5 Free Website Development Tools
Each month, we’re sharing and promoting free or affordable online tools that help small business owners run their businesses better. This is your toolbox for five affordable website development resources.
Each month, we’re sharing free or affordable online tools that help small business owners run their businesses better. This is your toolbox for the five best website development tools.
Developing your small business is hard, but developing a good website for it can be easy. We’ve compiled this list of five affordable online tools you can use to develop your website. From tracking visitors to hosting your blog, this list has you covered.
WordPress
How much it costs: Free for standard use; from $9.95 a month for premium
What it does: The most important thing about your small business’ website is actually having one. WordPress is extremely popular for hosting websites. The interface for creating, editing, and managing your site is easy and user-friendly. Although the free version doesn’t include a custom domain name or advanced design customization and places ads on your site, it is still a useful tool for you to create an online presence for your business.
Templated
How much it costs: Free for most templates; $19.00 for premium templates
What it does: What separates a good website that generates business and a bad one that doesn’t attract customers? How it looks. If you don’t like any of the templates included in your web-hosting service, such as WordPress or Blogger, using a more unique template is the way to go. Templated is an easy-to-use resource for free templates that will make your small business’ website look professional and trendy.
SumoMe
How much it costs: Free for standard; from $20.00 a month for SumoMe Pro
What it does: SumoMe has a lot of tools for making the most of your small business’ website. You can choose from many different tools such as visually seeing where visitors click, popup email subscription request boxes, social media sharing buttons, content analytics to see if your visitors are actually reading what you have to say, and more. Whether you only want to share your business’ contact information and photographs or run an online retail store, this affordable online resource has something that can help your small business grow.
Website Grader
How much it costs: Free
What it does: Did you know that your website should load in under three seconds or visitors will leave? Finding out exactly how long your small business’ site takes to load what how you can make it faster is one of the many uses for Website Grader. Website Grader will help you optimize your site so customers will stay longer and visit again. This tool is completely free, but the information it tells you about your website is priceless.
Google Analytics
How much it costs: Free
What it does: Google Analytics is a tool everyone who has a website should use. Not only does it allow you to track which pages are being viewed, but it also shows you where your visitors are located and how they found your site. This information, and everything else Analytics shows you, is important for targeting your small business’ audience and marketing to them better. If you aren’t sure if you want to use this resource or are overwhelmed by all of its tools, Google has a demo version you can play with and many great tutorials and videos. Google Analytics is by far the best free online tool you can use to help your small business’ website grow.
This article originally appeared on the Opportunity Fund Small Business blogat opportunityfundloan.org.
We’re always looking for the best affordable online resources including tools to promote to small business owners like you. If you have a tool you’d like to share with fellow business owners, contact us at sblending@opportunityfund.org.
For information about Opportunity Fund’s small business loans, please contact us at 866–299–8173 or loans@opportunityfund.org. For questions about your existing loan or other customer service questions, please contact us at 866–299–8173 or sbhelp@opportunityfund.org.
Opportunity Fund is California’s largest and fastest-growing nonprofit lender to small businesses. In FY16, we made $60M in loans to help more than 2,200 small business owners invest in their businesses. Opportunity Fund invests in small business owners who do not have access to traditional financing. As a founding member and signatory to the Borrower’s Bill of Rights, we believe in the important role small businesses play in our community and the economy, and we aim to help owners financially succeed.
Visit us online at opportunityfundloan.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter
