At two o'clock in the morning, Chen Lei, the owner of a garment trading company in Hangzhou, was still staring at the backend of his website on his phone screen. His corporate website had only been live for three days, yet backend data showed a 40% increase in inquiries from Southeast Asia compared to the same period last year. This change stemmed from a decision he made last month: abandoning the ‘comprehensive but costly’ website built by an outsourced company for 20,000 yuan, and instead adopting a lightweight corporate website building tool.

Chen Lei's story is not an isolated case. At the just-concluded 2024 China SME Digital Transformation Summit, a set of data sparked heated discussion: over 60% of SME corporate websites are in a ‘zombie state’—either left unupdated for years or simply inaccessible. Meanwhile, search volume for the keyword ‘corporate website building’ has surged by 170% over the past year, with mobile devices accounting for more than 80% of searches. Behind this lies a quietly unfolding ‘lightweight revolution’ in corporate website building.

‘In the past, building a corporate website was a major project, often costing tens of thousands of yuan, and you needed to maintain an IT team,’ a seasoned website building service provider, who requested anonymity, told reporters. ‘But now, many business owners find they can launch a fully functional official website in just two days with a template and AI-generated tools, costing only a few thousand or even a few hundred yuan.’ This shift has directly triggered an explosion in the ‘lightweight corporate website building’ track.

Reporters visited multiple electronics component vendors in Huaqiangbei, Shenzhen—once a stronghold for ‘ground promotion and flyer distribution.’ Today, almost every stall has a QR code posted at its entrance. ‘Scan it to see our official website’ has become the new business password. Vendor Sister Zhang's website has only five pages, but it includes product images, specifications, and inventory status. ‘Previously, customers had to email us to ask for specs; now they check it themselves, saving us labor,’ she said.

This ‘lightweight’ trend is not just about cost reduction. In Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, a precision mold factory used a corporate website building tool to connect with an overseas B2B platform, securing two orders from Germany within three months. The owner, Mr. Wang, admitted: ‘We didn't even have a decent English website before. Customers couldn't find any information about us, so they simply ignored us.’ In his view, corporate website building is no longer a ‘vanity project’ but a ‘survival necessity.’

However, being lightweight does not mean being simplistic. Reporters found that next-generation corporate website building tools commonly integrate SEO optimization, online customer service, data analytics, and even AI content generation. A technical lead explained: ‘We help clients automatically generate product descriptions and press releases, and even recommend different page layouts based on user browsing behavior—things traditional website building companies cannot do.’

Yet challenges remain. Many SME owners report that while the barrier to building a website has been lowered, ‘how to operate it after building it’ remains a puzzle. A secretary-general of an industry association pointed out: ‘Many companies build a website and then leave content untouched for six months, naturally resulting in zero traffic.’ He suggested that businesses should treat their websites as ‘digital employees’ rather than ‘digital business cards,’ investing consistently in content operations and SEO optimization.

On a global scale, the market landscape for corporate website building is also being reshaped. According to forecasts by third-party institutions, China's corporate website building market will exceed 80 billion yuan by 2025, with AI-driven lightweight website building accounting for over 40% of the share. In this wave, whoever can provide SMEs with truly ‘user-friendly, affordable, and profit-generating’ website building solutions will hold the ticket to the digital future.

At one o'clock in the morning, Chen Lei updated his website's product images once more. He smiled and told reporters: ‘I used to think building a corporate website was just spending money. Now I know it's the starting point for making money.’