There's a lot of noise online about what your website "must" have. Most of it is nonsense dressed up in jargon. After building sites for plenty of local businesses, here's what actually earns its place, and what you can happily ignore.
The things that genuinely matter
It has to be quick
People give up on slow websites in seconds, and Google pushes slow sites down the results. Speed isn't a nice-to-have, it's the foundation. If your current site takes an age to load, that alone is costing you customers. I've written more on what you're really paying for if you're weighing up a rebuild.
It has to work on a phone
Most people will see your site on their phone, not a laptop. If they have to pinch and zoom to read it or tap tiny buttons, they're gone. Everything I build is designed for the phone first and the desktop second, because that's how people actually browse.
It has to be obvious how to contact you
Sounds daft, but it's the most common mistake I see. Your phone number should be one tap away on every page, ideally click-to-call, with WhatsApp and a simple form as backup. Don't make a ready-to-book customer hunt for it.
It has to say what you do and where
- Clear services, in plain words a normal person would use.
- The towns and areas you cover, so both Google and your customer know you're local to them.
- Real photos of your actual work, not stock images of someone else's.
- Your reviews front and centre, because that's what people trust.
It has to be findable on Google
A beautiful website that nobody can find is a very expensive business card. Proper page structure, sensible words, and local SEO set up from day one are what get you showing up when someone nearby searches.
A good small business website does one job above all others: it turns a stranger who's searching into an enquiry in your inbox. Everything else is decoration.
The things you can skip
- A pop-up that ambushes people the second they land. They annoy far more people than they convert.
- Slabs of clever animation and auto-playing video that slow everything to a crawl and get in the way of the message.
- A live chat widget you'll never actually man. An unanswered chat box is worse than none.
- Ten different fonts and every colour going. Clean and consistent beats busy every time.
Keep it simple
The best small business websites aren't the flashiest. They're quick, clear, easy to use on a phone, and they make getting in touch effortless. Nail those and you're ahead of most of your competition. If you want a site built around what actually matters rather than what's fashionable, let's have a chat.
Thinking about a new website?
I build sites for small businesses across Burnley and the North West. Fixed prices, no jargon.