How do you choose a website platform for a small business?
Choose the platform that lets you own your domain and content, edit the basics yourself, load fast on a phone, and leave without losing your site. Brand matters less than those four things. For most small service businesses the right choice is the simplest one that does all four at a cost you can carry for years. If you already have a site, check it against these four before you switch.
Four things that matter most
- Ownership: the domain, the content and the accounts are in your business's name.
- Editing: you can change text, photos and contact details yourself without paying someone.
- Speed: pages load quickly on a phone on mobile data.
- Leaving: you can take your content and move if you ever need to.
Also worth checking
- The full yearly cost, including hosting, add-ons and renewals, not just the first month.
- Whether forms deliver reliably, and where the messages go.
- Who fixes it when something breaks, and how fast.
- Whether it can grow: new service pages, new areas, a booking tool.
A warning sign
A platform or provider that keeps your domain in its own name, will not hand over your content, or charges to let you leave. Settle ownership before anything else.
Related answers
Websites, upgraded or built
Most businesses do not need a new website. They need the one they have to load fast, say clearly what they do and ask the visitor to take one step.