When small businesses start thinking about a website, the conversation often begins with what it should look like.
Colours matter. Fonts matter. Good design matters.
But before any of that, the website needs to do something useful for the business.
For most small businesses, that job is fairly simple: help somebody understand what you do, decide whether you can help them, and make it easy for them to take the next step.
What Does a Small Business Website Actually Need?
You usually need far less than you think.
A simple service business can often begin with four core areas:
| HOME Helps visitors quickly understand what the business does and where to go next. | SERVICES Explains what you offer, who it is for and what someone can actually contact you about. |
| ABOUT Gives people enough context to understand who is behind the business and why they should feel comfortable dealing with you. | CONTACT Makes the next step obvious, whether that is sending an enquiry, requesting a quote, booking or getting in touch. |
That is enough for a surprising number of businesses.
You can always add more later when the business genuinely needs it.
Think About Jobs, Not Pages
It is easy to get caught up deciding whether you need five pages, six pages or ten.
A better way to think about it is what visitors need to accomplish when they arrive.
| A VISITOR SHOULD BE ABLE TO: ✓ understand what the business does |
If the website does those things well, it is already doing most of its job.
What Should Go on the Home Page?
The home page is not meant to contain every piece of information about the business.
It is there to orient somebody quickly.
A useful home page normally answers:
• What does this business do?
• Who does it help?
• What services or products are available?
• Why should I keep looking?
• What should I do next?
If someone lands on the website and still cannot work out what the business actually offers after a few seconds, the page is making them work too hard.
When Do Services Need Their Own Pages?
Not every service needs a separate page.
If you offer three simple services that can each be explained in a short paragraph, one Services page may be perfectly adequate.
Separate pages become useful when a service needs more explanation, has its own audience, answers different questions or is important enough that people may search for it directly.
| A SIMPLE TEST If somebody searched only for this service, would there be enough useful information to justify giving it its own page? |
If the answer is yes, a separate page probably makes sense.
The About Page Does Not Need Your Life Story
People often either ignore the About page completely or try to write an autobiography.
Neither is necessary.
The page simply needs to give visitors enough context to understand who is behind the business, what kind of work you do and why you are credible enough to consider.
For a solo business, that might mean introducing the person behind it. For a larger business, it may focus more on the company, team and way of working.
The goal is reassurance, not a memoir.
Make Contact Ridiculously Easy
A website can look excellent and still fail if somebody reaches the end and cannot work out how to contact you.
Do not make visitors search for a tiny email address hidden in the footer.
Use obvious contact options where they make sense:
• contact form
• email address
• phone number
• WhatsApp
• booking link
• physical address, where relevant
You do not necessarily need every option. You just need the ones you are actually prepared to respond to.
What About Extra Pages?
Extra pages should exist because the business needs them, not because somebody told you a proper website is supposed to have a certain number.
Depending on the business, useful additions might include:
• Projects or case studies
• Pricing
• FAQs
• Resources
• Testimonials
• Booking information
• Individual service pages
A five-page website is not automatically less professional than a fifteen-page one.
If five pages contain everything your customers actually need, adding ten more will not make the website better.
Start Small and Add What Earns Its Place
A small business website does not need to launch as the final version it will ever become.
It needs to represent the business as it exists now and give customers an easy way to understand and contact you.
As the business grows, you may add services, case studies, resources or additional functionality. That is normal.
Start with the pages that have a job to do. Make those pages useful. Add more when there is a real reason.
| CONTINUE READING Before the website is built, it helps to have the content, images and business information ready. That is what What to Prepare Before Building a Website covers next. |
