12 NOVEMBER 2026
What Should a Small Business Website Include? The essentials — and the mistakes to avoid A practical checklist for any small business: what your website needs to explain what you do, prove you can be trusted, make it easy to get in touch, and be found on Google.
Prepared by Commercefy commercefy.co.uk
Contact info@commercefy.co.uk +44 7503 827786
THE ESSENTIALS
W H AT A W E B S I T E H A S T O D O
Four jobs, one website A small business website has four jobs. It has to explain what you do, prove you can be trusted, make it easy to get in touch — and be findable when someone searches. Most small business websites do one or two of these well and neglect the rest. This guide covers all four, in the order a visitor experiences them. A useful test for every page on your site: could a stranger land on it, understand what you sell, believe you are real, and contact you — all within about thirty seconds? If not, something on this list is missing.
THE 10-POINT CHECKLIST
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A clear offer above the fold What you do, who it is for, and what happens next — visible without scrolling.
2
Trust signals Real reviews, real photos, real contact details.
3
Easy contact and booking A phone number on every page and a short form that asks for the minimum.
4
Fast loading and mobile-friendly pages Most visitors arrive on a phone. The site has to work there first.
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Basic SEO One clear title and heading per page, and the local information Google needs.
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The right pages Home, services, about, contact and FAQ — each doing one job.
7
Real photos, not stock Your premises, your team, your actual work.
8
Up-to-date information Opening hours, prices or price guidance, and services that are still offered.
9
A Google Business Profile Kept current, with the same name, address and phone number as the website.
10
One clear next step on every page Call, book, enquire or get a quote — never a dead end.
COMMERCEFY — WHAT SHOULD A SMALL BUSINESS WEBSITE INCLUDE?
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01
ABOVE THE FOLD
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02
TRUST SIGNALS
First impressions — and proof 01 — A CLEAR OFFER ABOVE THE FOLD “Above the fold” means the part of the page a visitor sees before scrolling. In that space, the site has to answer three questions: what do you do, who is it for, and what should I do next? • Say what you do in plain words. “Plumbing and heating in Manchester” beats a clever slogan every time. A visitor should not have to guess. • Name who it is for. Homeowners, landlords, local restaurants — whoever your real customers are. It tells the right visitor they are in the right place. • Give one clear next step. A phone number, a “Book a free call” button, or a short enquiry form. One action, not five. • Skip the slider. Rotating banners hide your message behind the third slide nobody waits for. One strong headline and one image do more.
02 — TRUST SIGNALS People buy from businesses they believe are real. A new visitor has no reason to trust you yet, so the site has to show its working.
WHAT BUILDS TRUST
WHAT DESTROYS IT
• Real reviews with names, dates and
• Reviews with no names, no dates and no
sources — Google, Trustpilot or
source — or reviews that are clearly
Facebook. A handful of genuine reviews
written by the business itself.
beats a page of anonymous praise. • Real photos of your premises, your team and your finished work. Stock photos of smiling strangers do the opposite of what they are meant to do. • Full contact details — a real address, a phone number that is answered, and an email address on your own domain, not a
• No address and no phone number anywhere on the site. • A contact email on a free provider, which makes a business look temporary. • Claims nobody can check — awards, memberships or guarantees with no evidence behind them.
free mailbox. • Proof of experience where it is true: years trading, qualifications, accreditations, or examples of past work.
The rule: if a claim is on your website, a visitor should be able to check it in under a minute. If they cannot, leave it off.
03
C O N TA C T & B O O K I N G
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04
SPEED & MOBILE
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BASIC SEO
Easy to reach, fast to load, easy to find 03 — EASY CONTACT AND BOOKING • Put the phone number in the header of every page — and make it click-to-call on a phone, so a visitor never has to copy a number. • Keep the contact form short. Name, a way to reply (phone or email), and a message box. Every extra field you add is a reason to give up halfway. • Say what happens next. “We reply within one working day” sets an expectation; silence does not. Then keep to it. • If you take bookings, let people book online. A visitor who is ready at 9pm should not have to wait until your office opens to become a customer.
04 — FAST LOADING AND MOBILE-FRIENDLY • Most visitors arrive on a phone. Design for the small screen first: text that reads without pinching, buttons big enough to tap, and no pop-up covering the page. • Keep pages light. Large uncompressed photos are the usual cause of slow pages. Resize images before uploading them and avoid auto-playing video. • Test it yourself. Open your own site on a phone, on mobile data, and try to do the one thing a customer does — call, book or enquire. If it is awkward for you, it is awkward for them.
05 — BASIC SEO • One clear title per page that says what the page is about and where you are — for example, “Website Design in Aberdeen” rather than “Home”. • One main heading (H1) per page that matches the title and describes the service in plain words. • Local information on every page: the town or city you serve, the areas you cover, and the same name, address and phone number throughout the site. • One page per main service. A single “Services” page that lists everything ranks for nothing; a page for each service gives Google something specific to show. • Keep your Google Business Profile current — same business name, address and phone number as the website, with current hours and photos.
COMMERCEFY — WHAT SHOULD A SMALL BUSINESS WEBSITE INCLUDE?
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T H E PA G E S E V E R Y S I T E N E E D S
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C O M M O N M I S TA K E S
The pages, the mistakes — and what to do next 06 — THE PAGES EVERY SITE SHOULD HAVE • Home — the offer, the proof, and the next step. Nothing else needs to live here. • Services — one page per main service, each explaining what is included, who it is for, and how to start. • About — who runs the business, how long you have been trading, and why customers choose you. Real names and real photos. • Contact — address, phone, email, opening hours, a map, and the short form. Everything a customer needs to reach you, on one page. • FAQ — the questions customers actually ask: prices or price guidance, how long things take, what happens first. Each answer also helps Google and AI assistants quote you. • Privacy policy — required if you collect any details through a form. Short and plain.
COMMON MISTAKES No clear next step on the page • stock photos instead of real ones • a contact form that asks for too much • opening hours or services that are out of date • no reviews anywhere • a website that has not been updated since launch • a free email address as the only contact • no Google Business Profile, or one with the wrong details.
If your site is missing more than two or three items from this guide, it is probably costing you enquiries — quietly, every week. The fixes are usually small: a clearer headline, real photos, a shorter form, one page per service. If you would like help rebuilding your site, see what Commercefy does for website design: https://commercefy.co.uk/our-services/website-design/
Book a call to get started Find out how your website looks today — on Google and in AI answers — with a free visibility audit, then book a call to go through what to fix first. https://commercefy.co.uk/visibility-audit/ info@commercefy.co.uk • +44 7503 827786
Prepared by Commercefy, 12 November 2026. This guide gives general advice for small business websites. It contains no prices, guarantees, rankings or statistics.
COMMERCEFY — WHAT SHOULD A SMALL BUSINESS WEBSITE INCLUDE?
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