WHAT SHOULD A SMALL BUSINESS WEBSITE INCLUDE?
A small business website needs exactly what a customer needs: proof you're real, proof you're good, and a frictionless way to start a job. Here's the checklist we build against, in priority order.
THE NON-NEGOTIABLES
That's the top half, and it's ruthless on purpose: SOCi's 2024 research found 47% of consumers immediately look for an alternative business when online info is missing or wrong. The site's first job is making sure nothing a customer needs is missing.
THE TRUST LAYER
THE INVISIBLE LAYER, WHERE SITES WIN OR LOSE
Two items customers never consciously see. First: mobile speed. Most local searches happen on phones, and a site that's slow or janky there fails the 57% test above before anyone reads a word. Second: structure. Clean headings, titles, and business markup (name, area, services, hours) that search engines and, increasingly, AI assistants parse when deciding whom to show and cite. Same facts, machine-readable.
Neither requires anything exotic. They require the site being built with intent rather than assembled, which is the actual difference between a website that includes everything on this list and one that technically has the pages.
WHAT YOU CAN LEAVE OUT
Enough to give each core service and your service area a real answer. For most local businesses that's roughly five to ten focused pages. Depth per page beats page count.
Yes. A lot of homeowners research at night and won't call at 9 p.m. A form captures the lead you'd otherwise never know existed, and gives you the customer's details in writing.
They fail separately. Stanford's research says 75% judge credibility by design, but design can't answer "do they serve my town?" You need the checklist's content wrapped in a design that doesn't undermine it.
GOT A SITE IN MIND?
Price it in 60 seconds, or just tell a human what you're building.