What Should Every Small Business Website Have?
Plenty of small business websites look fine and still don't work. The difference usually isn't design polish; it's whether a handful of basics are there. We see the same gaps over and over, whether it's a garden maintenance business, a car garage, or a fishmonger's counter.
The non-negotiables
- A clear, working phone number, ideally clickable on mobile (tel: links)
- What you do and where you do it, in plain language, above the fold
- Real photos of your actual work, not stock images
- A way to get in touch that doesn't require an email client to open
- Your opening hours, if that's relevant to how customers reach you
The things that quietly matter more than people think
A title tag and meta description that describe the page (not "Home | Untitled Site"), a mobile viewport so it doesn't look broken on a phone, and a fast load time. Most visitors on mobile data will bounce off a slow site before it finishes loading, whether they're checking a landscaper's before-and-after photos or a butcher's opening hours.
The order that actually gets results
Nail the basics first
Phone number, service area and real photos, visible without hunting for them.
Make contact effortless
A tap-to-call number and a form that doesn't ask for more than it needs.
Get it indexed properly
Title tags, a sitemap, and a Google Business Profile connected to it.
Add the extras later
A blog, a bigger portfolio, booking widgets: worth having, but only once the basics are solid.
What you can skip, at least at first
A blog, a members area, live chat, a huge portfolio: none of these matter if the basics above aren't nailed first. Get found, get contacted, get the job. Everything else is optimisation on top of that.
It's tempting to think a website needs to be impressive. Mostly it needs to be functional, fast, and honest about what you do; impressive is what happens once those are solid.
For a trade-specific version of this checklist, see our garage website checklist, whether you need one at all and our FAQ.
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