilingual SEO app that shows expanded statistics related to website attendance with a convenient interface. It allows performing user behavior analytics by using heatmaps and conversion funnels.

How much will Wix website builder with expanded SEO options cost?

Despite the fact that Wix is a free website builder, as you’d already know, with the free plan you won’t get any of those useful SEO options which were referred to above.

Advanced SEO options are available in the Unlimited plan (it costs $18 monthly) and the plans above it. As a free bonus for your first year, you’ll also get Visitor Analytics App, Site Booster App, and 3 free ads vouchers:

For Google Ads – $100

For Bing Ads – $100

For Local Listings – $100

As a result, by spending $216 yearly on Wix (Unlimited plan), you get free SEO tools and advertising vouchers amounting to $425, which is twice as much as your expenses.

These free bonuses and all those SEO tools and options described above make Wix the best online website platform for SEO for beginner users.

 

Squarespace – more automatic SEOs options

Like Wix, Squarespace is another top website builder, with some wonderful SEO capacities. Squarespace is especially good for developing portfolio websites, websites for photographers, and online stores.

Squarespace – more automatic SEOs options

Squarespace

Squarespace is a well-designed website builder focused on beautiful website designs, elegant minimalistic templates, and lots of SEO features. Moreover, most Squarespace SEO options are fully automatic, which will especially please beginners by making the tasks simpler for them.

Let’s figure out what Squarespace offers in detail.

Automated Heading Tags

Despite the fact that Squarespace allows editing HTML code (I’m sure web developers have a smile on their face right now!), its webpage structure is designed in such a way that users don’t need to add tags <H1>, <H2> for subtitles in HTML manually. You just choose the headline style you want, and Squarespace will automatically create the correct Heading Tag. It is really user-friendly. Here is how Squarespace describes this.

Automatic creation of <alt> and <title> tags for images

Thousands of articles and instructional SEO guides are written about the importance of correctly stating the <alt> and <title> tags for images from an SEO perspective. And Squarespace automatically adds the <alt> and <title> tags to your images with its image description feature.

Automatic sitemap creation and update

Automatic sitemap creation and update

SEO Checklist

It’s difficult to overestimate the importance of having up-to-date sitemaps for SEO. As most SEO-friendly website builders, Squarespace independently creates a sitemap for your website in XML format. But that’s not all. It also keeps automatically editing and updating the sitemap as per the changes in your site’s structure.

For example, if you’ve added a new page to your website, then Squarespace will add it to the sitemap. And vice versa, if you delete a certain page, then it will be deleted from the sitemap. This saves manual efforts.

NOTE: Even though Squarespace automates the process of sitemap creation and updating, the updates to the site map don’t happen instantly. After you have changed something on the site, the update in the sitemap usually happens in about an hour. In some cases, this may require up to 24 hours or even more, especially for larger multi-page websites.

Automated mobile optimization

Automated mobile optimization

Automated mobile optimization

Like in Wix, all the websites developed on Squarespace have an inherently mobile-optimized design. For this, Squarespace saves text and visual content in a format that can be easily displayed on any type of device. You don’t have to take any action for mobile optimization, Squarespace does that for you.

Automated AMP creation

Squarespace supports Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP). For all the pages on your website, it creates simplified mobile versions called AMP. These pages download faster and thus, positively affect site speed. This will be an undoubted plus point for SEO, especially if the majority of traffic on your website comes from mobile phones.

NOTE: AMP can be a really effective solution, but you should know that using AMP can sometimes lead to the reduction of website conversion. Similar results have been observed for some online stores, where webmasters noticed declining sales after AMP introduction. However, the organic traffic remained the same.

Management of Meta Titles for pages and posts

Squarespace allows assigning and editing the Meta Title both for the website as a whole and individual pages and blog posts. You can also edit Meta Titles manually and get the best SEO results for every single page.

NOTE: A good SEO practice is when the H1 title differs from Meta Title. It’s not necessary to have completely different titles, but it would be better not to have 100% copies. Moreover, it’s important to test Meta Titles. Perfect Meta Titles as per SEO standards may actually have fewer clicks in SERP positions (lower CTR). And prettier, user-friendly titles, are likely to be actively clicked by users but may appear not so effective in search rankings. It’s important to strike the perfect balance for every page – this is one secret of success in SEO.

Squarespace SEO consultations

Squarespace has a special Squarespace Select Plan with additional possibilities, including some SEO advantages too. If you choose this plan, you’ll get a dedicated manager for developing your website and online business.

And you can also get personal consultation about search engine optimization for your website from Squarespace’s SEO specialists. This is a unique offer that isn’t available with any other website builder.

How much will Squarespace with maximum SEO options cost?

All Squarespace plans include SEO features for website visibility. This means that you’ll be offered simple step-by-step instructions using which you can improve the SEO for your Squarespace website.

The most basic Personal plan will cost you only $12 per month if you pay for the entire year at once.

But if you buy the Business plan for $18 per month, you’ll get access to advanced site analytics and the possibility to edit CSS and JavaScript. This may help you with more accurate SEO optimization of the HTML code of your website.

In addition to this, you’ll get a bonus of $100 Google Ads Credits. This is a good start for launching your own PPC campaign with Google Ads.

Squarespace also offers the Basic Commerce plan for $23 per month specifically for online stores. In addition to all the things that you get with the Personal and Business plans, with this plan, you’ll also get access to Powerful E-commerce Analytics.

This is a more profound analytics system specifically built for E-commerce businesses. You’ll be able to monitor lots of additional parameters, for example, sales conversion as a whole or for selected products. Moreover, you can get insights about which products sell better than others, why, and much more.

I must admit that Squarespace has always been good at creating websites for online sales. And the Basic Commerce plan is a perfect solution in terms of the price-quality ratio. Besides that, unlike Shopify, the Basic Commerce plan doesn’t charge a commission for each transaction. Though the Squarespace Business plan charges a 3% commission on every sale. Once again, the Squarespace Basic Commerce plan proves to be a profitable proposition.

As for getting maximum SEO capacities, you’ll have to go with the Squarespace Select plan, which I referred to earlier. Its main feature is that it comes with personal SEO consultation. It’s up to you to decide how important it is for you, but generally speaking, Squarespace Select is the same Advanced Commerce plan but wrapped in an “individual package”.

 

Shopify – Ideal for E-commerce

When it comes to E-commerce, the importance of SEO gets multiplied manifold. This is primarily because E-commerce websites often have a more complex semantic core and have not one or two landing pages, but lots of them. In fact, every product’s page is a landing page. The same is true for category pages too as they all are optimized for certain search queries.

Considering such a large quantity of pages, working on off-page SEO optimization for every page is nearly impossible. And in this case, what comes to the forefront is technical SEO website optimization that, in turn, depends directly on the SEO possibilities of a chosen website builder or platform.

Among all E-commerce website builders, Shopify is the best adapted for SEO. Being the absolute leader among online E-commerce platforms, Shopify couldn’t help but give due consideration to SEO and marketing tools.

Let’s take a closer look at Shopify’s SEO advantages:

Lots of search engine optimized themes

Lots of search engine optimized themes

Shopify templates

Shopify has a large library of free (about 100) and the largest library of premium themes (thousands). By default, you have access to all the free themes, which is fine for most users. However, if you are interested in a website with a more unique design or you have a specific niche business, then I recommend checking out the premium themes to find suitable options.

The largest collection of premium Shopify themes is available on the ThemeForest platform. Here you can find every kind of Shopify theme for selling various goods, relating to various niches, and designed in different web design styles. The prices of these themes are also quite affordable and range from $20 to $90 per theme.

And of course, these themes have great opportunities for search engine optimization. The features of these themes include SEO-friendly HTML/CSS layouts, accelerated page loading speed, and various SEO tools and plugins.

For example, most premium Shopify themes already include Google’s Rich Product Snippets, and some of them are tentatively checked by the MOZ SEO tool or equivalent SEO tools.

Adding Meta Title and Meta Description for every page

Adding Meta Title and Meta Description for every page

Adding meta title and meta description for every page

Like all SEO-friendly website builders, Shopify allows adding Meta Title and Meta Description for every page, whether it’s a page from the main section, product subcategories, or product cards.

As a result, you get the possibility to attract organic traffic to all pages of your website. The main requirement from your side is to just optimize the content on your website based on popular and relevant search queries.

Advanced features for robots.txt editing

All websites designed using Shopify have automatically-created robots.txt files that already meet SEO requirements. But you can additionally edit it using the special robots.txt.liquid template.

With this, you can prohibit or allow indexing the pages you need, manually add some extra URLs to sitemaps, add crawl-delay rules, and much more.

NOTE: Despite the fact that having robots.txt.liquid template creates considerable SEO advantages, be very attentive while editing it. If you make a mistake, you can lose organic traffic for certain website pages or even the whole website. Meanwhile, the Shopify Support Team is unlikely to help you as editing robots.txt.liquid isn’t included in basic Shopify possibilities, and that’s why it isn’t maintained by the Support Team.

Automatic sitemap.xml creation

Shopify automatically generates a sitemap.xml file. It is a record containing the links to all the pages on your website that must be indexed on search engines. Shopify also automatically sends the XML sitemap file to Google Search Console in order to let the pages of your website get indexed as soon as possible.

NOTE: Basic Shopify plan allows the automatic creation of sitemap files only for primary domain names. But this will be unavailable to international and region or country-specific domain names. In this case, you’ll need more advanced plans like Advanced Shopify. You can learn more about this here.

Numerous other useful SEO functions

Shopify was initially planned in order to save the clients from the problems that arise while getting organic traffic.

Here are some important Shopify SEO features:

SEO-friendly structure of page URLs

Compliance of logical hierarchy of categories for online stores

The absence of iFrames in pages code, which accelerates their loading speed

Possibility to optimize navigation throughout the site

Possibility to optimize blog pages

Possibility to integrate Google Analytics

Indication of canonical webpage addresses

301 redirect configuration

Possibility to use descriptive image names to search engine optimize images

Additional SEO apps in the Shopify app store

Additional SEO apps in the Shopify app store

Shopify App store

Shopify has a large selection of apps for increasing the possibilities and performance of Shopify websites available in the Shopify App Store.

Wix and Squarespace also have such apps, right? Well, Shopify boasts of an extremely large collection of apps – about 2700 free and 2400 premium ones. And of course, Shopify has got apps for more successful online store SEO promotion too.

Here are the most powerful of them:

Booster SEO & Image Optimizer – A complex SEO solution for automatic online store optimization. It contains lots of built-in tools, and it can scan your website for SEO compliance and fix critical SEO issues. The app comes with a free plan.

Plug In SEO – One of the most popular universal SEO plugins for Shopify, Plug In SEO allows editing lots of Meta Descriptions and Titles at once, implementing Structured Data/JSON-LD Schema, finding and fixing broken, links and a lot more. The plugin allows performing SEO optimization of Non-English language pages as well.

About Bulk Image Edit & Image SEO – A shareware app, offering a full suite of image optimization features – from reducing the size while maintaining the same quality to adding Alt and file names.

SEO Manager – It scans the website to find SEO errors and provides opportunities for their removal. It contains step-by-step SEO instructions and reference materials for independent online store technical optimization.

How much will Shopify with maximum SEO options cost?

Shopify is definitely aware that it is the best E-commerce website builder in the market. That’s why it doesn’t offer a free plan, you have to pay to access their best-in-class services. However, they do offer a 14-days free trial version.

The cheapest Basic Shopify plan will cost you $29 per month. It includes all SEO options and tools except for those relating to International domain name support and International pricing.

As a result, Basic Shopify is likely to be a perfect solution for a small US or UK-based online store. But if your website has several language versions, then you’ll need the higher Shopify plan that comes at a price of $79 per month. It allows performing International SEO and is not limited to only English language webpages.

What features should an SEO-friendly website builder have?

SEO has always been an important criterion for determining the best website builder. You can check out my previous guides on choosing website builders and you’ll see that SEO has always been a factor in consideration. But today, I’m going to bet on SEO as the fundamental determining factor.

So, then what features should a website builder have to be liked by Google crawlers? Check them out.

Perfect webpage indexing

The HTML code on a page should be easily identifiable by search engines. And as for the website architecture, it must be simple and without complex elements and technologies that are hard to index.

NOTE: About 10 years ago most online website builders used Macromedia Flash technology. The websites built using Flash looked pretty and had spectacular animation. But it was very difficult for search engines to index them, and they were unlikely to rank higher in Google. Due to that, website builders started getting a bad reputation in SEO communities. But since then, a lot has changed. Today, website builders have completely abandoned Flash in favor of HTML5, and the problems with webpage indexing are now long gone. Moreover, website builders began coming equipped with built-in SEO tools, SEO widgets, and SEO tutorials, which radically changed the situation for the better.

Ability to add Meta Descriptions and Headings

Website builders must allow users to add some MetaData, such as Title, Meta Description, and headings (H1, H2, and H3) separately for each page. It should also be possible for users to specify Alt attributes for all the images on the site. All these options allow accurate search engine optimization for every single page.

SEO-friendly URL structure

SEO-friendly URLs are those which have a simple and clear structure that search engines can easily understand. Such URLs contain the basic keyword or webpage title (most often a fragment) and a minimum amount of enclosures.

Some examples of non-optimized URLs:

1) https://www.yoursite.com/news/?p=637
2) https://www.yoursite.com/articles/2022/09/25/sample-post/
3) https://www.yoursite.com/blog/archives/637

Some examples of SEO-friendly URLs:

1) https://www.yoursite.com/best-seo-friendly-platforms/
2) https://www.yoursite.com/seo/best-platforms/
3) https://www.yoursite.com/best-platforms/seo/

Availability of SSL certificate

The best website builders in the market offer SSL certificates with all their plans, even the free ones. They understand that having a website with HTTPS is not only a security issue but also an important factor for SEO. Moreover, the Chrome browser marks all the websites without HTTPS (that is the ones that don’t have SSL encryption) as ‘isn’t secure’ in the URL tab. This may have a negative impact on your website traffic as well as your reputation.

Responsive web design

After Google launched Mobile-First indexing across the web, having a mobile-friendly website design became a crucially important factor. If a website does not display correctly on mobile devices, then it is unlikely that it will rank higher in Google SERPs.

That is why the website builders targeting SEO must ensure that their templates are as responsive as possible so that they are displayed well across all device types and sizes.

Robots.txt and sitemap.xml creation and editing

The robot.txt file gives search engines the information about which pages have to be indexed and which don’t. As for the sitemap.xml file, it is used to specify the URLs of all pages on your website in the order of their priority to be indexed.

The best SEO website builders can automatically create robots.txt and sitemap.xml (like Tilda). You don’t need to take any efforts to get these files, but at the same time, you have the option to edit them if necessary.

Rapid webpage load

Page speed has been an important SEO factor, as officially announced by Google officials. So, the faster your website loads, the better it is for SEO. And a rapid webpage load speed can be achieved in several different ways. The most effective ways include reducing the page size and optimizing the images on the website.

Moreover, the most advanced SEO platforms also use CDN technology, image conversion into WebP format, and delayed image download (Lazy Loading). All these can significantly accelerate the speed of website operation.

Integration with marketing and analytics tools

Most website builders come with their own built-in analytics systems. But almost always their capacities aren’t sufficient. That’s why you need a possibility to add external marketing tools, A/B Tests, and marketing analytics systems.

In most cases, having the option to add Google Analytics and Google Optimize (for A/B Tests), and Google Search Console is enough.

Common SEO Mistakes That Prevent The Growth Of Your Website

Setting up a pretty-looking website is not enough. You need to ensure that the website ranks well on search. This is more easily said than done. The launch of a site is the beginning of the long battle to reach the top of search engine rankings. You need to resort to search engine optimization or SEO techniques.

However, SEO practices evolve constantly as Google and Bing fine-tune their algorithms. Here is a primer about what to avoid.

4 Common SEO Mistakes To Avoid In 2024

1. Not implementing HTTPS

HTTP or HyperText Transfer Protocol comprises a set of rules that govern how data is exchanged between your computer and others on the internet. Think of it as traffic rules for the web that governs the exchange of packets of data.

In recent years it has become obsolete since HTTP is not secure. The data transmitted using the system is not encrypted. This allows others who choose to eavesdrop on a computer to find passwords, user names, phone numbers, and credit card information.

HTTP has been replaced by HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure or HTTPS. Unless you use it, your site will rank lower on Google. In fact, since 2019, the Chrome browser warns users about proceeding to a site that is not HTTPS certified. Chrome has a 70% market share and you do not want to show up as unsafe to such a vast number of users.

2. Posting duplicate or plagiarized content

There are two ways to look at this SEO mistake. The first is information that is plagiarized. Google cannot decide which page to place higher since the same information appears on both sites.

The other is duplicate content published by mistake. This can happen on product pages and blogs. Two product pages that describe the same exact product are to be avoided. Not only scrutinize the description on the pages but pay attention to URLs as well. They need to be unique.

Most websites host a blog for disseminating information. Since a blog contains a series of posts, a topic might get published twice by mistake. Duplicate content on the blog can prove to be vexing for the search engine to rank.

3. Keywords strategy that is sub-par

A search engine cannot actually read and understand content from a page as humans can. That is why every page carries keywords in descriptions and content. Incorrect keywords are a top SEO mistake.

The keywords allow the search engine to understand if the page is meant for someone looking for information about dental braces or an online store for potted plants.

Keywords are available through Google Keyword Planner and other similar tools. Not only must you place keywords correctly, but choose those that accurately describe your site and the page.

Image source: staticflickr.com

4. Not fixing errors in H1

Header tags or H1 tags are the first and largest tag of a webpage.

Think of it as newspaper headlines. When you want to find the score of a soccer match, you locate it by glancing through the headlines on the sports page.

A search engine does something similar. Wrong header is among the most common SEO mistakes made by a rookie site owner.

For this reason, the H1 tag has to be descriptive and give a summary of what is on the page.

For this page, the H1 is <h1> Common SEO mistakes that prevent the growth of your website</h1>

If instead, the tag read <h1>How to optimize web pages</h1> it tells the search engine nothing about the actual content. It is an SEO issue you need to avoid at all costs.

5. Publishing content that is too concise

Search engines prefer lengthy blog posts.

Posts that are about 1000-2000 words are the norm. In some cases, such as buying guides, content can be 4000 words long.

Shorter posts that contain less than 500 words do not get much attention from search. A longer post contains more details and therefore provides greater value. Ensure that you avoid the most common typos that plague low-effort content.

At the same time, pepper the writing with as much data as possible. This is very attractive to other writers who love to find someone who has done the hard work for them and would gladly provide a backlink to your site.

6. Neglecting SEO-friendly meta descriptions

Meta descriptions are the short snippets that appear below the URL and H1 in the search result.

They have two purposes. The first is to describe the page for the search engine and the second is to inform the visitor about the page.

The meta description has to be no more than 160 characters. Many site owners do not bother with a meta and as a result, the search engine shows the first 160 characters of the webpage content.

To fix it, generate a meta description for every page in 1-2 sentences. Your search ranking would skyrocket.