Website builders are enjoying splendid attention these days as many small business owners are keen to do website building on their own. Are you one among them who has set his/her mind on building a website without hiring any developers? 

If yes, I’m sure that you will be having a multitude of questions regarding how to go about website creation on your own. You might be worried about choosing the right website builder, website platforms, webpage tools, etc. to create the best website without involving a web developer.

Now, it’s time to unload all your worries. Here, you are going to explore some of the best website builders to help you build a website without any coding skills. We’re happy to lend you a helping hand in choosing a website maker that suits the needs of your business.

The What and Why of Website Builders

Website builders or website makers are unified tools for building websites that do not require the users to use even the basic coding to set up a website. Most of the good ones come equipped with a drag-and-drop visual editor to make things easier.

Whether you are a blogger, large or small business owner, performer, photographer, or consultant, there’s a website builder out there for you. It helps you set things up on your own. Yes, we are talking about professional-looking with all the basic functionalities and features. The dilemma between choosing between website builders and hiring a professional web designer can still be there. But the decision you take should consider all aspects of your website development needs and business objectives.

Focus on your needs

You need to determine your needs before jumping into picking a website builder to build your own website or hiring a web designer. What are your expectations from your website? What functionalities that you expect each web page should do? Are you looking at making an ecommerce website or want your customers to purchase something from your site? Do you want your website to be more unique and custom-built or generic-looking? Are you looking at a blogging website with content updates on a regular basis? How much money do you have to spend to make your own website?

Based on all the answers to all these questions, you can choose between a DIY website builder or a web designer or in other words the following options for building a website.

•         The template solution: use a website builder
•         The custom solution: hire a web designer or website service company
•         The hybrid solution: hire a designer to customize a template

If the website you are intending to build is a content-based one with only common functionalities, DIY website builders can be a great option. There are many templates to choose from these and you can customize them as per your need with the help of a professional web designer. A hybrid solution is great in this aspect if you don’t want to invest completely in custom website development.

Website builders offer the benefit of:

Cost – mush lower price when compared to hiring a professional web designer/agency

DIY happiness – DIY is a great factor that makes website builders a great choice for businesses.  It gives you the freedom to put together your website in any design or form you want.

Built-in tech support – Website builders come with pre-set code, programmed functions, and in-built templates. When faced with any technical problems you can get help through chat, email, or phone.

Let’s now move straightaway into exploring some of the best small business website builders.

Top Website Builders to Create Your Own Website

1.   WordPress

The WordPress.com website builder (self-hosted WordPress) is touted as the world’s most popular website building platform. It is known for its powerful features, scalability, and ease of use. It’s an ideal platform for bloggers and writers. Being said that, WordPress is a handy tool to build simple ecommerce, community forums, social networks, membership websites, and landing pages. It is a free and open-source CMS and you need to find a website host and domain name (which is easier than it sounds).

WordPress is ideal for those who need just the bare minimum elements in their website. The existence of thousands of plugins makes it easier to add functionality to your WordPress website.  Though it allows for customization, its full extent can be reached only with the help of a website designer.

Verdict – If you have some tech knowledge and want a customized and content-heavy website with web hosting of your choosing, go for WordPress.

2.   Wix

Wix is one of the most popular cloud-based website builder software. User-friendliness combined with a potent gang of free apps and features is great at extending the functionalities of your website. The basic free plan (it still offers many features) is a bit restrictive but if you move on to the paid plans, you get access to SEO and analytics tools, events calendar, logo maker, and so on. A major highlight of this comprehensive website builder is its huge template library consisting of 900 designer-created templates.

Verdict: Wix is a great online business solution for small business owners, creatives, and beginners. Although its ecommerce plans seem to be steep they are competitive when compared to other options.

3.   Web.com

Web.com is an easy-to-use website builder that enables you to build a website without knowing any coding. Its potent drag and drop features are great at integrating creativity. The availability of 150-plus professionally pre-made website templates and ready-made content blocks helps with customizing the design with a click.

Verdict: If you are obsessed with getting a quick and easy website without much focus on the ‘wow factor’, go for it.

4.   Weebly

Weebly is one of the easy-to-use platforms for websites in the market. It performs in a power-packed manner when it comes to its ecommerce and blogging features. Its page builder is intuitive enough to allow you to build a beautiful website without any coding skills. It has a free plan and 3 tiers of paid plans to suit most budget levels. What makes Weebly stand out from other website makers is its flexibility in switching themes. You can change your website theme even after adding content!

Verdict: They are great in terms of low cost, flexibility, and ease of use, and hence a great choice for small business entrepreneurs, bloggers, and online sellers.

5.   Zyro

Zyro website builder is a user-friendly drag & drop tool to make your own website. It has one of the lowest introductory prices though it comes with a mandatory four-year contract. It comes studded with all the basic features that you need to build a website for personal or professional use. A highlight features of Zyro website builder is its unique tool that helps you to import an existing website to its platform.

Verdict: It’s an inexpensive and basic platform for beginners who have no intention to add lots of content.

6.   Squarespace

 Squarespace is a popular website builder that is power-packed with some great user-friendly features. It’s a great tool to build any kind of website or landing pages covering ecommerce stores, blogs, portfolio sites, small business websites/membership sites, etc. This tool is a combination of a drag-and-drop editor and a point-and-click editor. It gives you the freedom of employing multiple templates for the same website simultaneously.

Verdict: It is the best choice of website builders for those who are obsessed with having creative and quality designs.

7.   GoDaddy

GoDaddy markets itself as a tool that makes website creation an easy part of building a business and this tool stays true to it. It is known for its fast website-building capabilities. They have made the website building process so easy that what you all need to do is answer a few questions about the purpose of your site. Then you will get a prebuilt site that’s equipped for customization as per your needs. You can also choose a drag-and-drop editor. Their templates are clean and professional though their numbers are limited.

Verdict: If you have decided to make a website with basic functionalities choose GoDaddy. To be more precise it’s great for creating and publishing websites fast.

8.   HubSpot Website Builder

HubSpot Website Builder is a great website maker for e-commerce businesses and for those that implement inbound marketing. It can be touted as a good content management platform equipped with drag & drop website builder, marketing automation tools, and CRM. Coming from the leading marketing automation and CRM platform, HubSpot’s website builder offers conversion-optimized website templates. They offer a free WordPress plugin to seamlessly integrate with WordPress to compensate for their limitations.

Verdict: if you are not just looking at building a website, but also at having marketing automation tools like CRM, email marketing, live chat, etc. pick HubSpot Website Builder.

9.   Jimdo

Jimdo is a website builder and hosting solution with all the basic features to start a business website. Marketed as the website builder for the self-employed it is a great tool to build small business websites and online stores. It’s highlighted as an ad-free website builder within a restricted budget. It has free image libraries and flexible layouts and is optimized for all mobile devices.

Verdict: Jimdo is good to create a personal blog or a website for small business without any bespoke needs.

10.   Gator

Gator by HostGator is one of the intuitive and best website builders out there. It is designed as a complete website building & hosting solution for small businesses. It offers more than 200 professional website designs which can be modified with simple customizations. It offers both point-and-click and drag-and-drop features. It also has an integrated stock photo library.

Verdict: This easy-to-use website builder is an apt choice for personal projects, blogs, simple small business websites, etc.

11.   Duda

Duda is a reputed professional website builder for design agencies. It has an easy-to-use editor with simple drag and drop options. There are hundreds of pre-built and customizable templates. Mobile-responsive and clean designs are its highlights. This website builder features a content library to import content from another website.

Verdict: As it is a bit pricey option, Duda is suitable for design agencies who intend to build multiple businesses websites.

 12.   Strikingly

Strikingly is a great drag-and-drop website builder that allows you to build attractive websites with zero coding skills. It offers great levels of ease of use to build mobile responsive websites and online stores. It offers a range of stylish yet simple design templates. It comes with some simple built-in analytics as well.

Verdict: Strikingly website builder is a great choice when you have to build a single page website.

13.   IONOS By 1&1

IONAS is a professional website builder that allows you to make your website in 3 simple steps: choose a design, add content and publish. It has an intuitive interface with easy drag-and-drop functionality.

Verdict: If you are a small business owner wanting to build a website by sparing a bit more money, go for it.

14.   DreamHost Website Builder

DreamHost website builder is touted as the easiest and quickest way to build a WordPress website as it’s built on top of WordPress. It features more than 200 starter sites, drag and drop functionalities, and real-time SEO recommendations. You can leverage a potent gallery of themes and the BoldGrid builder helps you build a website with a single click.

Verdict: You can choose DreamHost website builder for small projects at best value for money.

15.   SITE123

Site 123  is a free website builder for small portfolios and business websites. Making a website with Site 123 involves 3 steps: choose a design, add content, and go live. It comes with 3 categories: business, online store, and portfolio, and also features many niche subcategories like law firms, salons, etc.

Verdict: Site 123 is an ideal pick for first-time builders.

Ready to create your new website?

Well now, with a decent amount of knowledge regarding diverse website builders in the market, are you ready to choose a single one from the above list? We hope that we could solve a large extent of your ‘how to build a website’ worries. I know it is a bit confusing, but you have ample information about what different website builders do and what features they offer. 

Consulting your need with a team of experts like GetMySites will help you a lot. Our smart crew of web designers, developers, marketers, and content writers can give you valuable information on how to go about gaining an impressive online presence through a business website. If you find these website builders intimidating, you can consider our website development services, or can go for the hybrid solution to customize your chosen website template.  Whatever be your need, don’t hesitate to call us.