Ultimate Guide To Affordable Small Business Websites.

Premium websites can cost over $15K, but they don't have to. In this guide, I'll tell you how you can get it for free or on a budget.

In this guide I'll tell you exactly what you need to do and what you need to consider in order to get the most bang for your buck when getting a website for your business.

Whether you're an individual, a digital nomad, or even a corporation with ecommerce needs, you'll find what you're looking for in this guide.

But before I tell you how to do so, you first need to know what makes a website premium.

What Makes a Website Premium?

A premium website should have all of the following:

• Clear call-to-action
• Clear navigation
• Very fast loading
• Optimized for any device
• Simple yet effective design
• Traditional layout
• Optimized for SEO
• Easy to use

Anything extra is nice but isn't a must.

A website that doesn't meet any of those requirements can NOT be considered a premium website.

So here you go. Now you can at least choose a website for yourself.

But how exactly do you make it or where do you get it from? That's what you'll hopefully find here.

Exploring Your Options

You're on a tight budget.

And for that you'll have limited options, but trust me on this, you'll get out of here knowing exactly what you need to do to maximize the results you get from the money you have.

Here's a quick overview of your options:

1. S.T.E.A.L it. (Best if you have time)
2. Code it. (Best if you can code)
3. Build it. (Best if you have a some website knowledge)
4. Get a template. (Best for people with no skills)
5. Let AI build it for you. (Not recommended)
6. Let a human build it for you (hire a freelancer). (You have no money)

Low on time? See the summary table.

1- S.T.E.A.L It.

Please read before actually stealing another website.

I'm not saying you should go ahead an hack another person's website.

Here's what I mean:

You’re probably not the only person in this situation. There are thousands of creatives and small business owners who’ve already built cheap websites.

Now what I mean is, you need to learn from what they did, their mistakes and lessons.

Here's something you need to know. If your budget is lower than $200, you should NEVER hire a freelancer. And if you don't have money to spend monthly on a maintenance plan-- NEVER hire a freelancer.

For that price, web developers will make you something that's decent but you'll have no idea how to edit, change, or use it.

For that amount, you need to steal.

S – Study Successful Sites

If you have no experience. It's enough to just know your taste in this stage.

Look at websites in your niche that grab your attention. What works? Is it the layout, the colors, the typography? Take notes on what stands out.

T – Take What Resonates

Know what you need and ONLY what you need.

For this budget you need to be specific about what you need.

So go ahead and write that down. Because later in the post I'll tell you the best option for each need. And there's only a few needs. With that budget, you can't have a website that does everything.

E – Emulate the Essentials

After knowing what you need, you'll need to emulate what you saw, exactly as it is. You're not stealing anything unique here, you're merely copying what works, the structure. Instead of developing a whole website strategy yourself.

A – Add Your Unique Touch

What's your business about? Who's your target audience? What do you sell? A service? A product? You'll need to know each of these before spending time on a website.

5- L – Launch and Iterate

After that process, you'll have something that works. Go ahead and launch it.

And don't tell the feds about the secret STEAL method.

2- Code It Yourself

Just skip to the next section already.

3- Build it Yourself

'Build it' is different to 'code it'. One of them requires knowing how to code. But the other can be as easy as adding puzzle pieces in their place until you have a full website ready.

If you don't have basic website experience please skip to the next section

But if you know what websites are, what basic html is, and how to make something look good, read along.

To build a website with minimal experience for your business you need to study the S.T.E.A.L method explained above. Here are the complete steps:

1. Study the S.T.E.A.L method
2. Find a free or cheap website builder - such as Squarespace or WordPress.
3. Build the website with one of their free plans.
4. If you can't find a free plan, find another tool or head over to the next section.

I would not recommend this to most business owners. You already have a business, a liability. You shouldn't worry about learning about websites or learning to use a website builder.

4- Get a Template

Here's where the real talk begins. This what I would recommend to most business owners on a budget.

Buying a website template can be very easy, very cheap, and you can even find a ton of free options.

You need to understand that a free template can still cost money. Because some templates, although free, are bound to a platform, say Framer, and most platforms require a monthly fee to host your site. So even though you have a free template, you still have to pay monthly to use it.

Which is why you'll need to find a free website builder with a free hosting plan.

If you have a bit to pay, consider this table:

If you have nothing to pay, the only place I would recommend you go is Webflow. Squarespace also has a free plan, but it's a plan still and you'll need to pay to keep your site up.

Webflow is very diverse. You'll need some skills to know how to use it. But you can find free templates there.
They offer free building tool, free hosting, and a free .webflow.io domain.

Their free option is limited to a basic 2 page site and one contact form. It's worth noting you'll get stamped with a 'Made with Webflow' mark.

Here's a full list of FREE website templates.

5- Let AI Build It For You

Here's why it's not recommended: You already have real humans making you free templates, and they are countless. You can definitely find something that fits your business more that any of these AI tools can.

Plus, AI websites can be very generic and bland.

But for those who are interested, here's how you can build a free website for free or on a budget using a simple AI prompt...

Step 1: Choose an AI-Powered Website Builder
Some platforms are designed to create websites automatically. All you need to do is answer a few questions about your business or style preferences. Popular options include:

1. Durable.co
   Ideal for small businesses that need a quick online presence.
2. Bookmark
   Uses its AI assistant, "AIDA," to design a website.
3. 10Web AI Builder
   Built on WordPress.
4. Zyro by Hostinger
   Offers an AI-driven website generator with e-commerce and blog features.
5. Site123
   Focuses on simplicity and speed.
6. Strikingly
   Uses AI to quickly generate single-page websites.
7. GoDaddy Website Builder
   Features an AI wizard.
8. Jimdo Dolphin
   Tailored for small businesses and freelancers.
9. Appy Pie Website Builder
   Offers drag-and-drop simplicity.

Step 2: Feed It the Right Information
AI needs data, it can't understand what you need unless you explain your needs exactly. So provide clear, concise details about your business:

• Your business name and tagline.
• The type of website you need (portfolio, e-commerce, blog, etc.).
• Your preferred design style (minimalist, bold, colorful).

If you can't do this, you can even use other AI tools to generate the prompt itself. We are becoming really incompetent here.

The more specific you are, the better the results.

Step 3: Customize the Results
AI tools are impressive, but they’re not perfect. Once the initial website is generated:

• Tweak the layout to match your preferences.
• Replace placeholder text with your content.
• Update images to align with your brand.

Step 4: Launch
Once your tweaks are done, hit publish and get your site live.

Still, this option is very limited as of now, and I would not recommend it if you're serious about getting a website.

6- Hire a Freelancer

I said before that if your budget is below $200 and you have no monthly maintenance budget then you should never hire a freelancer.

That doesn't mean you can't find a freelancer within that budget range. You definitely can. You can find many on sites like freelancer.com that work with less than this budget.

But hiring a freelancer for cheap isn't recommended for a few reasons:

1. Freelancers need to be compensated to do a good job
2. They have more skill, which means maintaining what they've built is a challenge.
3. No one knows your style more than you do. (which is why a template is better option at this price point)

Unless you trust someone you know personally that is willing to take on this project for you, I highly recommend against it.

Here's how you should go about hiring someone for a small budget:

1- Know your needs
Understand that what you're getting for this budget is limited. So choose wisely.

2- Communicate well
Tell them exactly what you need, don't use AI to generate a job description. Describe it as a human to another human

3- Give examples
Give them examples of web designs you liked. Web designers work better when they have a reference to go off of.

4- Understand your budget well
Understand that websites typically cost upwards of $2,000. If you're asking someone to build a website for $200, you should expect a corresponding result. Be realistic.

Summary:

Building a website for your business on a budget is entirely possible, but it requires making smart choices about the tools and methods you use. Whether you're considering a DIY approach with website builders, using templates, or seeking help from a freelancer.

Please stay realistic about what your budget can get you.

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Hamza Amin

12/27/2024

Hi there!

I'm Hamza, the UI Surgeon! Author and designer here. I try to be as helpful as I can in these posts. Hope you like it!

Have a good one.