A small business website has three jobs: tell people what you do, answer the questions they would otherwise call you about, and make it easy to get in touch or buy. Most small businesses need three to five pages to do that. Everything else on this page is detail on those three jobs.
What a small business website has to do
Before someone calls you, they look you up. Your website is often the first thing they find, and it has a few seconds to answer three questions:
- What do you do, and is it for me? The service, who it's for and where you work, in the first screen.
- Can I trust you? Real photos, real work, reviews and a person behind the business.
- What do I do next? A phone number, a WhatsApp link, a form or a booking button that's easy to find on a phone.
If a page doesn't help with one of those, it probably doesn't belong on a five-page site.
- What do you do?
- Can I trust you?
- What do I do next?
What do you do, can I trust you, and what do I do next.
The pages you need
| Page | What it does | Do you need it? |
|---|---|---|
| Home | Says what you do, for whom and where, and points to the next step | Yes |
| Services (or Menu) | Lists what you sell, with prices when you can share them | Yes |
| About | Shows the person or team behind the business | Usually |
| Contact | Phone, email or WhatsApp, a form, your hours and area | Yes |
| FAQ, gallery or reviews | Answers repeat questions and shows the work | When you have the material |
Add a privacy policy if your site has a contact form or analytics, since you're collecting information about visitors.
What goes on the home page
The home page does most of the work, so it's worth planning section by section. From top to bottom:
- The first screen. One sentence that says what you do, for whom and where, and one button for the next step. "Cuban home cooking delivered around Lakeland. See the menu." beats "Welcome to our website."
- What you offer. Your main services or products, each with a line on who it's for and a link to more detail. If you can show a price or a starting price, do.
- Proof. Photos of your real work, place or team, and reviews with names. Stock photos of smiling strangers don't count.
- How it works. Three or four short steps from "I'm interested" to "it's done", so nobody has to guess what happens after they reach out.
- Questions. The four or five questions you answer every week, answered once.
- The next step, again. Repeat the contact button at the end, with your hours and the area you serve.
On a phone, that's one long scroll. Keep each section short enough that someone can read it standing in line.
Your domain and your email
Register the domain in your own name. Your domain (yourbusiness.com) is your address online. ICANN, the organization that coordinates domain names, puts it plainly in its guide to registrants' benefits and responsibilities: the person who registers a domain assumes "sole responsibility for the registration and use" of it. If a designer or a former partner registers it in their name, you can lose control of it. Keep the login, and keep your contact details on the registration up to date.
Pick something people can spell after hearing it once. Short, no hyphens, and close to your business name. In the US, I'd still pick a .com when you can get one.
Use an email on your domain. hello@yourbusiness.com looks more established than a free address on a quote or an invoice, and it stays yours if you change email providers.
Know what the domain costs every year. Many website builders include the domain free for the first year, then charge for renewal. Squarespace, for example, lists one free year of domain registration with its annual plans.
What every page needs to get right
It works on a phone. Plenty of people will look you up on their phone, so the text has to be readable without zooming and the contact button has to be easy to tap.
It loads fast. Large photos are a common reason a small site feels slow. Compressed images and a simple layout fix most of it.
Anyone can use it. The ADA applies to businesses open to the public, and the Department of Justice says that includes what they offer on the web. It points to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) as guidance: readable contrast, text descriptions for images, a site you can use with a keyboard.
The contact path is obvious. One clear way to reach you on every page beats five options hidden in the footer.
Showing up on Google
Two things matter most for a new local business:
- Clear page titles and text. Google's own SEO starter guide says a good title is "unique to the page, clear and concise, and accurately describes the contents of the page." Say what you do and where, in plain words.
- A Google Business Profile. It's what shows your business on Google Maps and in local results, and you can add or claim it at no charge. Google asks the owner to verify it, and my local SEO starter sets it up with you.
Expect it to take time. Google's guide says some changes take effect in hours and others take several months, and suggests waiting a few weeks before judging the results.
What it costs
A website can cost anything from a monthly builder subscription you set up yourself to several thousand dollars for a custom build with ongoing care. What moves the price is how many pages you need, who writes the text, whether you need online booking or payments, and who keeps the site running after launch.
My prices are fixed: $2,500 for the build plus $100 a month for care, or $250 a month for 18 months, then $100 a month. Both include up to five pages, hosting and an editor for your text. For the full breakdown, with the DIY and freelancer paths side by side, read what a small business website costs.
Do it yourself, hire a freelancer or work with a studio
| You build it | A freelancer or studio builds it | |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | Low | Higher |
| Your time | Hours to learn the builder and write every page | A few conversations and your feedback |
| Design and text | Up to you | Planned with you |
| When something breaks | You fix it | Someone else does, if there's a care plan |
Building it yourself makes sense when your budget is tight and you have time to learn. Hiring someone makes sense when your time is better spent on the business. If you're weighing that option, here's what it costs to hire a web designer and what the price should include.
How long it takes
A five-page site can be online within a couple of weeks once the content is ready. The usual delay is the text and photos. I aim to launch within 10 business days once your content, access and first payment are in. The week-by-week timeline shows what happens and what you'll need to send.
After launch: keeping it running
A website isn't finished on launch day. Someone has to keep the software updated, check that it's secure and online, and change the text when your hours, prices or services change. Either you do it, or it's part of a care plan, which is what my $100 a month covers. Website maintenance has its own guide, week by week.
What different businesses need
The five pages above cover most small businesses, but the details change with what you sell:
| Business | What matters most on the site |
|---|---|
| Restaurants, home kitchens, food trucks | The full menu with prices and photos, hours, location, and one clear way to order. More on restaurant websites. |
| Contractors and home services | The services you offer, the area you cover, photos of finished jobs and a quote request |
| Therapists, dentists and health practices | Who you help, how to book, insurance or payment details, and privacy around the contact form |
| Advisors, coaches and creators | What you offer and at what price, your story, results and a way to book a call |
| Shops and makers | Products with photos and prices, how to buy, shipping or pickup |
If you're in Florida, I also have pages for businesses in Lakeland and Polk County and in Miami, Hialeah and Broward.
How to tell if your website is working
A website is working if it brings you customers. You don't need a dashboard full of charts to know that, just three numbers once a month:
- Inquiries. How many messages, calls, form submissions or WhatsApp chats came from the site. This is the number that matters most. Ask new customers how they found you, and count it.
- Searches. Google Search Console is a free Google service that shows how often your site appears in Google, which searches show it, and how often people click. If people search for what you do in your area and see you, it's working.
- Visits. Analytics tells you how many people came and which pages they read. If they land on your services page and leave, that page needs work.
If the numbers stay flat for a few months, the fix is usually in the words: say more clearly what you do, where, and what it costs.
A website or just social media?
Plenty of businesses start on Instagram, Facebook or TikTok, and that's a fine place to start. But you rent that space. The platform decides who sees your posts, can change the rules overnight, and a lot of people searching on Google will never open your profile.
A website is the one place online that's fully yours. It's what Google shows when someone searches for your business, and it's where your social profiles, your Google Business Profile and your business cards can all point. Most small businesses end up with both: social media to stay in front of people, and a website to answer their questions and turn them into customers.
Common mistakes
- Saying everything except what you do. "Quality and passion since 2024" tells a visitor nothing. Name the service and the place.
- Hiding the price completely. You don't have to publish every number, but "starting at" or a typical range saves both of you a call. I publish my own prices for that reason.
- Five ways to contact you, none of them obvious. Pick the one you answer fastest and make it the main button.
- Building it and forgetting it. Old hours, a closed location or last year's prices cost you more trust than having no website. If yours has drifted that far, here's when a redesign makes sense.
- Letting someone else own the domain. It's the one part of your website you can't easily replace.
Questions people ask about small business websites
How many pages does a small business website need? Three to five covers most businesses: home, services, about and contact, plus a FAQ, gallery or reviews page when you have the material.
How much does a small business website cost? From a builder subscription you run yourself to a few thousand dollars for a custom build with care. The full cost breakdown has real prices and a 3-year calculator.
Can I build it myself? Yes. Website builders make it possible without code. The trade-off is your time, now and every time something needs changing.
Do I need a website if I'm on Instagram? If people search for you on Google, yes. Social media keeps you in front of people. The website answers their questions and is the part you own.
How long does it take? About two weeks for a five-page site once the content is ready. It's all in the week-by-week timeline.
A short checklist before you start
- Write one sentence that says what you do, for whom and where.
- List the questions customers ask you most.
- Collect your logo, a few real photos and any text you already have.
- Decide how you want people to contact you.
- Claim your Google Business Profile.
- Register the business first, if you haven't. In Florida, here's the step-by-step checklist.
If you want help with any of it, I build websites for people starting a business, in English or Spanish. Here's a bit about me and how I work. You can also see a live site I built for a family kitchen.
