What is the Best Small Business Website Design Tool?

There are many website design tools on the market, but they are not all equal. Here is how I determined that Weebly was the best tool for creating small business websites.

Note: I am a Weebly reseller and I receive a small commission when referring a new customer. But similar commissions are available from their competitors. I did not get paid by Weebly to write this article.

By Alain Houle, Alco Web Design LLC

Evolution of Small Business Website Design Tools

​Evolution of Small Business Website Design Tools

​I have been creating small business websites since the late 1990s using FrontPage, Dreamweaver and MSExpression that eventually all became obsolete. In 2014, I decided to find a new tool to create my websites.

​Testing and Conclusion

At the time of the test, WordPress was the gold standard, but online website builders were an interesting new technology. I decided to evaluate the most popular website design tools by creating a new version of my website with each of them.

I started with WordPress and quickly recognized its power and flexibility. But, in my opinion, way too many options make it difficult to use and overkilled for 99% of the small business websites I was building. WordPress also requires periodic upgrades and maintenance that my customers are not interested to pay for.

At that time, SquareSpace, WIX, and Weebly were the most popular online website builders:

• I first tried SquareSpace that allowed me to create a nice-looking website relatively easily - I was impressed.
• Then I tried WIX that I thought had a better tool set and was easier to use than SquareSpace.
• Lastly, I tried Weebly that I found to be very similar to WIX but slightly easier to use.

After additional research and reflections, I decided that Weebly was the best option for my business and for my customers and never looked back.

​Flash Back and Moving Forward

But recently, a customer asked me to create a new website and insisted that I use WordPress, not Weebly. I did not touch WordPress for a long time, but, gosh, it is still the most popular website design tool, so maybe it is time for a second look. At a minimum, the project will give me an opportunity to get paid to re-sharpen my WordPress skills.
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Now that I am knee deep in this WordPress website project, I remember the extra level of effort when working with WordPress. Knowing that Weebly was powerful enough to allow me to create hundreds of small business websites, I believe I made the right choice in 2014.

​2022 Review

Things change over time, and I was curious to know if Weebly was still a good horse to ride on. According to what I understand, SquareSpace fell from grace a bit, there are a bunch of new players that occupy fractional parts of the market, and Weebly & WIX are the most popular website builders. Both products are still very similar, with WIX offering better templates but only Weebly supporting template changes once the website is up and running.

I used the Weebly template change option several times over the years and it is a sweet option to quickly spruce up a website that is getting old. Therefore I still think Weebly is the best option and will continue to use it as my daily work horse.

About ​Alco Web Design

I run a small website design business located in Greenville Wisconsin and my customers are small business owners in the Appleton Fox Valley area. When it comes to their website, small business owners have one thing in common: They want great looking, secure, mobile ready, Google optimized AND low costs websites. Weebly helps me deliver that.

Please do not hesitate to contact me to discuss your next website design project.