Most consumers today go online to locate products and services they need. For small businesses, having a high-quality website is essential to staying competitive and getting discovered by potential customers. The first step to creating a strong small business website and online presence is selecting the best website-building platform for you and your needs. You want to ensure you’re getting the most value for your investment. Wix offers several advantages that make it a good website builder for small businesses, including affordable plan options, an easy-to-use interface, and a wide range of business-building features. 

Affordability

One of the first questions you’ll likely ask when considering a website service is, “Is Wix right for my budget?” Wix offers Premium plans starting at $16/month and business and eCommerce plans starting at $27/month with Business Basic. You can choose your plan based on the features you need. Wix does offer free plans that include web hosting. However, the free version includes significantly fewer advanced features than paid plans. Given the number of capabilities Premium plans can offer your small business, upgrading is well worth it. 

Ease of Use

As a small business owner, you’re probably looking for a tool that will get your website up and running quickly and easily. Wix offers a simple drag-and-drop editor, convenient templates, and professional support to help you do that. 

No-Code Website Builder

Building a website on Wix is very simple, even for beginners. Their intuitive, user-friendly interface lets you drag and drop website elements where you need them. Best of all, Wix is a low-code, no-code website editor, meaning you don’t need any experience in coding, html, or web design to get a professional website. However, you do have the option to add more customization and functionality with Wix Velo. This means you’ll also save money if you choose to hire a web developer or web design agency to design a Wix website because less required coding saves time and effort. 

Website Templates

To make starting your website even more straightforward, Wix has hundreds of customizable business templates to choose from. Templates are sorted into categories like Consulting & Coaching, Automotive & Cars, Pets & Animals, etc., with pre-built options for everything from locksmiths to landscaping. These templates are fully customizable, so you can design your site however you envision. However, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel and start from scratch. There’s likely already a template built based on what works well in your industry. 

Support

You don’t have to go it alone when it comes to your Wix website. Wix plans come with 24/7 customer support. Need help with web design, marketing, graphic design, etc.? Find a professional Wix expert from the many freelancers and agencies on Wix Marketplace.

Business Features

As a small business owner, you wear many hats for your organization. You need a website platform that does the same. With Wix, you get an affordable, easy-to-use website builder and a lot more. Not only does Wix provide free web hosting with advanced security for your data, but they also offer built-in SEO and marketing tools as well as hundreds of possible plugins, add-ons, app integrations, and e-commerce features. 

Email Integration

When you purchase a website plan from Wix, you can also purchase a unique domain name (a free domain is included with some plans) and custom business email that matches your domain name. Your unique domain name appears to the right of .com in the search bar, and it’s how people will find you online. Having a custom domain name that’s consistent in everything from your website to your business email address helps your business appear professional and trustworthy to your customers. 

Built-In SEO Tools

SEO is a set of practices that optimize your website’s content for search engines like Google. Considering how many consumers turn to search engines to find products and services, SEO is a critically important consideration for small businesses. Wix websites are formatted for search, meaning they’re built to easily allow search engine bots/crawlers to find keywords and match your site to queries. Wix SEO also provides instant indexing on Google, meaning your page can appear in Google searches almost as soon as you’ve launched it, without the need to wait for it to be discovered and indexed. In addition, Wix comes with advanced SEO features and customizable SEO settings. Finally, Google Business Profile integration allows you to create and manage your profile from the Wix dashboard to help you build local SEO. 

eCommerce Online Stores

The Wix eCommerce platform allows you to create an online store and accept payments online. Again, there are fully customizable eCommerce templates to help you get started. The Wix dashboard lets you manage sales on multiple channels from one place, including Amazon, eBay, and social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. You’ll be able to accept all major forms of payment securely, including credit cards, debit cards, Apple Pay, and more. Some plans even come with automated sales tax. 

Scheduling Software

Do your customers need to book appointments or schedule services with you? They can do that easily from your Wix website without the need for back-and-forth phone conversations. Wix’s Scheduling software allows your business to offer online bookings for appointments and services. Customers can book and pay online for one-time appointments, recurring services, sets of services, membership subscriptions, and packages. They can see your open availability on the online calendar, and you can manage your schedule from anywhere using the Wix app. 

Analytics Tools

Each Wix site comes with Wix Analytics included in the Dashboard. Once your site is launched, Wix’s analytics tools will give you insight into who is visiting your website, where traffic is coming from, and how visitors behave on your site. You’ll have the information you need to make decisions about how to improve traffic and promote the content that’s performing the best. Wix analytics sets up automatically and comes free with every Wix site. However, VIP business plans have more control over reports.

Data Security

Finally, when choosing the best site builder, you likely want to know that your data and your customer’s data is secure. Every website built on Wix includes a free SSL certificate. An SSL certificate confirms that sensitive data is protected on your site—data like passwords, payment details, and more. Security features come standard with every Wix site.