There are tons of website builders. But service businesses today need a platform that integrates their services, provides a seamless user experience, and positions them competitively in a saturated market.
If you've ever felt the pinch of a slow-loading website, lost potential clients due to a clunky booking system, or struggled with integrating your services, you know exactly how critical the right website builder is.
You're not alone, and you're not without options.
Here's our guide to the best website builders tailored for service businesses in 2024.
The Best Website Builder for Service Business
- Durable
- Squarespace
- Wix
- 10Web
- GoDaddy
- Hostinger
- IONOS
- WordPress.org
- Weebly
- Shopify
1. Durable
Best AI Website Builder for Service Businesses.
There are many challenges of going online when you're a local service business operating on a limited workforce.
- Setting up and maintaining a website requires some level of technical know-how.
- Hiring a web developer, graphic designer, and other professionals is expensive, especially for startups or smaller businesses.
- Designing, building, and updating a website is time-consuming.
- Generating appropriate and engaging content, from copywriting to sourcing images, can be challenging without a dedicated team.
If hiring a web developer, copywriter, or graphic designer isn't in the cards for you right now, Durable is your reliable alternative.
With Durable, the learning curve is practically non-existent. Our straightforward approach ensures that anyone can get their business online swiftly, regardless of their technical expertise.
Instead of spending hours setting up a website, our AI does the heavy lifting. With just a few clicks, it can generate a complete website, populated with relevant images and copy, in 30 seconds.
Other website builders for small businesses require many decisions about design, layout, and content. Durable eliminates these barriers. Our primary goal is to make the process as painless as possible.
By automating these elements, we ensure that your website is set up quickly, professional-looking, and tailored to your service.
Durable Features and Benefits
- Localized SEO Boosters
- AI-Powered Management Tools
- Ecommerce Features
- Integration with Calendly
1. Localized SEO Boosters
When you sign up to build a website using Durable, we ask for your location. Why? Because we understand the importance of local businesses being found by their local customers.
Our platform automatically incorporates localized SEO boosters to ensure that when someone in your area searches for the services you offer, your website has a higher chance of appearing in the search results.
We also embed a map of your location directly onto your website. This ensures that when potential customers visit your site, they can instantly see where you're located and find directions to reach you with just a click.
At Durable, we recognize that every region has unique terminology, preferences, and search behaviors. So, our AI tailors your site's content to resonate more with your local audience, ensuring that the terminology and phrasing match what they're familiar with.
We also facilitate the display of local reviews, testimonials, and feedback directly through your Durable-built website. Positive local reviews can significantly bolster your reputation and trustworthiness, attracting more customers.
2. AI-Powered Management Tools
Businesses, especially local service entities, can enjoy a competitive edge with the right AI tools.
These tools come integrated when you build your website with us:
- AI CRM: With Durable’s AI CRM, we empower you to instantly respond to leads, efficiently organize contacts, and generate client communications. No missed opportunities will exist because a lead or a client went unnoticed. The AI CRM system ensures that every interaction, lead, and client is tracked and managed perfectly.
- AI Assistant: A conversational AI trained to assist and proactively contribute to your business's growth. Do you have a question? Do you need an idea? Or perhaps you need a task executed? Ask. The AI Assistant is made to understand the business jargon.
- Business Name Generator: For starting or thinking of a rebrand, naming a business is not easy. It's your first impression, and it must be just right. We simplify this process. Input your business type, and let the AI present you with a curated list of business name ideas tailored to your niche.
3. Ecommerce Features
We understand the power of e-commerce and the value it can bring to your business.
That's why you can transform your Durable website into a fully functional e-commerce platform with just a few clicks.
It's simple. Once you've generated your website, all you need to do is integrate it with Stripe. This integration ensures that all your transactions are smooth and secure. Check out our detailed guide on how to create an e-commerce website with Durable for a comprehensive walkthrough.
Further, recognizing small businesses' challenges with invoicing, we introduced our invoicing tool. This tool is designed specifically with small businesses in mind.
You can accelerate your payment process, ensuring you get paid faster and more efficiently. All invoices are synced with your CRM to ensure nothing slips through the cracks. This guarantees that every transaction, every payment, and every invoice is tracked meticulously.
4. Integration with Calendly
Calendly is a scheduling software that simplifies appointment bookings.
Integrating your Durable website with Calendly enables a streamlined appointment-setting process for you and your clients.
Clients can easily view your availability, schedule meetings, or book services from your website. This offers them convenience and reduces the back-and-forth emails or calls that often plague the booking process.
Durable pricing
Featuring three plans for different business sizes and needs, Durable offers:
- A free plan to get you up and running without additional cost
- A Startup plan and Business plan for ready to invest in scaling.
2. Squarespace
Squarespace appears on the list for its clean and stylish designs. It's perfect for service providers who want a professional look for their website.
Squarespace makes it easy to build a website without knowing any code. It's designed for businesses of all kinds but works especially well for professionals like consultants, photographers, or therapists.
The platform has many design templates that look great on computers and phones. You can also add features like online booking or a store to sell products. The main goal of Squarespace is to give businesses a simple way to create a website that looks good and works well.
Squarespace Features and Benefits
- Award-winning Design Templates
- Integrated Booking System
- Built-in Analytics
1. Award-winning Design Templates
Users don't need design experience to create a professional and visually appealing website.
By selecting from one of the 28 templates; service businesses can ensure they make a strong first impression on visitors, enhancing credibility and potentially increasing customer engagement.
Every template is built to be responsive. While the templates offer a solid starting point, Squarespace provides ample customization options with their Fluid Engine, a drag-and-drop website editor.
You can tweak colors, fonts, layouts, and more to align the design with your brand.
2. Integrated Booking System
Squarespace has an integrated booking system, commonly referred to as Squarespace Scheduling.
It’s a tool developed through a partnership with Acuity Scheduling. Designed to be seamlessly embedded within Squarespace websites, it offers service businesses an efficient way to manage appointments and client bookings.
With Squarespace Scheduling, you can easily embed the booking system directly into your website, ensuring visitors don't need to be redirected to third-party platforms. This provides a unified and professional booking experience for customers.
3. Built-in Analytics
Squarespace equips businesses with comprehensive built-in analytics tools to help them understand their website's performance.
This feature provides valuable data without the need for third-party integrations or technical know-how.
With this feature, businesses can view live data on how many visitors are currently on their website, what pages they're browsing, how they got there, and a breakdown of visitors based on country.
3. Wix
Wix is known for its drag-and-drop functionality. It's a popular choice for service providers seeking extensive customization options to reflect their unique brand and service offerings.
Wix offers a user-friendly platform for beginners while providing the depth required for more tech-savvy users.
With so many templates, over 800 templates, it accommodates various industries. What sets Wix apart is its open-ended customization capabilities. Service providers can adjust nearly every element of their site.
Wix Features and Benefits
- Drag-and-Drop Builder
- Wix ADI
- Wix Bookings
1. Drag-and-Drop Builder
Wix offers a highly intuitive drag-and-drop builder, allowing you to place and adjust website elements without coding experience easily.
Wix uses a WYSIWYG builder. You can visually design your website, making real-time changes and immediately seeing the results.
Wix offers numerous templates that serve as a starting point. These templates are professionally designed but not as good as those in Squarespace.
2. Wix ADI
Wix ADI is Wix's advanced artificial intelligence system designed to create websites automatically based on your responses to a few simple questions.
Wix ADI takes into account user preferences and business requirements. It then crafts a website design tailored specifically for the individual or business.
This feature is an ideal tool for those who may feel overwhelmed by design choices or want a quick, reliable starting point for their website.
3. Wix Bookings
Wix Bookings is a comprehensive scheduling solution integrated within the Wix platform.
Designed for ease and efficiency, it is a central hub for all appointment-related activities.
Wix Bookings provides you with a singular dashboard where you can oversee all your bookings. This includes viewing upcoming appointments, checking client details, and even managing payments.
4. 10Web
10Web is a modern website building, leveraging advanced AI technology to craft websites tailored to specific business needs rapidly.
Combining artificial intelligence with a user-friendly design interface, 10Web offers a unique blend of automation and customization for service businesses.
By answering a series of intuitive questions about your business, 10Web creates a website tailored to your industry.
Intelligent content, design generation, and extensive customization options provide a balanced combination of convenience and control.
10Web Features and Benefits
- Recreating a Similar Website
- BuddyBoss Hosting
- AI SEO Tool
1. Recreating a Similar Website
10Web offers a unique capability to recreate or mimic an existing website.
This is useful for businesses that have seen a website they admire and want to have something similar for themselves.
To recreate a website, you’ll need to provide the desired URL. 10Web's technology will generate a similar design, structure, and layout. The entire process is automated.
You can then further tweak and edit the generated website.
Service businesses can leverage this feature to quickly obtain a design they admire, cutting down the time and effort typically required in website building.
It’s an ideal solution for those who wish to have a professional-looking website without starting entirely from scratch.
2. BuddyBoss Hosting
BuddyBoss hosting on 10Web is a specialized service that caters to those using the BuddyBoss platform for creating online community-centric websites.
Speed and uptime are important for service businesses that thrive on community engagement. Downtime or slow speeds are detrimental to user experience.
10Web offers fully managed hosting, ensuring optimal performance and faster load times for online communities and learners. They partner with Google Cloud and Cloudflare to enhance website performance and security.
Service businesses also often target global audiences.
Google's data centers ensure that their content is delivered promptly, no matter where the audience is located. This reduces latency issues that can turn away potential clients or community members.
3. AI SEO Tool
Service businesses rely heavily on online visibility to attract clients.
10Web offers an SEO Tool that leverages artificial intelligence to automatically generate the most relevant and impactful keywords tailored for your business.
Traditional keyword tools give generic suggestions, but service businesses require specific, niche keywords to attract the right clientele.
- The 10Web AI tool dives deep into understanding the unique selling points of your service and recommends keywords that potential customers are actively searching for.
- For service businesses operating in specific localities, the tool offers localized keyword recommendations to target customers at their doorstep.
5. GoDaddy
Best for Quick Set-Up and Go-Live
GoDaddy has been a key player in web hosting and domain registration for years.
Beyond its core offerings, GoDaddy provides an intuitive website builder. Its user-friendly tools, robust features, and strong customer support make it an appealing choice for service providers aiming to strengthen their online presence.
So, GoDaddy is swift and uncomplicated for service businesses wanting to set up an online presence quickly.
GoDaddy's platform also has built-in marketing tools, including email marketing solutions, SEO tools, and social media integrations.
GoDaddy Features and Benefits
- GoDaddy Studio
- AI Website Creation
- Email Marketing Tools
1. GoDaddy Studio
GoDaddy Studio is a graphic design tool integrated within GoDaddy.
It empowers users to create eye-catching visuals, promotional materials, and online content without requiring any prior graphic design knowledge.
The tool offers various customizable templates catering to various industries and use cases.
Service businesses can create in-house promotional materials, advertisements, or social media posts, eliminating the need for external graphic designers and saving costs.
2. AI Website Creation
Like Durable and 10Web, GoDaddy has embraced artificial intelligence.
Their AI-driven approach simplifies and expedites the process of website creation.
You’re prompted with questions about your business, goals, and preferences. The AI crafts a preliminary website layout and design based on these answers.
Service businesses can have a foundational website ready in minutes, removing the initial hurdles of website design and setup.
3. Email Marketing Tools
Email remains one of the most effective communication channels for businesses, especially service-oriented ones.
GoDaddy has email marketing tools to help these businesses nurture relationships, stay on top of mind, and drive repeat business.
GoDaddy's tools also provide insights into email open rates, click-through rates, and conversion metrics.
You can, therefore, gauge the effectiveness of your campaigns, refine your strategies, and understand what resonates best with your clientele.
6. Hostinger
Cost-Effective Solution for Startups.
For service businesses, especially startups, budgetary concerns often arise. Hostinger is known for its affordable hosting solutions and tools to empower businesses, especially service-based ones, to establish and maintain an effective online presence.
You can build a website and get hosting for just $2.99 monthly.
Its appeal largely stems from its commitment to performance, simplicity, and scalability.
Beyond just affordability, Hostinger’s custom control panel is tailored for simplicity. Designed with the end-user in mind, it streamlines website and domain management.
Hostinger Features and Benefits
- Responsive and Fully-Customizable Templates
- 24/7 Live Support
- Integrations
1. Responsive and Fully-Customizable Templates
Although Hostinger offers an AI builder, you can choose the template route.
Hostinger’s template library has 150 templates covering various industries and service sectors.
You can choose a design that aligns closely with your brand image and service offerings.
You can then use the drag-and-drop editor for easy modifications, from changing color schemes to rearranging layout components.
2. 24/7 Live Support
Unexpected issues can arise at any time.
Service businesses, especially those that operate round the clock or across multiple time zones, can’t afford prolonged downtimes or unresolved issues.
Delays can translate to lost clients, negative reviews, and reduced revenue.
With Hostinger's 24/7 support, these businesses know that assistance is instant through live chat or email.
3. Integrations
Hostinger has integrated SEO tools to improve a website's visibility on search engines like Google.
You can optimize your content, meta tags, and more, ensuring your website ranks higher in search results and reaches a wider audience.
Also, service businesses looking for an additional revenue stream can benefit from Hostinger's ad integration. They can display targeted ads on their website.
Lastly, Hostinger offers built-in analytics tools to help you track crucial metrics like user behavior and traffic sources. These insights will help you make informed decisions.
7. IONOS
Robust Hosting with Builder Benefits.
IONOS is a reliable and comprehensive solution for businesses of all types, particularly for service businesses.
IONOS's website builder comes equipped with advanced AI features to craft a website design, select suitable images, and generate text content based on a few inputs from you.
For those who prefer a more hands-on approach, IONOS offers a range of professional templates to kickstart the website design process.
IONOS Features and Benefits
- Templates Optimized For Service Businesses
- Booking Features
- All-in-One Dashboard
1. Templates Optimized For Service Businesses
Most of the IONOS templates are specifically designed for service businesses.
For example:
- Restaurant templates: Showcases a menu, highlights reviews, and includes bookings buttons.
- Real Estate templates: Lists properties, embeds high-quality images and offers potential clients intuitive virtual tours.
- Travel templates: Features the best travel packages, integrates booking systems, and includes a testimonial section.
2. Booking Features
IONOS provides booking features tailored for service businesses like yours. For example, the 24/7 appointment booking lets customers schedule their slots even after business hours.
The calendar view keeps everything organized, so you can swiftly handle many clients without any mix-ups.
There's no cap on the number of bookings. Your business can scale and grow without any platform restrictions. Your schedule is also entirely adaptable. If you need to block out certain hours or days, you can do that easily.
Additionally, this feature allows you to have varying durations for different services. This flexibility ensures your clients get precisely the time they need.
To make operations smoother, the booking feature automates and personalizes email communications. This reduces the administrative tasks on your end and ensures a professional touch with every client interaction.
3. All-in-One Dashboard
IONOS offers a centralized dashboard to simplify and enhance your management experience.
With this all-in-one dashboard, you can monitor aspects of your website in one place. This approach removes the need to juggle between different platforms or tools, streamlining your workflow.
The dashboard also gives you online marketing tips and recommendations. As your website evolves, you'll receive actionable suggestions.
Also, the dashboard recommends specific plugins, ensuring your site is equipped with the latest features and tools relevant to your needs.
And to ensure you stay ahead, IONOS has a competitor monitoring feature that gives you a sneak peek into your competition's social media activities. This allows you to strategize effectively and maintain a competitive edge.
8. WordPress.org
Best for Full Customization and Scalability. Ideal for Growing Service Businesses.
WordPress.org offers an open-source platform. It’s known for its flexibility and has become the go-to choice for businesses, bloggers, and even large-scale enterprises.
Specifically for service businesses, WordPress.org provides a blank canvas, letting you tailor every aspect of your online presence.
WordPress.org apart is a comprehensive content management system (CMS). This means that while it helps you design your site, it also efficiently manages content, making updates and changes easy.
Primarily, it's for users who want deep personalization. With many plugins and themes, you can add any functionality, from intricate booking systems to interactive customer portals.
WordPress Features and Benefits
- Extensive Plugin Library
- Custom Themes
- SEO-Optimized
1. Extensive Plugin Library
WordPress boasts an extensive plugin library — over 59,000 plugins. These grant you the power to enhance and easily extend your website's functionality.
Whatever specific feature or functionality your service business needs, there's likely a plugin. From SEO optimization tools to booking systems and interactive contact forms.
And with thousands of plugins at your disposal, you can experiment and iterate. Test different tools, find what works best for your business, and maintain an edge over competitors.
Many plugins are free or offer free versions. You can add premium features to your site without a significant investment. In addition, the active community around WordPress ensures that most plugins are regularly updated, keeping them secure and compatible with the latest WordPress versions.
2. Custom Themes
WordPress has over 11,000 themes in its official repository and thousands from different platforms.
You can choose one that perfectly mirrors your brand's aesthetics and values. If you want a minimalist design or something vibrant and dynamic, there's a theme for every preference.
Most WordPress themes are mobile-responsive. This is crucial for service businesses, as clients browse various platforms.
Many themes come with built-in customization tools. You can tweak colors, layouts, and fonts without coding knowledge.
3. SEO-Optimized
On their official blog, WordPress says, “WordPress, straight out of the box, comes ready to embrace search engines.”
WordPress has an SEO-friendly structure, so your service business website has a better chance of appearing at the top of search engine results.
WordPress also allows you to create clean, readable URLs. Not only are these URLs favored by search engines, but they also provide visitors with a clear idea of what to expect on the page, enhancing user experience.
Further, the platform's expansive plugin library boasts a variety of SEO tools. Plugins like Yoast SEO and All in One SEO Pack can guide you in optimizing every piece of content, ensuring that you always adhere to best SEO practices.
9. Weebly
Simplified Builder for Small Service Entities.
For small service entities looking for a straightforward approach to building a professional website, Weebly is the ideal tool.
Unlike some competitors, Weebly focuses on providing a simple yet effective platform that eliminates the often overwhelming complexities of web development.
Weebly is designed for those with no prior experience in website design. With its drag-and-drop builder, you can create a functional and aesthetically pleasing site.
Weebly stands out for its straightforward interface, ideal for smaller service businesses focusing on core operations.
Weebly Features and Benefits
- eCommerce Features
- Drag-and-Drop Builder
- Mobile Apps
1. eCommerce Features
Weebly incorporates robust e-commerce features.
Easily add products, descriptions, and high-quality images to showcase your offering. This can be physical products, digital downloads, or even your services.
You can keep track of stock levels, set up alerts for low stock, and manage your inventory easily.
With Weebly, you can accept payments directly on your website. Weebly supports multiple payment gateways like PayPal, Square, Stripe, and Authorize.net.
2. Drag-and-Drop Builder
Weebly's drag-and-drop builder is simple and easy to use.
With Weebly editor, you can integrate various content elements into your site — text, photos, maps, or videos. You pick them up and place them where you want.
You also see the changes you make in real time. This live preview feature lets you perfect your design without any back-and-forth between editing and previewing.
3. Mobile Apps
For service businesses that are always on the move, Weebly's mobile apps are a game-changer — Weebly for iPhone, iPad, and Android.
These apps ensure that your website and business are right at your fingertips, no matter where you are.
You don't need to be tied to your desk to update your site.
They also give you insightful analytics. You can track your website's performance, understand visitor trends, and grasp what's working and what's not.
10. Shopify
Best for Service Businesses with E-commerce Needs.
Shopify stands out for businesses looking to integrate e-commerce into their service offerings seamlessly.
This platform offers services such as booking appointments and setting up subscription-based models.
The platform allows you to present your services professionally, manage bookings, handle payments, and engage with clients under one roof.
Shopify Features and Benefits
- Booking Appointment Feature
- Shopify App Store
1. Booking Appointment Feature
As service businesses often revolve around client appointments, you can seamlessly integrate an online booking system into your site with the Shopify appointment booking feature.
Clients can view available slots, book appointments, and even pay for services directly through your Shopify store.
It eliminates the need for back-and-forth emails or phone calls. Automated reminders ensure that you and your clients are always on the same page, reducing no-shows and streamlining operations.
2. Shopify App Store
Shopify has an App Store that has over 8,000 apps.
For service businesses, you can easily integrate tools for client management, invoicing, or even advanced marketing strategies.
You can continually tailor and optimize your site to serve your clients better and make your operations more efficient.
How to Choose the Best Website Builder for Your Service Business
The website builder you settle on for your service business will profoundly impact your online success. Here are the criteria to use when deciding on the best builder:
Ease of Use
The technicalities of setting up a website can be overwhelming. The ideal website builder should simplify this process.
The platform should guide you step-by-step through the website creation process. The actions should be intuitive, whether selecting a template, adding text, or inserting images. Look for drag-and-drop features and straightforward dashboard layouts. The less time you spend figuring out the platform, the more time you have to focus on your business.
Customizability
Your website is the online face of your business. It should be functional and reflective of your brand's personality.
A good website builder will offer a variety of templates that can be customized to align with your brand colors, fonts, and overall aesthetic. It should also allow you to rearrange layout elements to suit your needs.
Adding features like contact forms, booking calendars, or customer testimonials can enhance the functionality of your site. Some builders offer these as built-in features, while others might support them as plugins or integrations.
AI Capabilities
As technology evolves, the role of AI in simplifying tasks and offering advanced functionalities to website builders cannot be ignored.
With AI, website builders analyze your business type and preferences to suggest website designs, keywords, and SEO insights that resonate best with your target audience. This minimizes the guesswork.
So, when considering a website builder, look into its AI capabilities.
Cost
While cost shouldn't be the only determining factor, it's still crucial for most businesses.
Understand what's included in the price.
- Does the platform offer a free domain?
- How about hosting or SSL certificates?
- Do you need to pay more for the integrated tools?
Compare feature lists against prices to determine value.
Also, always read the fine print. Some platforms might charge extra for removing their branding, accessing advanced features, or integrating third-party tools.
Durable starts at $0 per month, and all features and benefits are transparently included.
Mobile Responsiveness
Many users access websites via mobile devices.
Your website should automatically adjust and look good on any device, be it a desktop, tablet, or mobile phone. This affects user experience and impacts your SEO rankings.
SEO Features
Being online is useless if customers can't find you.
SEO tools guide you in optimizing your site content, meta descriptions, and image alt texts. Some platforms even offer keyword suggestions, ensuring your website ranks higher on search engines.
E-commerce Capabilities
Even if you're a service-based business, there might be instances where online transactions are necessary.
Whether selling products, offering downloadable resources or allowing customers to book services online, your website builder should support secure online transactions. Find integrations with popular payment gateways like PayPal, Stripe, or Square.
Integration Potential
A website doesn't function in isolation. It's often a part of a larger digital ecosystem.
Maybe you want to add a newsletter sign-up form that integrates with your email marketing platform or a live chat feature that connects to your CRM. The more integrations a website builder supports, the more seamless your operations can be.
Scalability
Your website should be able to accommodate your business as it grows.
Let's say you'll expand your service offerings, or perhaps you'll venture into e-commerce. Your website builder should be flexible enough to grow with your evolving needs without requiring a complete overhaul.
Best Website Builders for Service Businesses: Verdict
Here, we've graded the 10 website builders on crucial parameters. These ratings offer a comparative perspective, helping you determine which platform might best serve your needs.
Getting Started with Durable
Durable is built for service businesses that need a quick and smart website. With our platform, you can have a website ready in just a few clicks. Our AI tools ensure your site is set up to reach your customers and serve their needs.
One major benefit is our focus on local SEO. When people in your area search for services you offer, Durable helps your website appear. This can bring more customers right to your door.
We also make selling online easy. With Durable, you can set up an online store and even send invoices directly to your clients. And remember, getting your payments on time is crucial, and our system is designed to help with that.
Build your website with Durable today. It only takes 30 seconds, and you don't need a credit card to try it out.
