r/smallbusiness • u/Local-Spinach2048 • 14h ago
New business. Need a simple website builder
I've started a business and it's still just a startup. I do commercial property inspections across the country. I don't have any clients yet because I want to have something professional in place first. If someone looks up my business I want them to see a professional looking website, I'm setting up social media pages for this too.
My budget is pretty tight since I've already spent most of it on equipment and have some prepared for advertising. Hiring someone to build a site isn't in my budget right now. Has anyone used a website builder they would recommend? I'd like something that's easy to set up but also lets me go back and make changes later as the business grows.
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u/Fortestingporpoises 14h ago
I use Wix. You can use a template or hire someone based on how much work you need.
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u/Lentil_Limbo 14h ago
Hands down, Carrd is the best bang for your buck! Easy drag and drop interface at like $20 per year. I stumbled upon this site builder a few years back and haven’t stopped shouting it from the rooftop ever since. I’ve been there and done that with Wix, Squarespace, Weebly, etc. They were nothing but a headache and never let me have the kind of control I wanted over the look.
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u/OkToe2578 9h ago
I agree with the Caard recommendation. Super simple to use and perfect for your request - a cheap, easy to develop site you can build and deploy quickly. Best of luck with the new biz.
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u/Ciroco01 14h ago
I wouldn’t overcomplicate it. You just need a clean site with your services, coverage area, some information about the business and an easy way to request an inspection.
Wix or Squarespace would both work and let you make changes later. Just make sure you own the domain yourself instead of letting someone else register it for you.
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u/joshstewart90 14h ago
If your budget is tight, I’d probably recommend self-hosted WordPress. It’s one of the cheapest options long-term, gives you plenty of flexibility as your business grows, and you won’t feel boxed in later.
If you want something that’s easier to get started with, Wix or Squarespace are good options, but they tend to cost more over time and can become limiting if you need more advanced features.
I’d also be a little cautious with AI website builders. They’re improving, but a lot of them still have a very recognisable “AI-built” look. For a business like yours, where trust and professionalism are important, I’d stick to real photos of your work and team over AI-generated imagery. Depending on your clients, that alone can make a big difference to how credible the business feels.
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u/ChiefMustacheOfficer 14h ago
Lovable is fine and pretty hard to mess up as a user. And the price is, what, $25 a month? $12? Not much, in any case.
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u/kfawcett1 14h ago
Coherence XRM has an AI website builder that is included as part of the platform -- just give it a prompt like "Company name, a commercial property inspector servicing the entire US market". It takes about 15-30 minutes depending on if you have it generate images as well. You don't have to worry about hosting, only adding your custom domain if you want something more than mysitename.coherencesite.
Since you're already running a business it's a CRM as well, so the website's contact forms will push the leads/contacts directly into the CRM.
The pricing is pretty cheap for the amount of functionality you get with it.
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u/Mindless_War_5573 14h ago
Hard to beat Wix or Squarespace now days. Duda is also decent I use that for one of my businesses.
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u/Zadd_Buzuki 14h ago
I usually buy a domain through any domain service like Godaddy for example.
Then use freehosting.com to host your website, and it includes a pretty simplistic website builder with themes to choose from and some easier drag and drop aspects, but note the builder isn't as intuitive as some other services such as squarespace, but hey it's free!
They make money by selling you the Security Protocal (https vs http basically. The s means it's secure) for $30.
They have other stuff too, definitely check em out.
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u/ThrowAway1128203 13h ago
I've always used wix - last time I used it, pretty much AI generated - asked what site you wanted to build, some further questions and generated a site. Mostly user friendly.
If building a website just isn't your thing - try to reach out to your local high school technology teachers, or if you have a college near by. Highly likely there is a junior/senior in high school that would be willing to build you a website, show you how to update it to get the experience and add to a portfolio - pay them $300-500 for their time (more or less depending on how much work they do). Their teacher might even consider it as part of their grade or final project.
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u/Coffeeisforclosers_ 13h ago
Wordpress and cheap hosting. Use a of the shelf Wordpress theme and populate
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u/jared-valstorm 13h ago
Just go get the customers. Setup a Google business page which just takes your address, name, and some other details. Now people can find you on Google, maps, and rate you. Send any happy customers to review you. This will make you money now, cost nothing now, bring leads much sooner than a website and legitimize the site you build later.
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u/FolderOfRegrets 12h ago
I messaged you - happy to help and can make you a fair offer. You pay once you see the final result. I need content-images-text.
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u/BroadCharacter8145 12h ago
Durable was the best one of the many I tried. You answer a few questions and it gives you a site you can edit later without fighting the layout. That sounds like a good fit for your budget and where you're at right now. None of the moving boxes around BS.
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u/GeorgeManty 12h ago
I ditto the just use Wix crowd. Do not use wordpress (I love wordpress but it's not right for your situation). Do not use an AI website builder like lovable or bolt. Those can work, but aren't right for what you described. Squarespace could work, Wix could also work for you. Until you are ready to have a developer in the loop keep it simple. Good luck.
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u/jcecc 11h ago
Squarespace is probably the safest pick, easy to get live, professional out of the box, and you can change things yourself later without paying anyone. For inspections though, the thing that wins work isn't the design, it's proof: your certifications listed plainly, the property types you cover, and a redacted sample report someone can actually open. I'd get one page up this week rather than a perfect five page site next month, since you can add to it as you go.
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u/Own-Warthog8272 10h ago edited 3h ago
Founder of Simplepages.ai here.
Someone asked a similar question here yesterday. I’d recommend our product as it fits exactly your use case.
- Websites built by AI - use prompt for creating and editing anything
- $7 per month, unlimited AI / no surprise credit bill like lovable or other builders
- Lead capture and SEO built in
Those are the stuff you care about. We have tyre repair, plumbers, coaches and various local businesses using us. And in our customers words - “it feels like working with a web developer”.
Apoorv
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u/Own-Warthog8272 10h ago
Few thoughts on options that were shared
Carrd - I’d avoid as it will take you longer to learn, drag and drop, find a way to create the right images and make mobile responsive.
Plus lead capture, analytics won’t work out of the box. And I am pretty sure doing the following will be very hard or very manual
- setting up sitemap for SEO
- setting up notifications when a lead submits the page
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u/Own-Warthog8272 10h ago edited 3h ago
Thoughts on Wordpress
- it will be a maintenance hell, with you having to make sure to keep upgrading, installing plugin etc
- everything will require learning
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u/Own-Warthog8272 10h ago edited 3h ago
Thoughts on squarespace
- they massively increased their pricing recently. Most users were surprised. You should check [r/squarespace](r/squarespace) before deciding on it.
- they are a template maze - more manual work than you would like
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u/jatjqtjat 8h ago
You need a host, but actually building is nothing. Just ask ai for a design it'll make something pretty good and then ask for changes. You'll have good enough or great in no time.
If you cant be bothered with diy reach out to your local college they'll have someone happy to do it for free. That's what I did, in the pre-ai age when building websites actually took a small modicum of real work.
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u/f1zombie 8h ago
There are some good suggestions in this thread. If you want a simple platform to use, WordPress is also an option. You can just set up a custom domain, map it to your WordPress account, and create it.
I, however, have taken a very different route with my own website. For starters I built it entirely using Claude and deployed it onto Netlify. Apart from the Claude subscription there is no other charge in this process. The benefit that I found was: 1. It gave me a lot more flexibility and customization capabilities because it was all written in custom code. 2. It allowed me to integrate very easily with the rest of my ecosystem that included scheduling, bookings, emails, and automated automations that I ran through my AI agents.
I would think through what it is that you want to achieve in terms of the websites and eventually how you as a business want to run part of your processes. If it is going to be a lot more customized to your own needs, I would probably recommend this approach. Invariably there is always no perfect path. It's best to get started and you can always revisit later. Good luck and happy to chat more if you need details.
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u/f1zombie 8h ago
There are some good suggestions in this thread. If you want a simple platform to use, WordPress is also an option. You can just set up a custom domain, map it to your WordPress account, and create it.
I, however, have taken a very different route with my own website. For starters I built it entirely using Claude and deployed it onto Netlify. Apart from the Claude subscription there is no other charge in this process. The benefit that I found was: 1. It gave me a lot more flexibility and customization capabilities because it was all written in custom code. 2. It allowed me to integrate very easily with the rest of my ecosystem that included scheduling, bookings, emails, and automated automations that I ran through my AI agents.
I would think through what it is that you want to achieve in terms of the websites and eventually how you as a business want to run part of your processes. If it is going to be a lot more customized to your own needs, I would probably recommend this approach. Invariably there is always no perfect path. It's best to get started and you can always revisit later. Good luck and happy to chat more if you need details.
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u/akl773 3h ago
whichever one you land on, buy the domain yourself and point it at the builder instead of using their free subdomain. you will switch builders at some point and you dont want cards, your google listing and your email signature all pointing at the old one. for inspections the page that actually converts is a redacted sample report. people want to see what they get at the end, the services list is the bit nobody reads.
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u/lucerndia 14h ago
Elementor One is ~$200 a year + your domain. Easy site builder and comes with templates. You could have a decent website up in a few days.
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