Business First Family Business, Accounting, Finance, Investing, Marketing And Management
A small business website is a key component to starting a business. Customers, partners, investors and other stakeholders should be able to learn about your company by visiting the website. As a small business owner, you might have some great ideas for what to put on your website such as a corporate blog, ecommerce store or support community. However, you first need to decide which platform to use for your small business website. While each business is different, we have put together the best platforms for small business website in various situations.
Free Website Builders
For small businesses just starting out, a free website builder could be an easy, cost effective way to build a website. If you only need a splash page with some contact information, then simply sign up for a website builder and you can have your business website design ready within the hour. Typically, this solution works for small businesses who need a simple one page website to tell customers a little bit about what they are doing and where to find them. Additionally, some small businesses have used website builders to create full-blown websites. Depending on your creativity and budget, a free website builder could be a great first step.
Drupal Website Platform
The drupal platform is one of the older content management systems that have focused on simplifying their editing and tools. Without any programming skills, your business can run on a drupal website with live static pages, online stores, SEO friendly blog posts and more. You would have full control of the management of the website from the user-friendly backend. Since the platform has been around for quite some time, it is an advanced solution for small businesses. Currently, the platform is on its 8th major release. Additionally, it is scalable with your business as you grow. If you are looking for a small business website platform, drupal is certainly one to consider.
Joomla CMS Platform
Similarly, Joomla is another popular platform for small business websites. Its content management system is simple and straight forward. On the backend, it offers the ability for more customizations and modifications without the use of additional plugins. Of course, there are plugins available if you would like to add them. However, most of the functionality is built right into the Joomla platform. If your website will require in-depth navigation structures and unique hierarchies, then Joomla could be a good option for your small business.
WordPress For Small Business
Most popularly, small businesses use the wordpress platform for their websites. Being the easiest to install open source web platform for small business, wordpress powers over 50 million websites on the internet. Furthermore, the wordpress community allows your business to create an ecommerce store, attract search engine traffic and optimize your website performance. Many small businesses choose wordpress because it requires very little technical skills and wide range of designs available. The look and feel can be changed quickly by installing different themes on your website. You can create the perfect design for your business now and in the future. Certainly, wordpress is one of the best platforms for small business.
Magento Ecommerce Platform
In addition to wordpress, Magento is one of the most popular website platforms for ecommerce businesses. If your small business is dedicated to running an online store from the start, you might want to consider this open source ecommerce platform. While it does require a bit more technical knowledge, it is more robust solution for small business who are selling products online. Additionally, your small business can upgrade to Magento enterprise if you experience substantial growth. Magento also has its own community and marketplace of integrations. Whether you want to upgrade to a one-page checkout process or customized shopping cart, there are many add-ons for small businesses to choose from. Small businesses should consider Magento one of the best platforms for retailing products online.
When setting up your website, you have many platforms for small business to choose from. If you are just getting started and need a simplistic solution, you can check out DIY website options with a website builder. For a more flexible CMS solution, small businesses choose between the best platforms including drupal, joomla and wordpress. Moreover, online product retailers should consider running their small business website on the magento platform. By finding the right small business platform, you will be able to execute all the ideas you have to build the company of your dreams.
