Guides · 5 min read

What a small business website actually needs: 7 things

Most website checklists are written for marketers, not for a plumber or a salon owner. For a local service business the site has one job: someone searches, finds you, and gets in touch. These seven things do that job. Everything else is decoration.

1. Your phone number where a thumb can reach it

On mobile, the call button belongs at the top and it must actually dial, not open a contact page. Half your visitors want exactly this and nothing else.

2. Opening hours that are true

Wrong hours cost more trust than no hours. If they live in one place (your Google Business Profile) and the site reads from it, they cannot drift apart.

3. Real photos, not stock

People smell stock photos instantly. Your own work photos, even phone shots, sell better than any glossy library image. You have them already, on your Instagram or Facebook.

4. Your reviews, on the page

A visitor should not need to leave your site to check if you are good. Put the Google reviews right there, names and stars included. Rotate them so returning visitors see fresh ones.

5. Prices, or at least ranges

"Call for prices" filters out the shy majority. Even "from €30" beats silence. List fixed prices where you have them, ranges where you do not.

6. What area you cover

For mobile trades this is the difference between good calls and wasted ones. Name the towns. "Serving Athlone, Moate and Ballinasloe" beats "the midlands".

7. A form for the quiet ones

Some people will not call. A short form (name, phone, what do you need) catches evening browsers and gets you a lead list instead of missed calls.

What you can ignore

A blog you will not write. Animations. A newsletter popup. Six pages about your mission. For a local business these add upkeep, not customers.

Checking the boxes takes an afternoon in a page builder, or about 10 minutes with beopages: all seven come standard because they are built from your Google profile and socials. The preview is free, see pricing for the live plans, or find your trade for specifics.