What should a small business website include?

What should a small business website include?

A small business website should tell a visitor what you do, where you are, when you are open, what it costs and how to get in touch. If a customer can find those five things on their phone in a few seconds, the website is doing its main job.

• What you do and for whom, in one plain sentence.
• Your area or address, with a map.
• Your opening hours.
• Your services and prices, or at least starting prices.
• A clear way to contact you: a phone number, an email address and a short form.
• Real photographs of your premises and your work.
• A link to your Google reviews, so visitors can see what customers say.
• The legal details UK rules ask for, covered further down this guide.

Everything else on a small business website is there to support those points. A gallery shows the quality of your work, a menu answers the question a café customer is really asking, and a booking button saves a phone call.

What goes on the first screen of a business website?

The first screen of a business website should show your business name, what you do, where you do it and one button to act on. That screen is the only part every visitor is sure to see, so it has to answer the first question on its own.

A good first screen for a barber might read: the shop name, a line such as "Haircuts and beard trims in Tottenham", a photograph of the real shop, and a button that says "Book a cut" or "Call us". A visitor knows at once that they are in the right place.

Avoid a slogan that could belong to any business. Words like "quality service you can trust" tell the visitor nothing. Name the service, the area and the next step instead. A real photograph of your premises or your work does more than any stock picture, because customers want to see what they will actually get.

Which pages does a small business website need?

Many small businesses need only one well-built page, and a business that takes bookings, shows a menu or wins work by quotes usually needs a few more. The right number of pages depends on what customers come to the website to do.

A one-page site works when customers mainly want your prices, hours and location: a barber, a nail bar or a corner shop. Everything sits in one scroll, which suits a phone well.

Several pages make sense when each page answers a different question. A restaurant might have a menu page, a trade business a page of finished jobs, and a salon a page per treatment. Each extra page needs its own text and photographs, so add a page only when it answers something customers ask.

At Nuvapage, Starter is a polished one-page site with a full-screen photograph at the top, services, prices, hours and map, and a contact button and form. Business has several pages, designed to win enquiries, with a gallery, booking or menu, a link to your Google reviews and a quote form.

What does UK law require on a business website?

A UK limited company must show its full company name, registered number, registered office address and the part of the UK it is registered in on its website. Any business that collects personal details, for example through a contact form, should also give people a privacy notice.

The company details come from GOV.UK's guidance for limited companies. Its list for websites is: the registered number, the registered office address, where the company is registered (England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland) and the fact that it is a limited company, usually by giving the full name including Limited or Ltd. These details usually sit in the footer of every page.

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) says you should give your privacy notice to people when you first collect their personal details. It says the notice should cover why you are processing their data, how long you will keep it, and who you will share it with, and that it should be simple to read and easy to find. A link next to the contact form is a common way to do this.

On cookies, the ICO says visitors need to be told that cookies are being used and what they do, and that cookies which are not strictly necessary need the visitor's agreement. The ICO notes this guidance is under review after the Data (Use and Access) Act, so check its current pages before relying on the detail. The simplest route for a small website is to set no cookies that need consent at all.

What makes a small business website work on a phone?

A small business website works on a phone when it is designed for the small screen first, loads quickly and can be read and used by everyone. A customer looking for a barber or a café nearby is very often holding a phone, not sitting at a desk.

• Designed for phones first: large text, buttons big enough for a thumb, and the phone number as a tap-to-call link.
• Fast: photographs sized for the screen, not straight from the camera. A free tool such as Google Lighthouse shows how quickly a page loads.
• Readable: dark enough text on a plain enough background, and headings that say what each part is about.
• Usable without a mouse: a website that works with a keyboard also works better for people using screen readers.

Every Nuvapage package includes a site designed for phones first, speed-tested with Google Lighthouse, and accessible: readable colours, works with a keyboard.

What can a small business website leave out?

A small business website can leave out anything that does not help a customer decide to visit, call or book. Each extra part is one more thing for a visitor to scroll past before they find your number.

• Sliders that change picture every few seconds: the message a visitor needs may be on a slide they never see, and the extra pictures add weight to the page.
• A blog you will not keep up: an old post with last year's date makes the whole site look abandoned.
• Long company history: two or three sentences about who you are is enough for most local businesses.
• Every social media feed: a link to your Instagram does the same job and keeps the page fast.
• Features you do not need yet: online selling or online deposits can be added later, when there is a reason.

A checklist to use before your website goes live

Before a small business website goes live, check it on your own phone against the list below. If any point fails, fix that before you share the link.

1. Your business name, what you do and your area are on the first screen.
2. Your phone number opens a call when you tap it.
3. Your opening hours and address are correct and match your Google Business Profile.
4. Your prices are current, or the site says clearly how to get a price.
5. The contact form sends a test message to your inbox.
6. The privacy page is linked from the contact form and from the footer.
7. If you are a limited company, your company name, number, registered office and place of registration are in the footer.
8. Every photograph shows your real premises or your real work.
9. The web address is your own domain, registered in your name.

How do I get a website with all of this?

You can build one yourself with the checklist above, or ask a designer to include every point in a fixed quote. Either way, agree the price and what is included before any work starts.

At Nuvapage, every price is agreed before work begins. Half to start, half when you approve the preview. Starter is from £450 and Business is from £850. Every package includes privacy, terms and refund page templates, enquiries straight to your inbox, and your own domain, in your name.

For Starter and Business, your preview comes within 21 days of getting your photos and details, or your deposit back in full. You can see the packages in the prices section of our home page, or email hello@nuvapage.co.uk with a few lines about your business.