What a small-business website actually needs
By Fat Yak Media · Updated 2026-07-29
What should a small business website include?
A small-business website needs seven things — instant loading, an obvious first-screen answer to "what do you do and where", a visible phone number or booking button, proof like reviews and photos of real work, a page per service, a page per area served, and a frictionless contact form. Everything else is optional.
Key facts
- ▸Visitors decide whether to stay in seconds; the first screen does most of the work.
- ▸A page per service and per area is what lets a site show up for "service + suburb" searches.
- ▸Most local-business traffic is on phones — a site that fails on mobile fails, full stop.
- ▸Photos of real work and real people outperform stock photography for trust.
Most small-business websites fail the same way: built once, built pretty, built without a job description. Here’s the job description — seven things, in priority order.
1. It loads before they give up
Speed comes first because nothing else gets seen without it. Every second of loading bleeds visitors back to Google. This one matters enough that it has its own guide.
2. The first screen answers three questions
What do you do, where do you do it, and what should I tap next. A visitor should know all three without scrolling: “Emergency plumbing across Northside — Call now.” If your first screen is a slideshow and a welcome message, you’re paying for visitors and showing them a riddle.
3. The phone number is always one thumb away
On mobile — where most of your visitors are — a tap-to-call button should follow the visitor down every page. Every extra step between “I’m convinced” and “it’s ringing” loses real jobs.
4. Proof beats promises
Reviews pulled from Google, photos of actual jobs, the real team, recognisable local landmarks. Visitors have seen ten thousand stock photos; they trust none of them. Your slightly imperfect photo of Tuesday’s finished job is worth more than any of it.
5. A page for every service
One “Our Services” page listing nine things ranks for none of them. A dedicated page for each service — what it costs, how it works, photos, questions answered — can rank for each. This is the difference between a brochure and a site that gets found.
6. A page for every area
Same logic, geographic edition. Google matches searches like “electrician Northside” to pages about electrical work in Northside. No page, no match. Genuine local detail — jobs done there, landmarks, service notes — keeps these pages useful rather than wallpaper.
7. A contact form with no homework
Name, contact, “what do you need” — three fields. Every additional field costs conversions. And answer fast: the business that replies within the hour usually takes the job.
What you can skip
Animations, sliders, background video, award badges nobody’s heard of, and anything described as “digital experience”. They cost speed (see #1) and add nothing a customer cares about. Every site we build is these seven things done properly — if yours is missing a few, the free check-up will show you which.
More questions, answered
Do I need a blog?
Not on day one. A blog only helps if it answers questions your customers actually search — done well, that grows visits over time. Done as an obligation ("we should post something"), it's wasted effort. Nail the seven essentials first.
How many pages should my site have?
A homepage, one page per service, one per area you serve, an about page and a contact page. For a typical local business that's somewhere between eight and twenty-five pages — small, but each one has a job.
Should I have prices on my website?
If you can, yes — even ranges. "From $X" filters out tyre-kickers and builds trust with everyone else. If your work genuinely varies too much, explain what drives the price instead of hiding it.