Websites — 5 min read
What Every Small Business Website Should Include
A short, specific list of what belongs on a small business website — and what can safely be left off.
Updated 2026
Most small business websites are simultaneously too big and too thin: fifteen pages of general statements, and no clear answer to the four questions every visitor actually has. What do you do? Do you do it near me? Can I trust you? What do I do next?
Above the fold, on a phone
- What you do, in plain words — 'Family dentistry in Putnam', not 'Redefining care'
- Where you do it
- One obvious action: call, book, quote
- A real photograph of the business
A page per service you actually want to sell
A single page listing eight services ranks for none of them and convinces nobody. A dedicated page for each significant service — what it involves, who it suits, what it costs or starts at, what happens next — is how you get found and how you get chosen.
Only build pages for work you want more of. A page for a service you tolerate will bring you more of it.
Proof, in the order people trust it
- Photographs of your own work and premises
- Named reviews and testimonials, ideally with a town
- Before and after, where the work allows it
- Certifications, licenses and insurance, stated plainly
- Years in business and number of jobs or clients served
A human page
Faces and first names. For most local businesses this is one of the two or three most visited pages on the site, because people want to know who is coming to their home or handling their money. A group photograph and three sentences each is enough.
Contact information that works everywhere
Tappable phone number, mapped address, hours including holiday exceptions, and a short form. Put the essentials in the footer of every page so nobody has to navigate to reach you.
Keep forms short. Every additional field reduces completion. Name, contact, and what they need is usually enough — you can ask the rest on the phone.
What you can leave off
- A mission statement nobody will read
- A blog you won't maintain — three stale posts is worse than none
- Sliders and auto-playing carousels
- A pop-up that appears before the visitor has read anything
- Stock photography of people who don't work for you
The short version
Answer four questions clearly — what, where, why you, what next — and you'll outperform most sites in your market regardless of budget.