On your journey of creating your online brand, you might find it necessary to create your very own website. Having your own website gives you control over the content you’d like to display to your audience.

Additionally, you can use it to sell your products and track the analytics of customers viewing your website.

Traditionally, creating and hosting your own website was a complicated process. But thanks to the internet, there are many great tools that will help you both create and host your website. This will give your customers a professional stream-lined experience that they’ll surely enjoy.

Here’s our list of the most popular website building tools where you’ll surely find your best free website builder for your business.

What Is a Website?

What is a website builder graphic
Website building tools typically require little or no technical expertise. (Image Credit: Halacious, Unsplash)

A website is an online document that may be accessed by anyone with an internet connection using it’s dedicated URL. not only is there a place for you display relevant information and company but you can also use it to communicate with your audience. Now in order to determine which is the best free website builder for your business, you need to know the type of website that you need.

best free website builder for your business: guide

Types of Websites

The best free website builder for your business will depend on the type of website you are looking to create. Here are some of the most common types to help you find the most suitable one for you. Remember that you don’t have to stick to one type, your website can serve multiple purposes in order to maximize the benefits you’re getting from your online website.

Blog

A blog is typically a series of articles created for the intention of sharing with online readers. You can use a blog to inform your audience about new products and unique uses for existing ones.

You can use this opportunity to market your product while also interacting with your audience through the comments section. Both are building your online brand and customer loyalty.

Corporate

You might also find it useful to create a website that displays information about your company, the services you offer and how to contact them. You can also use this type of website to direct people to your social media pages or to post job ads.

For you, a corporate website can be an essential way to establish a professional online brand.

Community

A community website helps brings your target demographics together. You can use it as a form of “word of mouth” advertising where users can discuss your products and their uses. This provides your customers with an enjoyable experience while also encouraging new potential customers to try out your products.

This is usually in the form of forums or chat rooms.

E-Commerce

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You can use your website to sell your products and services. This is an especially useful use of the internet since you cut a lot of costs by selling directly to the customer.

You can utilize e-commerce in order to offer competitive prices without cutting into your profits.

Why Do You Need a Website?

Your online website will contain all relevant information about your business. From your vision statement to the products or services you sell. This is a great opportunity to spread awareness of your brand while also providing your existing customers with an enjoyable experience. Almost every business has its own website because it’s a great opportunity to interact with customers.

This ultimately leads to word of mouth advertising which is a great way to achieve massive growth. Additionally, you can use your website to convey your company’s vision while also giving customers insight into the amount of effort that occurs beyond the scenes to provide them with the product or service they use. Some more benefits to having a website include:

  • Showing up as a result for google searches
  • Organic growth
  • Establishment of online brand
  • Permanent advertising for little upkeep costs

Top Free Website Builders for Businesses

Now that we’ve discussed the importance of having a website, allow us to walk you through almost every best free website builder for your business to help you make the decision.

1. Wix

best free website builder
WIX is one of the most popular website building tools on the market today. Image credit: WIX.

Wix is by far, the most popular free website building tool on the internet. we’ll walk you through the process of creating your own website in order to see if it’s the best free website builder for your business. To begin with, let us look at the unique features that made them popular.

Wix Editor

This simple UI offers you the ability to choose from over 500 pre-made templates and if you’re feeling special, you can even create your own layout from scratch. All of these templates are optimized for both desktop and mobile browsing in order to provide your customers with the best experience on almost any device. Additionally, Wix offers over 100 different fonts as well as the ability to upload your own fonts to help your website really stand out. You can also use the Wix editor to set up visually pleasing scroll effects and media galleries to showcase your products.

Wix ADI

You can use Wix’s Artificial Design Intelligence to automate the process of designing your website. By answering a few simple questions, their intricate algorithm can generate a template that is optimized for your vision.

Unlike other websites that just use pre-existing templates, the Wix ADI uses artificial intelligence to generate a unique site to ensure that no two sites look the same. Once you have generated your own web template, you have full ability to customize it to your liking for an even more unique business webpage.

Wix Code

In addition to their simplified UI, you can also use the Wix code feature to implement advanced commands in your website. In addition to supporting its own Wix APIs, they also support JavaScript. This allows you to create lightweight websites that load quickly while also being SEO compliant.

This allows you to provide customers with the ability to interact with your website through quizzes, forms or comment sections. Using it, you can easily create professional looking pages that are on par with hard-coded ones.

In addition to these features, Wix also allows you to create your own custom domain names, mailbox, web-hosting and live chat. Regarding analytics, you can also use Wix to track your site’s performance and statistics.

Furthermore, Wix can help you setup members login that is also SSL certified to further boost your SEO score. If you’re looking for specific features that depend on the nature of your business, be sure to check these other features that Wix offers:

Wix Stores

This tool was specifically created to help you sell your products whether digital or physical. Not only can you display your products, but you’ll also be able to manage and track places orders from any device. Additionally, you can use it to accept various digital payment methods. You Offer coupons and set customized tax & shipping depending on the region to reach a global audience.

Wix Bookings

Another great tool that will help you automate the process of booking. You can use this tool to accept online payment, provide 24/7 services. Additionally, you can sync it to google calendar, setup email reminder and even manage bookings from your mobile. Using this, you can provide your customers with a much more professional experience that is sure to provide them with satisfaction and make them much more likely to recommend your business to others.

Wix Blog

This great feature simplified the process of content marketing. You can use this tools to create your very own blog. In addition to being accessible on desktop and mobile, your blog will be accessible by multiple writers to simplify contribution and content management. This allows you to create a professional blog that is sure to generate lots of traffic to your website. If you’d like to learn more about content marketing, be sure to check out our article on the power of a story.

2.  Weebly

Weebly Logo
Weebly is well known for its easy to use drag and drop interface. Image credit: Weebly.

 This is another best free website builder for your business if an online store is a big part of your plan. Weebly prides itself on a simple “drag and drop” website builder that anyone can use to create a professional looking website. Not only does it simplify the process of building a website but also the tracking of orders.

Mobile Integration

Weebly strongly believes in the power of mobile which is why you can manage your websites & sales through their mobile app. Additionally, Weebly has partnered with over 200 other apps. You can use these apps in order to provide you with a wide variety of features to suit your business needs.

Using Weebly, your online store will be able to list unlimited products, one-page checkout, and automatic tax & shipping rates. Additionally, their digital gift cards feature simplifies the process of gifting your products which is useful when it comes to increasing your customer base.

Optimization

In addition to being a great tool for creating online stores. Weebly offers extensive insight regarding SEO. You can use Weebly for your entire SEO journey. Starting from helping you choose a domain name to SEO tools that will help you maximize your exposure by ranking high on search result pages.

Interaction

Weebly is not just a great tool for online stores. You can use Weebly to create a blog, custom forms and even as a hosting solution. You’ll find that Weebly is an all in one solution for all your online interactions since it also tracks relevant data about your sites to help you evaluate your progress. We cover this in greater detail in our total SEO guide.

3.  Webnode

best free website builder
Webnode uses a template-based interface. Image credit: Webnode.

If you’re out of ideas for a good website design, you should give Webnode a visit. This is arguably the best free website builder for your business if you’re looking for professional templates.

Using Webnode, you can expect to create a professional looking website in five minutes. They are constantly adding new templates to ensure that their collection is always fresh and trendy.

Additionally, Webnode allows you to use your own domain name and it fully supports SEO by allowing you to create custom URLs for each page. They also have their own built-in SEO tools in order to ensure that you are achieving the highest possible SERP rankings.

In addition to all these features, Webnode also allows you to create versions of your website in others language to ensure that it is accessible to a global audience.

4. WebStarts

best free website builder

This is a relatively new online web builder but it has quickly risen up in rank. Thanks to the team’s constant hard work, you can expect it to be constantly updated with the latest features. Using Webstarts, you can create a website, blog or even an online store.

You just have to choose a design, pick your domain and then begin working on your SEO to drive traffic to your website. Unlike other builders, web start gives you more flexibility when creating your website. You can drag and drop things to place them exactly where you want them on a page.

Instead of being limited to left, right or center, you can place objects exactly where you want them to show up when someone loads the page. What makes this another best free website builder for your business is that they focus on SEO. You have access to the HTML code allowing you to set up anchor links for a better SEO score. Additionally, their content delivery network ensures that your pages load as fast as possible which ultimately boosts your SEO score.

5. Jimdo

best free website builder Jimdo logo

Just from looking at their landing page you can tell that this company is all about being stylish. What makes this a candidate for the best free website builder for your business is that it gives you access to some of the best-looking templates out there. Additionally, their free plan allows you to have a .jimdofree.com subdomain, 500 MB of storage and 2 GB of bandwidth monthly.

They also offer HTTPS encryption which boosts your SEO score. Jimdo is also a great all in one solution as it allows you to integrate a blog, google maps locations, galleries, video embedding and even file downloads. This allows you to create a comprehensive website that has all of your content is one place.

How to Choose the Best Website Builder

In 2018, having your own business website has become a staple of any successful business. Having your own website allows you to establish your online brand. Additionally, it helps you provide your customers with an enjoyable experience making them much more likely to recommend your business to others.

Thankfully, it has become incredibly simple to create your own website using these free website builders. If you’re looking for the best free website builder for your business, we’ve got you covered with some of the best ones available.

Regardless of the nature of your business, we’re sure you’ll find what you’re looking for among these tools. If you’d like to learn more about establishing your brand, be sure to check out our article on extraordinary brandable domain names.

statistics and facts I would add about website adoption, ecommerce, and website builders to help establish relevance:

“With over 1.7 billion websites active today, it’s essential for every business to have an online presence. Website adoption continues to grow at over 20% per year on average [1]. Over 50 million small businesses now have websites to tap into new markets and revenue streams [2].”

“[3] reports global retail ecommerce sales reached $4.9 trillion in 2021, and revenues are projected to grow 50% by 2025, creating major opportunities especially for small ecommerce businesses with well-designed sites showcasing their products and brand.

Free website builders empower entrepreneurs and small businesses to stake their claim online and get started with ecommerce without large upfront investment. The most popular free website builder WordPress holds over 60% market share currently [4], though competitors like Wix and Weebly continue to expand their user base.”

FAQ

Here are answers to some common questions about free website builders:

How much does it cost to build a site with a free website builder?

While core features and basic templates don’t cost anything, most free builders offer premium upgrades, additional storage and bandwidth, domain registration, and ecommerce capabilities for monthly or annual fees. These can range from $5 to $25+ per month based on your needs.

Can I use my own custom domain name with a free website builder?

Many free website builders allow using your own domains though some entry-level tiers have restrictions. In some cases connecting a custom domain incurs additional costs as well for premium DNS or managed WordPress hosting.

Are sites from free website builders good for SEO?

SEO capabilities vary widely. Builders like WordPress support plugins for metadata, site maps, SEO-friendly permalinks and are highly customizable. Others have limited optimization controls. Check for SEO options before choosing a builder for your business site.

Can I easily migrate my site if I outgrow my website builder platform?

While most website builders let you download site content for backup, actually moving to another host can be challenging due to proprietary techniques for page building and content storage. Ask about migration options upfront if considering longer-term growth.

Conclusion

The right free website builder makes getting your business online easy and affordable. While WordPress stands above competitors overall, especially for bloggers and established brands, many excellent Wix, Weebly and Duda sites exist.

Evaluate your functional needs around core site-building capabilities, ecommerce readiness, customization options like themes and support for growth before you commit. But with over 1 billion live websites, most small businesses can successfully leverage these user-friendly DIY platforms to turn their web dreams into reality without draining budgets!

Learn more about web development by checking out our blogs

What is Ning?Responsive Web DesignTop Free Business Listing SitesChoosing a Web Hosting CompanyBuild a Website Without Code

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