What every small-business website needs (and what it can skip)

A small-business website has one job: help the right visitor understand what you do and contact you. Everything on the page should serve that. Here is what to include, and what you can skip.

The essentials

1. A clear one-sentence offer at the top. Visitors decide in seconds. “Plumbing and geyser repairs in Pretoria East” beats “Welcome to our website”.
2. An obvious way to contact you. A phone number that can be tapped, an email and a short form. Put it in the header and repeat it at the end of every page.
3. A layout that works on a phone. Most visitors arrive on mobile. Test it on a real phone.
4. Speed. Heavy images and bloated templates make people leave. Pages should load fast on a mobile connection.
5. Proof you can be trusted. Real photos, real examples, reviews, accreditations, and a physical or service area.
6. Plain-language services pages. Say what you do, who it’s for and how to start.
7. Basic search setup. A clear title and description on each page, sensible headings, and a sitemap so Google can find everything.
8. Security and ownership. An SSL certificate (the padlock), regular updates and a site you own.

What you can skip at launch

• A blog you won’t maintain.
• Sliders and autoplay animation.
• Social feeds that slow the page down.
• Pages with nothing real to say.

A word on templates

Template builders are fine for a very simple page, but they can be slow, hard to customise and awkward to leave. A custom-built site matched to your brand loads faster and can grow with you.

What we offer

Our Growth package is a custom-built, multi-page website that fits your brand and converts visitors into customers, hosted and maintained, with SSL and ongoing support included. See the Services page or get a quote.