Why Most Website Builders Are Terrible for Small Businesses How a website building platform can help

Every small business needs a website in order to thrive in a competitive landscape. To answer this needs, a number of DIY website building tools have sprung up in recent years. While many of these builders tout a number of features and benefits, it can be hard to small business owners that do not have a background in website design to know which tool -- if any -- meets their needs.

The truth is, most of these website building tools are terrible options for small businesses. Here's why:

Reliance on Third-Party Apps for E-commerce

As a small business owner, you'll likely want to integrate e-commerce tools onto your website. These features might include a discount manager, product slideshow, appointment scheduler, or the ability to digitally sign contracts. Unfortunately, most website builders rely on third-party apps to do the job. This means owners must download and integrate the apps onto their website, and maintain and update them over time. If problems arise, they are responsible for troubleshooting the issues themselves.

Maintenance Costs

After your small business website is built, you'll need to spend time and money keeping it up to date and maintaining it. Whether you've added new products to your line of offerings, or you want to integrate a particular advancement in technology for services like LinkedIn, making these changes can be expensive and time-intensive.

Opportunity Costs

If you're like most small business owners, you're relying on the services of an overworked web developer to update your website. These harried devs can take days or even weeks to make the changes you desire. This delay can thwart your marketing or sales efforts.

Loss of B2B Collaboration

If you've decided to work with another partner business and want to integrate your marketing message with another business's brand, it's difficult to do when you each have uniquely built sites. It's also nearly impossible for small businesses to integrate with partners like insurance professionals or banks. Your customized site can ultimately lead to losses in business opportunities.

Lack of Support

When questions or issues regarding your website builder arise, you'll quickly learn a hard truth: most of these services fall woefully short in the support department. Many only offer online support, and most completely lack a direct support network. Instead, you have to rely on online forums to answer your questions.

The Solution? An Online Business Platform

Sifting through website builders and their myriad flaws can be a headache, but these troubles are eliminated by using an online business platform, like Ocoos. Because Ocoos is a platform, the underlying technology (design, hosting, e-commerce tools) are already integrated, updated, and supported behind the scenes. The small business owner never has to worry about handling third-party apps alone.

Your site is optimized across mobile devices and browsers, and incorporates a B2B recommendations engine that allows you to easily work with partner businesses. Finally, US-based, 24-hour support is available, and the Ocoos platform offers the services of a concierge who will build and maintain your website for you.