It may be old news to suggest that your business can greatly benefit by going online, but that doesn’t mean that it’s any less true than it ever was. With affordable hosting, simple eCommerce solutions and a wealth of free online marketing tools like Facebook and Twitter at our disposal, it definitely seems as though there’s never been a better time to start an online business. Nor has it ever been so crucial.

According to business website The Startup Donut, as much as 90% of transactions will take place soley online, or at least be influenced by the power of the Internet by 2020.

But what about web design? Surely it costs a fortune to hire a professional web developer to create an awesome looking site that our customers want to come back to time and time again?

Not necessarily. OK, so you can barely turn a cyber corner without bumping into a web designer or two, but that doesn’t mean you have to pay over the odds to hire their services.

If you need a website on a budget, or if you want a more hands-on approach to creating it, there is another option: Online website builders.

Thanks to their ease-of-use and the way they make professional looking websites available to those with even the most basic of IT skills, the best website builders on the web are becoming increasingly popular alternatives to hiring a pro designer.

If you’re thinking of going it alone and building a top quality website on a small budget, here’s our top five reasons why online website builders might be the right choice for you.

An All-in-One solution

There’s a lot that goes into getting a good website up and running. Yes, at the heart of it all lies the design and development, not to mention creating your content and keeping your site up-to-date. Yet there’s other things to consider too, like picking out the right web hosting for your site, setting up a domain name and taking care of any maintenance.

One option is to do everything separately. Buy a domain name from one place, some hosting from another, build your site elsewhere, then spend a frustrating afternoon bringing it all together. Many leading website builders allow you to do all of this in one place, saving you time, money and effort.

Highly customizable

One of the biggest criticisms of online site creators is that they’re fairly limited in what you can do. However, a lot has changed in recent years, and though many of the top building platforms still offer a wealth of pre-designed template, there’s absolutely nothing to stop you customizing them as much, or as little as you like. Alternatively, you can even start with a blank template and create an entirely unique website.

Interactive sites

Just because you’re going it alone, that doesn’t have to mean that you can’t add interactive features and additional functionality to your web pages. Nor does it mean you have to spend hours learning complicated code to do so.

In most cases, you’ll find a range of extras, from blogging platforms to eCommerce solutions at your disposal, all of which can easily be integrated into your site within just a few clicks.

No software

Since you’ll be logging on and creating your website entirely online, there’s no software to download. This not only means you don’t clog up precious disk space with a heavy program, but also that you can build your website from any device with an internet connection.

If you wanted to, you could start building on your office computer, do a bit more at home on your laptop, and even make updates on the move with your tablet device.

No technical talent needed

Website builders take all the complication and confusion out of making great looking websites. Clear, simple user interfaces combining quick and easy navigation and lots of online tutorials mean no matter what your ability, you can still build a website you and your customers will love.