You don't always need a huge budget to build a quality site; sometimes, you just need the right tools.
Without a strong web presence, it's going to be hard to generate buzz or get information out to potential clients. While Facebook pages or LinkedIn posts can help generate interest, sometimes you need a central repository, a place where you can direct people who are interested in your services.
However, building a professional website can be difficult, especially if you're working off of a budget. After all, poor design can drive away traffic. Colored text over a textured background, for example, can confuse visitors, as well as create an image of ineffectiveness: If they can't read what you're saying, you clearly don't care about the details. Alternately, confusing layouts can leave visitors struggling to learn more about a subject, and you know they'll only struggle for so long before moving on.
To help avoid these issues, 10 members from YEC list their favorite feature-rich website builders for entrepreneurs on a budget. Here's what they selected and why:
1. Avada For WordPress
Avada is a great theme builder that is mounted on top of WordPress with a ton of power-packed features. You've got video landing pages, lightboxes, tons of templates and demo options, and fully responsive designs. The sliders are effective, too. The learning curve is about mid range, but for the features it offers, it's very practical. You also can use WordPress plugins, which are great. - Nicole Munoz, Start Ranking Now
2. B12
B12 is a great website builder that leverages artificial intelligence and a team of expert designers to create a beautiful website super quickly at a low cost. They have experience with websites in many industries and provide a host of tools to help SMBs. - Adelyn Zhou, TOPBOTS
3. Beaver Builder For WordPress
WordPress is the most robust website building platform, but you need themes and plugins. Beaver Builder fills the gap by allowing you to create websites with a 100 percent drag-and-drop interface that easily integrates with other solutions such as WooCommerce, WPForms and more. - Syed Balkhi, OptinMonster
4. Craft CMS
Craft CMS isn’t free, but if you have some coding chops, it’s a great content management system that can be used to build any type of site you might need. It’s modern and coder-friendly, and training non-technical people to use the final site is straightforward. - Justin Blanchard, ServerMania Inc.
5. Corpus Theme For Wordpress
I have zero coding or technical skills. Actually, less than zero. But the Corpus theme is beautiful, easy to use and super functional. It's a high recommendation on my list to anyone who needs an easy website or personal website completed. WordPress has incredible functionality, so when you want to update your site in a few years, it'll make a web developer's job easier and also save you money. - Krish Chopra, United Medical Rotations
6. Shopify
Shopify has built one of the most robust, easy-to-use website platforms busy entrepreneurs can use. Because Shopify manages your shopping cart hosting, you can focus on less daunting tasks. Shopify's extensive app platform provides inexpensive solutions to all ranges of requirements. Every entrepreneur should be using an online store as their first platform, and Shopify is the tool of choice. - Diego Orjuela, Cables & Sensors
7. Squarespace
All of my sites are built on Squarespace because even the most basic templates look extremely professional and well-designed and have good UX included. There are a lot of ugly templates on other platforms, something that Squarespace has nicely avoided. - Rachel Beider, Massage Greenpoint, Massage Williamsburg
8. Weebly
Each time I've started a company — or a side project — Weebly has been my go-to site. Back in 2008 they had it all, and since then the product has honed its intuitive drag-and-drop for dummies approach to complex web features. Whether you're building a brand page and you want their great templates or an e-commerce site to make sales, anyone can use the Weebly tools to make a high-quality site. - Aaron Schwartz, Modify Watches
9. Wix
Wix is the easiest to use and gives you so much for such a small price, including templates and plug-and-play options. The ease of use for me is just as good as the budget price. - John Rampton, Due
10. Visual Composer For WordPress
There’s nothing better than WordPress. It’s user and pocket-friendly. Getting Visual Composer with WordPress allows someone who doesn’t know a lot about website building to quickly edit and customize pages without hassle, eliminating the need for an experienced web developer. I highly recommend it! -Duran Inci, Optimum7
Article for Business.com by Scott Gerber