3 Affordable Website Design Platforms To Kick-Start Your Small Business

In the age of pandemic, it’s never been more crucial for a small business to have a stellar user-friendly, mobile-responsive website. Increasingly, customers have turned exclusively to the internet to fulfill their browsing and shopping needs, particularly via mobile devices. Regardless of the industry, small businesses must use excellent website design that will target and engage their audience in order to compete in the crowded marketplace. In this article, we will discuss 3 affordable website design platforms to kick-start your small business.

Best Website Design

With the growing shift to digital, companies must have the best website design in order to out-pace the competition. In this digital age of ours, websites must be responsive (being both mobile and tablet friendly), fast, and with relevant SEO-friendly content giving your audience an optimal user experience.

Custom Website Design

Having a custom website design for your small business conveys the core values of your brand. In essence, it speaks to and engages your target audience. Having a website that provides the best possible user experience, leads to a higher conversion rate, which ultimately, contributes to the continued success and future growth of your small business.

Affordable Website Design

There are several affordable website design platforms out there tailored specifically for small businesses. However, by far the two best, yet most affordable platforms are Wix and GoDaddy. 

Wix offers website plans, and business and eCommerce plans depending on the needs of your small business. The pricing for website plans ranges from the “Connect Domain” basic website plan which is $6.50 CAD/month to the “VIP” plan $36.50 CAD/month. 

For business and eCommerce plans, the “Basic Business” plan is $25 CAD/month, the “Business Unlimited” is $32 CAD/month, and the “Business VIP” is $44 CAD/month. Some of the features included in each of these plans include:

• Custom domain
• Secure online payments
• Plans & recurring payments
• Customer accounts options
• Free domain for 1 year
• Unlimited Bandwith
• $300 ad vouchers – $100 Google Ads (with a $25 purchase), $100 Bing Ads, and $100 in Local Listings)

Regardless of the specific plan you choose, you can select from 500+ customizable website templates. In addition, business owners have the ability to select advanced features such as a blog, online store, or depending on your industry, online bookings. Moreover, your website will be optimized for search engines which is critical for your business to be found through online searches. In addition, Wix has a “Mobile Editor” option that lets business owners view the mobile-optimized version of their website.

GoDaddy offers a basic free plan to small business owners, with the option to upgrade to various paid plans ranging from $9.99 to $19.99 CAD/ month. Business owners can choose from hundreds of templates for free, then the price increases with added features. Some of the features in the GoDaddy Web Builder include:

• Hundreds of professional templates 
• Mobile-responsiveness
• GoDaddy InSight which provides AI-powered advice to small business owners pertaining to their online presence
• Built-in social media, marketing, and SEO tools with ‘SEO Wizard’
• Free image library to add photos to your website

Regardless of the plan that you select, there are 20+ customizable theme filters available with this website design platform. Moreover, there is the option to edit your small business website from the convenience of your mobile device. The company’s ‘GoDaddy Studio’ lets you create customized content, in addition to web hosting.

Cheapest Website Builder

By far, the cheapest website builder tailored to small business owners is Weebly. 

The company offers four plans: a Free Plan, Personal Plan ($7 CAD/month), Professional Plan ($15 CAD/month), and a Performance Plan ($30 CAD/month). Apropos of both the Professional Plan and Performance Plan, some of the website features include:

• Free SSL Security
• Free Domain
• No third-party ads (not included in the free plan)
• Advanced website statistics about your site visitors
• Password Protection

Additionally, each of the aforesaid plans comes with respective eCommerce and marketing features such as SEO, lead capture, pop-up notifications, and even an Instagram feed.

Web Design Service

Although these DIY website platforms do offer affordable website design solutions, small business owners should research and do their due diligence. There are reasons why you shouldn’t choose these website builders. Opting instead to utilize a professional web design service provides you with peace of mind, knowing that your small business website is in good hands in the event that there are bugs, crashes, or security issues. With malware scans and protection, in addition to daily backups, you can rest assured that all your website design needs will be met, while you focus on other aspects of making your small business flourish into the future.

Sarah Bauder

Sarah Bauder is a senior content specialist at Little Dragon Media. Sarah has a degree in journalism and has a decade of experience writing content at numerous renowned publications. She enjoys writing about digital marketing, business, entrepreneurship and more.