Being a business owner myself, I know how difficult it can be for small business owners to create a professional website. Building a website for many is intimidating, and when the idea of hiring a professional web developer is out of reach … For many, the idea of building a website can seem intimidating. However, what if I told you that creating a great website for your small business doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg? The truth is you can have a website that looks the goods without costing an arm and a leg; all you need is the right tools and a basic understanding of why things need to be built in a certain way.
In this article, I’ll guide you through some inexpensive ways that may assist you in building or redrawing a website that portrays your brand and keeps your audience engaged. Regardless if you’re just getting started or if you want to switch your existing site for a better one, these solutions will allow you to build a website that will make you stand out without going broke.
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1. Website Builders: The Easy, Affordable Solution
Website builders like Wix, Weebly and Squarespace are great if you just want a hassle free way to build your website. This is for people without a background in web design or coding, which means, excellent for small business owners that want to create an online presence but don’t have hours to spend on that or a lot of money to invest as you do not have to be an expert in web design or coding.
Affordable Pricing: Available are free plans and paid plans with more functionality. If you are on a small budget, the free plans are a good starting point, and they will help you grow when your business grows just upgrading to any plan. The truly affordable pricing lets you get your website up and running without busting your budget on an expensive web designer.
User-Friendly: Website builders don’t require that you be a coder to use them. It is easy for people to use drag and drop interfaces and pre-designed templates to create site quickly. Whether it’s adding text or images or contact forms, website builders lets you do it real time with no coding involved. If you’re a small business owner with a bit of technical know however looking for an easy way to manage your site without the aid of a developer, this is a great option.
Customization and Flexibility: Although templates are a good place to begin, website builders can change your site to fit your brand. It can all be changed – Fonts, Colors, Layouts, and fun stuff. You have these options to create a website that stock fits your business requirements.
2. Open-Source Platforms: It remains affordable, but gives you more Control
For small business owners that want to have more control over the look and function of your website, you are better off with using open source platforms such as WordPress, Joomla or Drupal. All of these were free, but you will have to pay for hosting and a domain name. The problem when compared to website builders is their cost, but it delivers a level of control and customization that the website builders simply can’t provide.
Cost-Effective: The platforms themselves cost nothing but you’re going to have to pay for web hosting and a domain. But this is typically much cheaper than hiring a web development agency. Open source platforms are a low cost way to create a highly customizable website for small businesses.
Flexibility: This means with open source platforms, you can choose from a range of themes and plugins. From an online store, a blog, to a booking system or anything else; all of these add-ons can help increase the design and functionality of your website! That flexibility to add these features means that open source platforms are a very good thing if you want more control over your site.
SEO-Friendly: One of the biggest advantages of any platform which uses open source is that it has been build with SEO in mind. For example you could have tons of free WordPress plugins which can improve optimize your site’s content for search engines and increase the odds of potential customers finding you online.
3. Hiring a Freelancer or Agency: Affordable Customization
So if you have a business for which you want a website that fully syncs up with your website, but don’t want to shell out the fisty dollars that large web agencies cost, hiring a freelancer or a smaller agency is a fantastic way to go. They can offer high quality web design at a lower rate ensuring your business gets the top quality they deserve.
Affordable Rates: Small agencies and freelancers usually impose lower fees than large web development firms. With this, you can have a website custom built for your business and for no more than would a bigger agency charge for. Small businesses love freelancers mostly because they are so affordable and provide personalized services.
Expertise: Small agencies and freelancers put their own expertise into the mix. Often highly skilled in web design and development, they can also help you with the right approaches to take on your website. You don’t have to have a deep technical understanding, you can trust they will guide you through the process.
Customization: If you are working with a freelancer or a small agency you will have more input with your web design. They will help you understand your business and your goals so that the end result matches your brand. You might not get this level of personalization with website builders and open source platforms.
4. DIY Strategies Can Help You Keep Costs Low
If you’re someone who enjoys being hands on, you’ll be pleased to know that there’s a DIY strategy for virtually everything. Here are a few tips that helped me save money when building my website:
Domain and Hosting: Affordable web hosting services help you to save the money. First time hosting package from companies like Hostinger, Bluehost, SiteGround is free with a free domain for the first year. The good customer support they offer small business owners is the main reason behind these services, as well as their reliability.
Free Tools: From design to marketing, there’s free tools for everything. As mentioned it Canva is good for creation of logos and social media posts, while Google Analytics could track your website’s performance. So, if you don’t have any money to spend on these tools then you still can get these free other free tools to save cost as well as to make sure that your website looks professional and perform well.
5. WebiKnock: We’ve helped thousands to build their dream websites.
WebiKnock is here to help if you’re looking for personalized, affordable web design services. Whether you’re creating your first website from scratch or reworking an existing site, our turnkey team is eager to build custom websites that are both visually appealing and functional, and designed to be successful.
We help small business owners create a website that best fits their business needs with a brand identity that echoes their brand identity. What we want to do is give you a cost effective solution that gives you a professional online presence, and helps you to stand out from your competition.
It doesn’t have to cost a fortune to build a high quality website for your small business. No matter if you select a website builder or an open source platform or decide to hire a freelancer for the task, you won’t find many options that will cost you so much to create a solid online presence.
Our mission is to give small businesses the tools they need to make a great website that gets the job done. If done well, you can build your brand online and the brand identity at low cost.
