Seven things every small business website needs to bring in work

Good small business website design is not decoration. It is the shortest possible path between a stranger with a problem and you picking up the phone. Almost every site that fails to bring in work is missing at least one of the following.

1. A first screen that says what you do and where

Someone should know, within two seconds and without scrolling, what you sell and whether you serve them. Clever taglines lose to plain ones every time.

2. One obvious next action

Pick the single action you want: a call, a quote form, a booking. Repeat it down the page. Three competing buttons split attention and win nothing.

3. Proof that you have done this before

Photos of real work, named reviews, the areas you cover, how long you have been trading. Small businesses win on trust, and trust is built with specifics.

4. Prices, or at least a range

Hiding price does not protect you, it filters out the people who were ready to buy. A starting from figure saves everyone a wasted phone call.

5. Speed on a phone, on mobile data

Most of your visitors are on a phone, often on a poor connection. Heavy sliders and huge unoptimised images cost you enquiries before anyone reads a word.

6. Copy written for a human, not a search engine

Write the way you would explain your work to a neighbour. Search engines reward pages that genuinely answer the question, and people only call when the words sound like a person.

7. Someone who keeps it alive

New service, new prices, new photos, a broken form. Every site needs small changes. The ones that keep earning are the ones where somebody is responsible for making them, which is exactly what our website support covers.

None of this is exotic. It is just deliberate. Get these seven right and an ordinary looking site will out earn a beautiful one. If you would rather not police the list yourself, this is how our small business website design handles it.