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We recommend using two methods to build a business website: website builder or WordPress, the former for technical beginners and the latter requiring some coding knowledge. Both options are great, but which one is best for you? We'll see.
Tip: This article focuses on business sites that are not intended to sell online, if you want to build an online store, check out our complete guide on building an eCommerce site.
Option 1: Use a website builder
Using the website builder: FAQ
Using WordPress: Frequently Asked Questions
Should you use a website builder or WordPress
Option 1: Use a website builder
8 steps to launch a business website using a website builder.
- Register Domain Name
- Create Email Address
- Find the ideal platform to build your website
- Select a template
- Add content
- Installing applications (plug-ins)
- Optimize your website for search engines
- Preview, test, and publish corporate websites
1. Register domain name
A domain name is the unique address of a website and it is very common to have a domain name that is the same as your business name (e.g. amazon.com), however, you can also choose a domain name that contains a specific phrase. The most important thing for a business is to consider the relationship between the domain name and the business, this is the first impression visitors will have of you, so take it seriously.
Acquiring your own domain name entails two costs.
- Cost of purchasing a domain name
- Cost of annual renewal
Tip: Most website building platforms (e.g. Wix) offer the domain name for free for the first year, and you can renew it to continue using it in subsequent years.
Domain names are usually registered for between $10 and $12, with similar prices for renewals. If someone else already owns the domain name you want, you will need to consider another name or, alternatively, you can contact the holder to purchase it, but the price is usually very expensive.
2. Create email address
Generic email addresses (including gmail.com, hotmail.com, qq.com) are easy to get, however, to make the main business look more professional and complete, you need a custom email domain name, for example, 与yourname@gmail.com相比, yourname@yourbusiness.com Make your business look more mature and credible.
In fact, the most common format for corporate email addresses is the corporate domain name. Getting a custom corporate email is very easy and fast, and cheap, and we recommend using Google Workspace.
Basically, it's Gmail for businesses, but you'll have personalized email addresses and also gain ease of use, reliability and security for as low as $6 per user per month with a 14-day free trial, with the following features included in each pricing plan.
Starter
$6USD
/user/month
- Secure and customizable corporate email addresses
- Support video conference with 100 participants at the same time
- 30GB of cloud storage per user
- Security and management control functions
- Standard Support Services
Standard
$12USD
/user/month
- Secure and customizable corporate email addresses
- Support video conference with 150 participants at the same time + recording function
- 2TB of cloud storage per user
- Security and management control functions
- Standard support services (upgradeable to enhanced support services for a fee)
Plus
$18USD
/user/month
- Secure and customizable corporate email address support + e-discovery, retention
- Support video conference with 250 participants at the same time + recording, attendance tracking function
- 5TB of cloud storage per user
- Enhanced security and management control features, including safes and advanced endpoint management
- Standard support services (upgradeable to enhanced support services for a fee)
Enterprise
$??? USD
Contact the sales department for pricing
- Secure and customized corporate email address support + e-discovery, retention, S/MIME encryption
- Support video conference with 250 participants at the same time + recording, attendance tracking, noise reduction, and live streaming within the network domain
- Storage space at your disposal
- Advanced security, management and compliance control features, including safes, data breach protection, data zones and enterprise-level endpoint management
- Enhanced support services (upgradeable to premium support services for a fee)
Tip: Google Workspace is fully integrated with some of our recommended site building tools, even eliminating the need for you to sign up separately. For example, Wix allows you to purchase a Google Mail subscription directly from within the dashboard and create a company email address.
3. find the ideal platform to build a website
There is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to choosing the right website builder. Different businesses have very different needs; for example, what a trendy restaurant needs is completely different from what a small law firm needs.
After an in-depth test of more than 50 website building platforms, we can responsibly say that Wix is the first choice for building a business website, in addition to Squarespace and Weebly, and you won't have any problems choosing any of these platforms.
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1. Wix - the best website building platform
It's extremely easy to use, which is probably one of the reasons why Wix has such a wide audience. As the world's largest website builder, Wix offers over 500 professionally designed templates across a wide range of industries, including restaurants and food, stylish hotels, artists, interior design, photography and more.
If you need a lot of help and guidance, use pre-built template layouts that can then be easily replaced with your own images and content. Alternatively, if you want Wix to customize a corporate website for you, use Wix ADI - an artificial intelligence software that simply asks you what you like, then accepts your ideas and generates a unique website design.
To make your website more flexible and useful, Wix also offers a large number of applications (plug-ins) such as live chat, online reservations, restaurant delivery, online marketing, social media integration, etc. It's a safe bet that its application marketplace contains almost all the features you need.
2. Squarespace - a beautifully designed exterior, ideal for expanding your business
It's a star in the business website building world, helping you create great looking, minimalist, modern, new and stylish corporate websites that will grab the attention of your visitors. Learning how to use Squarespace isn't as easy as Wix, but it's worth noting that its award-winning template designs are unmatched in the industry.
Paid plans start at $12/month and Squarespace does not offer a free plan, but you can try it for 14 days for free. The pre-designed templates are designed using a quality over quantity approach and cover 60 major industries. Despite the lack of an app marketplace, there are high-quality built-in features. In terms of customer support, you can access 24/7 email, live chat and a help center.
If you want to create a visually stunning website for a more creative industry, such as photography or design, then check out some examples here.
3. Weebly - best for small businesses
There are no major design issues, Weebly is very easy to use and the functional features are satisfactory. If you are looking to grow your online business in an affordable way, this would be a good choice.
Paid plans start at $5/month, plus there are free plans for you to try. There are fewer preset templates than Wix and Squarespace, but there are still more than 50 themes, most of them with responsive designs. In terms of customer support, you can access 24/7 Tickets, live chat, help center, phone and forums.
Weebly has good SEO (Search Engine Optimization) features and support in order to help you fully capture natural traffic.
4. Select a template
The template (sometimes called a theme) you choose will act as the cornerstone of the site design and, if built with Wix, can be completely customized as needed, meaning that for better or worse, you end up with something completely different. Squarespace isn't eager to hand over all control and has restrictions on how you can change the template, but that's not a bad thing, as their award-winning pre-defined templates. Also, Weebly sits somewhere in between when it comes to customization potential.
No matter which website building platform you choose, you will not be short of options:.
- Wix: over 500 templates, of which over 100 are classified as commercial
- Squarespace: over 60 templates, 11 of which are classified as Professional Services and 7 of which are classified as Local Business
- Weebly: more than 50 templates, of which more than 10 are classified as Business
All platforms categorize templates by specific dimensions, so the first step should be to enter the Business (or equivalent) category.
Wix breaks down templates by industry
You can preview each template and then choose one to start editing. You can change the template as many times as you want before publishing. Squarespace and Weebly both allow you to change the template after publishing, but Wix can't do that, so choose carefully!
Squarespace templates have the most beautiful design
When choosing a template, avoid paying too much attention to superficial details such as fonts, colors, images and videos, as these are easy to modify regardless of which template is used for which platform. Instead, you should focus on the site structure, page layout, and first impressions: is the template modern and edgy? Is it more secure or more traditional? Consider how your brand image matches it.
5. Add content
In terms of pages, all corporate websites need to.
- An attractive home page: visitors should be able to quickly learn about your business and navigate smoothly to other sections.
- An informative About Us page: tell people your brand story and add photos of team members.
- Clear contact page: Customers need to know where to find you and how to contact you easily.
Many companies also need to.
- Product/service pages: talk about what you do best and add pictures where possible.
- Blog module: showcases your expertise, keeps the site fresh, and helps you get natural traffic through search engines -- but only if you can stick to posting new articles regularly.
Now is also a good time to learn from your competitors - what pages do you like on their websites? What's impressed you? Do you see the potential pitfalls? There's no doubt that your website should look personal, but beyond that, it's even more important to provide content that meets your customers' expectations.
6. Installation of applications (plug-ins)
Now that you have organized your pages and populated them with some custom content, it's time to add additional functionality. Usually, this can be done through apps (plugins), and site building platforms usually have their own app marketplaces.
The following are some examples of plugins and features that we believe are suitable for corporate websites.
- Forms: this provides another way for customers to contact you and helps you organize inquiries, and can also encourage people to sign up for email newsletters.
- Social media integration: whether it's a button to link to social accounts, an embedded Instagram gallery, or a live Twitter feed, you can find a solution for it all.
- Cookie alerts: be transparent with visitors, explain how you are using their data, and provide them with options to change it.
- Live chat: another useful (and increasingly popular) way to connect in real time.
- Google Maps: interactive maps that help customers find you.
- Customer testimonials: Displaying customer reviews and testimonials on your website and adding social proof helps increase trust and conversions.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, Wix has one of the largest app marketplaces (260+ apps) and the above options apply to many different businesses, however, there are many more industry-specific apps such as Wix Store, Wix Booking, Wix Events, Wix Films, etc.
7. Optimize the site for search engines
You already have a beautiful website that contains the most important contact pages and even an interactive plugin to attract customers to visit. But all your hard work will go down the drain if they never visit your site.
When you enter a phrase like how to create a business website into a search engine, a complex algorithm will determine the results you get and their order. For this reason, you can take some simple steps to make search engines more aware of your website.
1. ensure that the site loads quickly
No one likes a slow-running website, and most people will turn away if it takes more than 3 seconds to render. Making sure all images are compressed is an easy way to reduce file size in just a few seconds without degrading image quality, and our favorite tool for this is Kraken.io.
Run your pages through free speed testing tools such as Google PageSpeed Insights to find any potential problems.
2. Don't forget the smartphone
More searches are now conducted via mobile devices than desktops, so your site must be retooled to fit the smaller screen. Mini versions of desktop sites are not suitable for browsing; elements such as text and buttons are too small and can be penalized by search engines for poor user experience. By choosing our recommended website building platform, you will get templates that are fully responsive to mobile devices.
3. Use keywords carefully
If it is necessary to find you based on a specific phrase, it is necessary to know which terms people are searching for, and you can use a free keyword finder (such as Google Ads Keyword Planner) to research the most popular searches.
Once you find some popular (and relevant) keywords, try to include them in the content of your articles. But do it carefully, as if there are too many repetitions of these terms, the site content will look clumsy and Google will penalize you for keyword stuffing. We could go into a long discussion about SEO (search engine optimization) best practices, but the most important thing to know is: all ranking factors depend on article quality and user experience.
8. Preview, test, and publish the corporate website
You've followed our advice and now have a beautiful business website ready to speak to the world!
Next, preview your site using a smartphone, tablet, desktop, and on a variety of browsers, then hit publish. Have friends and family test it before introducing it to the outside world and sharing it with social followers. You can check the site in preview mode as needed, but sometimes the real problems only become apparent after publishing, so find and fix them as soon as possible.
Once you're sure everything is in order, you can get your hands on a DIY website and visitors will be slowly drawn in from all over the world, now it's time to sit back and relax.
Using the website builder: FAQ
How long does it take to create a corporate website?
You can create a corporate website in less than an hour if you want! Using a website building platform means you can have a brand new professional brand immediately, however, we recommend that you take a day or two to launch the website and get it up and running to your satisfaction.
How to create a business website for free?
Most website builders have a free plan or at least a free trial version. However, the free plans have some limitations that may limit your business development, for example, displaying ads for the website building platform on your website, which can create a very unprofessional image, and you can pay a small fee to upgrade to a paid plan to get rid of them.
How much does it cost to create a business website?
Technically, you can start a site for free, however, in order to make a professional website with a custom domain name and zero ads, the cost is about $5/month.
Which website building platform is best for business websites?
We recommend Wix as the best business website building platform, you get a lot of great features, and it is very flexible and easy to use.
Which website building platform is the easiest to use?
According to our research, SITE123 is the easiest website builder to use, followed by Wix.
Which website building platform is the cheapest?
Both Wix and Weebly have free plans, in order to upgrade to the cheapest monthly plan, Wix starts at $5/month and Weebly at $8/month.
Option 2: Use WordPress
8 steps to build a business website using WordPress.
- Determine if WordPress is right for you
- Purchase a suitable hosting plan (we recommend BlueHost)
- Select and register a domain name
- One-Click WordPress Installation
- Select the ideal theme
- Create content and pages
- Select and install useful plug-ins
- Preview, publish and maintain
1. Determine if WordPress is right for you
WordPress is very popular and today powers more than 30% of the websites on the Internet, but, unlike the site-building platform, this is not exactly an all-in-one package.
People love WordPress, a content management system (CMS) that allows you to easily create and modify digital content. Other important things, such as hosting, domain names, updates, security, etc., need to be maintained separately by you. In addition, you'll need a little coding experience to make the most of WordPress. All in all, we would recommend this platform to users who are familiar with technology.
2. Purchase a suitable hosting plan
Web hosting is like digital rental space for your website; without it, you won't be able to host your website online. The right hosting plan will keep your website running smoothly without having to worry about falling behind your competitors.
As with the site builder platform, we tested the entire range of hosting providers in detail and BlueHost achieved excellent results in all areas and became our most recommended hosting brand.
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BlueHost even offers a hosting plan dedicated to WordPress, making the whole process of building a website completely seamless. In addition, they also offer some additional features such as one-click WordPress installation, automatic plugin updates, a large number of beautiful themes, and more.
3. Select and register a domain name
A domain name is the digital address of your website, which is how users will find you on the Internet. Every website needs a domain name that must accurately reflect your business and be easy to remember -- this is very important.
You can use domain registrars such as GoDaddy, Namecheap, etc. to purchase a domain name, which usually costs between $10 and $20 per year. Or, you can get a domain name for free on BlueHost when you sign up for a hosting plan for the first year - after all, cutting costs is crucial to growing any business.
When you sign up for a hosting plan, Bluehost will offer a free domain name for one year
4. One-click installation of WordPress
WordPress is one of the most popular website building systems in the world, and almost all hosting providers strive to simplify the installation process to make it as easy and fast as possible. Launching a WordPress site through Bluehost is extremely easy, just visit the My Sites menu on your dashboard and click the Create Site button.
BlueHost Dashboard
Even faster, if you purchase a domain name when you sign up for a hosting plan, the new site will be created automatically.
5. Select the ideal theme
The theme is the website equivalent of a canvas, allowing you to draw fully to reflect your personality. It is the basic framework for your website, allowing you to customize it using HTML, CSS and JavaScript coding languages. thousands of themes are included in the WordPress directory, and you can easily filter search results by industry and category (e.g. business or magazine).
WordPress Business Theme
The number of both free and paid themes is huge, but it's worth noting that some options require subscription payments in exchange for customer support, version updates and regular maintenance from third-party developers. Most paid themes, however, require only a one-time payment.
To install a new theme, open the WordPress dashboard, go to Appearance → Themes menu, and click the Add button on the right.
Installing the theme in the WordPress dashboard
6. Create content and pages
WordPress content is divided into two types: posts and pages, and the theme you choose will determine its appearance. Pages are the static content that make up the backbone of your site, for example, your home page, about us, contact information, etc. are pages. Articles, on the other hand, are more real-time; if your site has a blog, then each entry in the blog is an article.
Creating posts and pages is easy, both require two clicks in the WordPress dashboard. For pages, go to Pages → New Page menu; for posts, go to Articles → Write Article, both options will take you to the editor where you can add content and preview and publish.
7. Select and install useful plug-ins
There is no set list of recommendations when it comes to plugins, you can get over 50,000 free and paid options that are easy to install from the WordPress plugin directory. There's a plugin for every business area, whether it's SEO (search engine optimization), social media marketing, or traffic analysis, you'll find a ready-made solution.
Some of our favorite plugins include.
- WPForms: add contact forms to make it easy for customers to get in touch with you.
- MonsterInsights: the best Google Analytics plugin.
- Social Media Share Buttons: encouraging visitors to quickly and easily share content on social media.
- Yoast SEO: comprehensive SEO solutions that help to get more customers through search engines.
However, not all third-party features come from the WordPress directory, and you can also get additional benefits from the hosting providers. For example, BlueHost offers $100 marketing credits that can be used for Google Ads and Bing Ads, which are paid advertising platforms that can help your business get more search engine traffic.
8. preview, release and maintenance
Happy with your creation? Now it's time to check it out, preview it, and launch your corporate website.
As with any other field, the work is never really done. After launch, you need to maintain your WordPress site by updating the design, fixing bugs, resolving technical issues, and reorganizing the page structure to help improve search engine rankings.
Using WordPress: Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to set up a website with WordPress?
Most hosting providers (such as BlueHost) have a one-click installer, which means you can set up a WordPress site in seconds, and even more realistically, adding content and modifying code will take less than a day.
Do I need a web hosting provider?
Yes. WordPress is a self-hosted platform and you need to organize web hosting alone. After extensive testing, we believe that BlueHost is an excellent choice for building WordPress websites that will provide you with excellent uptime.
How much does it cost to maintain a WordPress website?
Depending on the size of the site and the type of site, the annual cost of maintaining a WordPress site usually ranges from $100 to $200.
Should you use a website builder or WordPress
Site builders are easy to use and require no coding knowledge, they are ready-made all-in-one solutions with a range of templates and provide you with hosting and security.
Advantages of website building tools
- Easy to use
- Professional customer support
Disadvantages of website building tools
- Specific templates only
- Prices can be expensive
WordPress is an open source platform, meaning you need to register a domain name, organize hosting, and edit code to create a corporate website. However, you will gain complete creative freedom, it is more like a DIY program that provides you with a framework to build unique and personalized websites.
Advantages of WordPress
- Unlimited customization options
- Over 50,000 plug-ins to choose from
Disadvantages of WordPress
- Not for beginners
Total cost may be difficult to calculate