A website for a small business — what you actually need

Most guides about websites for small businesses are written by people who sell websites. That is where the lists of twenty "essential" features come from, half of which have never brought anybody a customer. This piece goes the other way: what genuinely has to be there, what is nice to have, and what you can comfortably skip.

Start with one question

Before you think about how it looks, answer this: what should happen when somebody lands on your site?

They should call. They should write. They should book a slot. They should walk into the workshop. They should buy something.

That one sentence decides everything else. A plumber's site that exists to bring in calls looks nothing like a clinic's site that exists to fill a calendar. If you cannot say that sentence out loud, no designer can help you — they will build something handsome that does nothing.

Four things that must be there

A phone number visible immediately. Not in the footer, not on a separate "Contact" page. At the top, tappable on a phone. It sounds obvious, and it is the single most common mistake I see. Somebody is looking for you on their phone, in a car park, in a hurry — if they have to hunt for the number, they will call your competitor.

A plain answer to what you do and where. "Comprehensive solutions for demanding clients" means nothing. "Washing machine and dishwasher repairs, Bristol and surrounding area, same-day callout" means everything. Google reads this too.

Proof that you actually exist. Photos of your own work, not stock images. A real name. An address, if you have premises. Reviews, if you collect them. Somebody about to spend money is looking for signals that this is not a shell.

Speed. This is a business matter, not a technical one. If the page takes four seconds, some people close it before seeing anything at all. I go into where that slowness comes from, and what removes it, in the piece on leaving WordPress behind.

Nice, but not urgent

• A blog. It works very well, but only if you actually write. An empty "News" tab with one post from two years ago does more harm than good.
• A portfolio gallery. Worth it if your work is visual. A hairdresser yes, an accountant probably not.
• A contact form. Useful, but it does not replace a phone number. Most people would rather call.
• A second language. Only if you genuinely serve those customers. Otherwise it is double the work for no return.

What you can skip

This part will be unpopular, because these are the items that look good on a quote.

Scroll animations and effects. They impress the designer. They slow the customer down, and on a weaker phone they stutter.

A slider at the top of the page. Usability research has said the same thing for years: people look at the first slide and scroll past. The rest is work nobody will ever see.

An elaborate self-editing panel. It sounds tempting — "you'll be able to change everything yourself". In practice most business owners log in once, at handover, and never again. The panel still has to be updated and secured, so you keep paying for it without using it.

Live chat. It makes sense when somebody is sitting there answering. An unattended chat saying "we'll get back to you" is worse than no chat at all.

How many pages you really need

For most small businesses, four will do:

1. Home — who you are, what you do, how to reach you
2. Services — specifically what you do and for whom
3. Work or About — the proof
4. Contact — phone, email, address, hours

Anything beyond that should justify itself. Ten pages nobody has ever visited do not help you in Google — and sometimes they hurt, because they scatter the signal.

The most common mistake

The site describes the company instead of solving the visitor's problem.

"We are a company with 15 years of experience, focused on quality and customer satisfaction" — that is how most small business sites open. Meanwhile the person who landed there has a flooded bathroom and wants to know one thing: can you come today.

Write your site as answers to the questions customers already ask you on the phone. It is the best material you have, and it costs nothing.

Where to start

Not with the design, and not with the technology. With writing down the questions you hear most often, and one sentence about what should happen after somebody arrives.

If you want to talk it through, describe your situation in the order builder — a few plain questions, no jargon, no commitment. I will tell you what makes sense in your case, including when the answer is "less than you think".