A functioning website has become indispensable in the digital age. Marketing and revenue can hinge heavily on having a site but more importantly, it needs to be optimized to the highest standards. In fact, studies show that slow-loading websites lead to up to $2.6 billion in losses every year across market leaders.
This kind of impact shows just how important it is to be thoughtful and vigilant when creating a website. With that in mind, it’s in your best interest to take considerate measures when picking a website builder for your business.
Set Your Budget
Different website builders have their own costs depending on what they have to offer. There are also plenty of free options out there, but you need to make sure you are choosing not solely on price but by the services that fit your business.
Consider what goals you have, pick some website builders that fit what you’re looking for, and then narrow it down by settling on a budget. There are upfront costs but also maintenance fees, which are inevitable regardless of what you pick.
Something to consider is whether or not the website builder you choose will handle domain registration and if they charge more for premium themes.
A popular option that is accessible is Squarespace, which offers free domain registration for a year when you register with one of their plans.
Prioritize SEO
At the end of the day, you need to think about Search Engine Optimization. What good is a website if no one can find it? You can achieve this by building a site that can be deemed linkable by search engines.
The best website builders come with built-in SEO tools that can help you rank better and get more leads. The more leads you have, the higher chance you have of converting traffic into sales.
A good example of a web builder with great SEO management is Webflow, which has automatically generated sitemaps with customized redirects. This puts it a step above the usual good habits of optimization like link building, alt text, and keyword development.
Look At How Many Options Are In A Platform
The last thing you want in a website is a limitation. So, it’s best to look for a wide variety of options in a website builder. In particular, you should see how many templates they have, how many app integrations they offer, and whether or not they have any customization options you can make use of.
Trying to make your website more appealing is a major part of getting ahead of the competition, and this can usually be achieved by making it very readable, easy to navigate, and optimized for mobile viewing. Wix is a good example of a website builder that is very effective with mobile-optimized sites and has plenty of templates to choose from.
Go For Something User-Friendly
Good software and platform need not be complicated. The easier it is to use the tools provided, the more you can customize your website to fit the goals you have in mind. This also makes necessary adjustments less of a pain to implement.
Unless you have an expert handling the launch, you may want to consider a no-code website builder. This removes the need to have extensive coding knowledge and relies on a visual user interface that you can interact with to build your site.
Shopify is an established e-commerce website builder that is no-code and uses drag-and-drop functionality. You can add and move content around easily with a setup like this.
Find A Builder With Credibility and Support
When it comes to picking a website builder, it’s ok to go for the tried and tested options. In this case, you want the reliability of a credible resource that won’t put your site at risk of slow load times and downtime.
After all, downtime can result in lost sales, user dissatisfaction, and data loss. You also want support for issues that need to be resolved quickly. Security, outages, and errors can be major clinchers in whether or not your website will be a boon or a crutch.
For instance, cyberattacks now cost organizations an average of around $1.06 million per incident. The downtime as well as financial and data loss; from these incidents have also increased, heightening the need for both protective measures and quick responses.
GoDaddy is a website builder that ranks very well in terms of security and support. They even offer 24/7 assistance for clients.
