Building a website for your cookie business is easy with Castiron. Create an online order form, accept payments, keep track of customer details, run your email marketing, and more with our food business management tools.
Try it for freeWhich is the best cookie website builder in 2022? Home-based cookie bakers and other food entrepreneurs want to know! Well, to determine that, it's necessary to review some of the top free e-commerce websites. You'll need to think about questions like:
It's OK to have a lot of questions when you’re thinking about launching a home-based cookie selling business. You already know your cookies are delicious and you know that people love them, but can selling cookies via a website be feasible?
The short answer is YES!
In fact, more people than ever before are making delicious culinary creations from the comfort of their homes, and then selling them to the public for good profits. Each state has its own cottage food laws that determine which foods, and how much of them, you are allowed to sell. However, as the cottage food movement grows across the country, most states are becoming quite accommodating to home-based chefs.
So, back to the question, which is the best professional free website builder available to aspiring home-based food entrepreneurs in 2022?
We’re going to review some of the best free websites for home-based cookie makers and sellers, including the top-rated Castiron, which is built for bakers. Excellent options like Castiron will offer you fully loaded templates with everything you need to start marketing your delightful cookie creations. You'll be able to use custom order forms, process payments, access e-commerce tools, and more.
Keep reading to learn more about this new culinary business adventure you're about to embark on. It's going to be cookie madness!
OK, now you know you need a website to sell your home-based cookie business, or another type of cottage food you’re considering. So, what is the best bakery website design? Of course, your new home-based bakery website will serve as a portal for prospective and regular customers from which to buy your cookies. But what will your bakery website builder need to offer to make your operation a success?
Should you opt for a simple bakery website? Or a highly creative bakery website? And where will you get the content for bakery websites that will entice your customers?
While there are numerous features to consider, some of the most important for your new cake bakery website are:
Let’s examine each of these important features in more detail so that you understand why they’re so vital to your success as an online cookie baker and seller.
A modern bakery website will not be highly effective if it doesn't have the capacity to show off mouthwatering foods in full, crisp color. Be sure that the free website builder you choose has excellent photo and video gallery tools available to show off your cookies, cakes, cupcakes, and other delicious baked items. Choose one that also allows you to add descriptions of each item that you sell to further entice the appetites of your sweet-toothed customers!
Social media is huge! Especially at a local level, integrating Facebook, Instagram, and other prominent social media networks with your home-based bakery website is integral to success. You can reach out to your local community with discounts, current locations, and other special notifications that would be relevant to your customer base. You can also push content from your website, like new bakery products, links to your social channels, or informative blog posts to further educate your customers.
You want your online bakery website to be able to accept payments from various online payment processors. And if you're out and about selling your cookies at flea markets or other venues, you'll want to be able to accept mobile payments from anywhere you're at. Most people do not carry cash nowadays, so you'll need to have your electronic payment receiving options in place.
The capacity to create and manage the details of custom orders is imperative to your success as a home cookie baker and seller. You need to be able to manage estimates, invoices, deposits, and custom order details efficiently and quickly. You'll also need flexible fulfillment options, including pickup, delivery, and shipping options for your customers. An effective modern bakery website will offer these features.
So, again, back to the original question, which is the best website builder for small business? Which is the absolute best website builder 2022? It’s difficult to say which is the best, but we have isolated 4 excellent options for you to consider. They are:
Let’s check out each closer to see which shines the brightest.
While Weebly has some attractive themes that are suitable for home chefs and bakers, their selection is rather limited. None of their themes are specific to bakeries, let alone specifically designed for selling cookies. However, Weebly does offer a quality product and decent customer service.
WordPress has loads of themes and optional features that a home-based food artisan can use to grow a business. However, WordPress is such a huge entity that it lacks a personal feel. Also, most of the best features require an upgrade to at least a Business Plan, which means it’s no longer free.
The Squarespace bakery template gallery is mediocre, but the platform allows you considerable control over how your images are displayed. You should be able to entice customers across all types of devices. Squarespace offers complete e-commerce solutions, marketing tools, and a free trial. However, after your free trial ends, you need to pay for an ongoing subscription.
Castiron is hands-down the best free website builder for home-based cookie bakers and other cottage chefs who want to sell online. Their templates are specifically designed for home bakeries and other genres within the cottage food industry. Castiron offers complete social media, e-commerce, marketing, communication, diagnostics, inventory, display, payments, and fulfillment solutions. And it is 100% free.
How to Make a Website: There are various steps that you will need to complete while creating a website. Even the best website builder for bakery purposes requires planning and effort on your part. Given that, the process of developing home bakery websites is fun and straightforward, especially if you’re fueled with a passion for selling your scrumptious cookies and other baked goods!
So, without delay, let's jump into the individual steps you will need to complete when learning how to make a baking website:F
That’s it. You’re now operating an online cookie business! Just remember that all bakery website templates are different. Most have a couple of enticing features, but then you find that you have to pay to get the cool features that you really want and need. Do your research diligently before deciding on which bakery website template to launch your business with.
The best bakery website templates will offer some features that a home-based cookie business will need to develop and sustain growth while accommodating their customers’ needs. They are:
The high-resolution, make-your-mouth-water bakery website design templates from Castiron are some of the best on the Internet. They have been specifically designed with home-based cookie bakers and other cottage chefs in mind. You bring the passion for delicious cooking, and Castiron takes care of the rest. Best of all, Castiron begins free for bakers and other food entrepreneurs.
To summarize, Castiron is the only platform planned and designed for bakers, cottage cooks, and other home-based food operators. Castiron offers free website creation, free e-commerce solutions, unlimited custom orders and invoices, unlimited customization options, unlimited transactions, centralized customer data, and the ability to accept all credit cards and online payment processors.
Do yourself a favor and Visit Castiron Now. As an aspiring home-based cookie baker and seller, you’ll not find a more feature-rich, thoughtfully designed platform from which to launch your food business.
The Cake Whisperer
My business would not be the same without my Castiron website! It is an easy setup with lots of customization and tons of support! I am so glad I set up my shop last year before the holidays — it really helped increase my sales!
The Whimsical Cookie
Castiron provides me a professional site to my customers increasing my credibility and value while giving me the tools to effectively market and manage my business in an easy, user-friendly manner.
Wesley's Treats Hallie's Sweets
Castiron has made my cottage bakery shine, and my business easy to manage. As a platform they care about my business as much as I do.
Explore our tools for free during a 14-day free trial. Start building your website, create your custom order forms, even start taking orders and payments... then decide if it’s for you.
Easy to start, created specifically for local, handmade food: Castiron’s website builder was created to help you grow. Create a website in minutes with our templates, sell where and how your customers want to buy, and look professional without being technical. Keep customers coming back with email marketing tools, customer records, and more.
Food entrepreneurs, this is your moment. Your community is more and more conscious about what they buy and where it is from. They want food made with love. With ingredients they can pronounce. And they want to support their community while doing it.
Castiron is the best fit for your food business because we're not a one-size-fits-all tool. Selling local food is different from pre-packaged warehouse products. Whether you sell cooking classes, need local pick up, utilize pre-sales to plan inventory, or need a fully custom order form — we got you.
No code required. Add pages, sell your products, build order forms, and show off your beautiful work. We'll handle the tech so you can focus on growing your food business.
Never track down a payment or oversell products again. Real-time inventory tracking and secure payment processing make life easier for you and your customers, and our order form builder makes managing custom requests a breeze.
With our marketing tools, your email marketing can go on autopilot. We make it easy to promote your latest products, announce custom order availability, and stay connected with customers.