The short version
A small business website doesn't need to be big. It needs to answer a visitor's questions quickly and make it easy to get in touch. If your site does the twelve things below, it's ahead of most local competitors.
The basics a visitor looks for
- What you do and where, in the first screen. A clear headline like "Plumbing for homes and businesses in Lismore" beats a slogan. Visitors decide in seconds whether they're in the right place.
- A phone number you can tap. On a phone, the number should be a tap-to-call link, visible without scrolling. It sounds obvious, but plenty of local trade sites still get it wrong.
- A short contact or quote form. Some people would rather message than call. Keep it to a few fields: name, phone, what they need, suburb.
- Your services, listed plainly. One line on each service, so people can see you do what they need.
- The areas you cover. List the towns by name. It reassures customers and helps you show up in local searches.
- Proof you're real and good. Real photos of your work and team, reviews from local customers, and any licence or accreditation numbers your trade requires.
The technical things that quietly matter
- It loads fast on mobile. Most local searches happen on phones, often on patchy coverage. Large uncompressed images are the most common cause of slow sites. Run a free check with Google PageSpeed Insights, or use the Tidemark site check.
- It works properly on a phone. Text big enough to read, buttons big enough to tap, and nothing wider than the screen.
- It's secure. The address should start with https and show a padlock. Browsers warn visitors about sites that don't.
- Google can read it. Each page needs a sensible title and description, and your site should be added to Google Search Console so you can see how it's found.
- It's on your own domain. yourbusiness.com.au looks far more trustworthy than a free builder address like yourbusiness.wixsite.com or a subdomain of a booking tool.
- It's up to date. An old copyright year, broken links, leftover template text or last year's prices all tell visitors the business might not be active.
What you can skip
Most small businesses don't need a blog they'll never update, pages of filler text, sliders, or every social media feed embedded on the homepage. Five clear pages that do their job beat twenty that don't.
How many pages do you need?
For most trades and local services, a homepage, a services page (or one page per main service), an about page with real photos, and a contact page are enough to start. Add separate pages for main services or towns once you want to rank for more searches.
Check your own site in five minutes
Open your website on your phone and go through the list. Anything missing is an easy win. If you'd like a second opinion, the free checklist guide goes deeper, or you can book a free 15-minute chat.