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Advanton USA

  • Start
    • How to start a business, A to Z
    • Business ideas
    • Choosing a business structure
    • Get an EIN
    • SBA loans
    • Small business grants
    • Business banking
    • Franchises
  • Grow
    • Hiring your first employee
    • Taxes and bookkeeping
    • Keeping customers
    • Financing growth
    • Using AI
    • Industry data
    • Services owners use
      • USPS for small business
      • Every Door Direct Mail
      • USPS vs UPS vs FedEx
      • Yelp for Business
      • Apple Maps listing
  • Free Tools
    • Start
      • Business PlannerName, costs, pricing and a one-page plan
    • Launch
      • Launch your business onlineDomain, website and hosting, step by step
      • Brand & Print StudioCards, flyers, postcards, signs and more
      • Website builderA free website in about 10 minutes
    • Market
      • Marketing HubOnline presence, reviews and lead tracking
    • Grow
      • Quotes and invoicesProfessional quotes and invoices
      • Cash & Payroll PlannerCash flow, hiring costs and unpaid invoices
      • Mileage logBusiness miles at the 2026 IRS rate
      • Rewards programStamp cards that bring customers back
      • Word to PDFConvert Word documents to PDF
  • Contractors
    • Contractor website builderWebsites for 8 trades, 5 designs each
    • Websites by trade
      • Roofing
      • Remodeling
      • Painting
      • Plumbing
      • Flooring and tile
      • Electrical
      • HVAC
      • Handyman
    • Yard signs and door hangersYard signs and door hangers with a QR code
    • Marketing for contractors
    • Angi vs Thumbtack
  • Directory
    • Browse the directoryFind local small businesses
    • Add your businessA free listing in the directory
  • Get Online
    • Launch your business onlineDomain, website and hosting, step by step
    • Free website builderA free website in about 10 minutes
    • Contractor website builderWebsites for 8 trades, 5 designs each
    • Domains and hosting
    • After you buy: help guides
      • Verify your new domain
      • Upload your website
      • Connect your domain
      • Turn on free SSL
      • Set up business email
      • Renewals

Start, Launch, market and grow a small business with real data & Free Tools

Advanton: free guides, tools and a business directory to start, run and grow your small business

Advanton is a free information hub for small business owners. Find a business idea, plan the numbers, launch with confidence and grow, with practical guides, free tools that run in your browser, and a free directory where customers can find you. No sign-up needed.

Build your website free · Start a business · Explore the free tools · Add your business free

Build your small business website, free

Build your small business website in about 10 minutes with Advanton's free website builder and 5 free templates

Create a professional website for your business in about 10 minutes, absolutely free. No coding, no sign-up and no monthly fees.

Start with one of five free templates, each designed for a different kind of business and filled with sample content you simply edit:

  • Summit for home services and trades
  • Bistro for restaurants, cafés and bakeries
  • Glow for salons, spas and wellness
  • Ledger for accountants, consultants and professional services
  • Market for shops, boutiques and makers

Prefer a blank page? Start from scratch instead. Add your services and products and each one gets its own page, alongside your home, about, reviews and contact pages.

Local SEO built in: a page for every city you serve, with a live Local SEO score

Contractor? Pick your trade (roofing, remodeling, painting, plumbing, flooring and tile, electrical, HVAC or handyman) and get a website with estimate requests, your license and before-and-after projects. See the free contractor website builder.

Local SEO is built in. Add the cities and counties you serve, and each one gets its own page with the area in its web address, title and description, such as “Lawn Care in Plano, TX”. Your main service and city appear in your page titles, search engines get your business type and service areas, and a live Local SEO score shows exactly what to improve next. Then download your website and publish it free in about a minute. A custom domain name, such as yourbusiness.com, is optional and purchased separately.

Build your website free →

Your path from idea to growth

Four steps from idea to growth: find an idea, plan the numbers, launch, and grow
  1. Find an idea

    Compare markets in our industry profiles and filter business ideas by budget and model.

    Explore ideas
  2. Plan the numbers

    Work out startup costs, your break-even point and what to charge.

    Use the calculators
  3. Launch

    Follow the A–Z guide from validating your idea to your first customer.

    Start a business
  4. Grow

    Win customers, hire, manage taxes and fund the next stage.

    Grow your business

Free tools for every stage

Advanton's 14 free tools grouped into planning, branding, getting found and paperwork

Plan your business, build a brand, get found and handle paperwork with 14 free tools. They run in your browser, need no account, and your work stays on your device.

Jump to:StartLaunchMarketGrow

Start

Plan your business step by step: name, structure, startup costs, pricing, break-even and funding, ending with a one-page plan.

  • Business Planner

    Plan your business in seven connected steps, from name and structure to startup costs, pricing, break-even and funding, ending with a one-page plan that fills itself in.

Launch

Get online step by step, and design everything with your brand: cards, flyers, postcards, signs, QR codes and more.

  • Launch your business online

    A free, step-by-step guide to getting your business online: choose a domain, build a free website, get hosting, and get found on Google, Apple Maps and Yelp.

  • Brand & Print Studio

    Set up your brand once, then design business cards, flyers, EDDM postcards, yard signs, door hangers, gift certificates, QR codes and email signatures that all match.

  • Website builder

    Build a beautiful small business website free in about 10 minutes, with local SEO built in and a page for every city or county you serve.

Market

Check how you look online, fix the gaps, win more reviews and learn which marketing brings customers. Design flyers and mailers in the Brand & Print Studio.

  • Marketing Hub

    Score your online presence, fix the gaps with the right tool, collect more reviews and see which marketing brings customers at the lowest cost.

Grow

Get paid, keep customers coming back and stay on top of your cash.

  • Quotes and invoices

    Create professional quotes and invoices with your logo, turn quotes into invoices in one click, and save them as PDFs.

  • Cash & Payroll Planner

    See your next 13 weeks of cash, the true cost of hiring, and your unpaid invoices together, and add them to your forecast in one click.

  • Mileage log

    Log business trips with the details the IRS expects, see your deduction at 72.5 cents a mile for 2026, and download your log for tax time.

  • Rewards program

    A simple loyalty program for your shop. Print numbered stamp cards, add a stamp in two taps, and celebrate rewards. No app, no sign-up, and it works offline.

  • Word to PDF

    Convert a Word document (.docx) to PDF for free, right in your browser. Your file is never uploaded.

Small business online in 2026

83% of US small businesses have a website, 97% of consumers read reviews, and AI assistants are the third most used source of local recommendations

Having a website is now the norm. What sets businesses apart is being easy to find, easy to trust and easy to contact: a complete Google Business Profile, recent reviews and consistent details everywhere. Read our step-by-step guide to building a strong online presence, then score your own business with the free online presence checkup.

Get listed in the free Advanton directory

Add your business to the free Advanton directory: example listing for a local bakery

Give your business its own page with your description, photos, hours and contact details. Every listing is reviewed by a real person, and you get a free “Listed on Advanton” badge for your website.

Add your business free · Browse the directory

Guides to help you grow

  • Hiring Your First Employee: The Step-by-Step Checklist

    Everything to set up before your first hire starts work, from tax forms and new-hire reporting to payroll and workers' compensation.

  • How to Finance Business Growth: Your Options Compared

    From lines of credit to SBA loans and equipment financing, the main ways to fund growth, what they really cost, and which to avoid.

  • How to Keep Customers Coming Back: A Practical Retention Plan

    Winning a customer is expensive. Keeping one is cheap. A simple plan to turn first-time buyers into regulars and referrers.

  • Small Business Taxes and Bookkeeping: What Changed for 2026

    The bookkeeping habits that keep you out of trouble, and the 2026 changes to 1099 forms every small business should know.

  • Using AI in a Small Business: Practical Uses and Sensible Limits

    Most small businesses say they use AI, but few have built it into how they work. Where it genuinely helps, where it doesn't, and how to start safely.

  • UPS Hubs and Shipping Networks Explained: A 2026 Shipping Guide for Small Businesses

All guides to growing your business

See all growth guides

Sources

  1. Clutch, 2025 small business website survey, via Business Wire
  2. BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026

Last reviewed October 23, 2026. Startup costs are estimates; check local prices, licensing and tax rules before you commit money.

Start and grow

  • Start a business, A to Z
  • Industry data
  • Services owners use
  • Grow your business

Free tools

  • Website builder
  • Business Planner
  • Quotes and invoices
  • Rewards program
  • Brand & Print Studio
  • All free tools

Get online

  • Launch your business online
  • Domains and hosting
  • Verify your new domain
  • Upload your website
  • Set up business email
  • For contractors

Advanton

  • About
  • Contact
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  • Add your business
  • Back up your work
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Advanton Free guides and tools for US small businesses.

Advanton earns money when you buy a domain or hosting through our store. It helps keep our guides and tools free.

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About ADVANTON

ADVANTON empowers small businesses with the world’s leading CLOUD solution for local business marketing. Our technology solves one major challenge for every small business and that is acquiring local customers. Over 10,000 small businesses generate business leads and revenues every month. Are you the next?

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