By Chloe Castleberry
pmc-editorial-manager
When it comes to designing a website, there are a few factors you’ll want to keep in mind. For starters, a clean and simple design template can go a long way. Additionally, you’ll also want to ensure you’re featuring high-quality content for readers. With that said, you can’t do any of those things unless you find the right design platform that meets all of your creative and functional needs. Essentially, you want to have a wide range of design possibilities.
With so many website design sites to choose from, it can be hard to narrow it down. Luckily, we’ve rounded up our top six that we think are the best in terms of design components, simplicity, collaborativeness, and user experience. And, of course, that can help you convert sales while making a name for yourself in the business space. Read below to explore which option may be right for you and what different features it has so you can use it to grow your business.
Squarespace is a BlogHer sponsor, however, all products in this article were independently selected by our editors. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale.
Squarespace has been used as the go-to website design platform for years, making it the No. 1 choice among small business owners. Why? Well, it has beautiful templates optimized for desktops, tablets, and mobile devices, plus marketing features, i.e., email and social media support. And with the launch of Squarespace Blueprint, it has become an ever larger player in the website design space. Squarespace Blueprint is an interactive, five-step site designer that uses your selections to jumpstart your personalized website design. Through this new feature, you’ll be able to create an awesome site foundation and then continue to personalize your page until it’s just how you want it. You’ll also have access to a live preview/progress bar, expert guidance, design direction, and more.
For someone with no design or coding experience, Wix lets you design and build a website with ease. It’s also one of the more affordable website design platforms (they offer paid and free plans, although the free plan comes with Wix ads). However, one of the best Wix features is its drag-and-drop interface. It also provides built-in SEO tools to help you improve your site’s ranking and includes more than 300 app integrations available, so you can add advanced features to your website.
WordPress is also another great option for small business owners looking for website design. There are three main elements that make WordPress a consistent, top choice. One: anyone can download, edit, customize, use, and even sell the code as long as they release it under the GPL license, meaning the software is free. Two: It’s super easy to use. It comes with a simple dashboard with different menu options listed in the sidebar. You can easily create posts, pages, customize your design and add navigation menus. Lastly, it’s SEO-friendly. Google and other search engines love WordPress, so if you decide to go the WordPress route, there’s a chance your website will rank higher than others in search engines.
According to Forbes, one of the main pros of using Weebly is that it allows you to use your own domain name when you have a paid plan and even gives you a free domain when paying for the Professional plan or above. And with the Professional plan or above, you’ll also have the ability to password-protect pages and folders, which is great if you want to create a private area on your website. Weebly also has an app center where you can add features to your website without having to code, such as an appointment scheduler. Lastly, with its built-in blog, you can easily add posts to your website.
Since its founding in 1997, GoDaddy has been home to millions of websites. Partly because it offers a wide set of hosting plans, free page builder, and free SSL (secure sockets layer) and domain, but also because it has an array of plans dedicated to WordPress and WordPress-native apps. However, although it consistently receives very high reviews, it’s worth noting that there’s no live chat support available, which may be a deterrent to website design beginners.
Hopefully, this guide proved helpful, and if you find yourself still having trouble deciding, there’s no harm in trying more than one until you find the right fit.
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