You have decided to get a website, or perhaps you already have one and you are wondering whether it has everything it needs. Either way, it is a perfectly sensible question. A lot of business owners either cram too much in or leave out things that really matter.
The good news is that a small business website does not need to be complicated. There are a handful of pages that every site should have, a few that are worth adding when you are ready, and some optional extras that only make sense in certain situations. This guide walks through all of them.
The pages every small business website needs
Before we get into the detail, here is the short version. A solid small business website needs:
- A homepage
- An about page
- A services or products page
- A contact page
- A privacy policy
That is it for the core. Everything else is an addition, not a requirement. Let us look at each one in detail.
Homepage: your shop window
Your homepage is the first thing most visitors see, and many of them will make a decision within the first few seconds about whether to stay or leave. That means the homepage has one job above all others: tell people immediately what you do and why they should care.
A good small business homepage should include:
- A clear headline. Not your business name (they can see that in the logo), but what you actually do. Something like "Reliable Plumbing Services Across Greater Manchester" is far more useful than "Welcome to Dave's Plumbing."
- A short description. One or two sentences expanding on your headline. What makes you different? How long have you been trading? Do you cover a specific area?
- A prominent call to action. A phone number, a "Get a Quote" button, or a link to your contact page. Make it impossible to miss.
- The areas you cover. Especially important for local businesses. Visitors want to know if you serve their area before they read anything else.
- Some social proof. A couple of review snippets or a line like "Trusted by 200+ customers across Yorkshire" builds confidence fast.
You do not need long paragraphs on your homepage. Most visitors scan rather than read. Short, punchy, and clear is the goal.
About page: the human side of your business
People buy from people. Particularly for service businesses — trades, freelancers, therapists, personal trainers — customers want to know who they are hiring before they pick up the phone. An about page gives them that.
What your about page should include:
- Who you are. Your name, your background, how long you have been in the trade or industry. A photo of you (or your team) makes a significant difference. It turns an anonymous website into a real person.
- Why you do what you do. Not a corporate mission statement. Just a straightforward explanation of what you enjoy about the work and what you take pride in.
- Your qualifications or accreditations. If you are Gas Safe registered, NICEIC approved, or have any relevant certifications, this is the place to mention them. It builds trust and answers a question many customers have before they ask it.
- Your service area. Mention it again here. It helps with local SEO and reassures visitors they have found the right person.
The about page does not need to be long. Three or four paragraphs, a photo, and your key credentials is enough. Avoid writing it in the third person unless you are a larger company — "I have been installing kitchens in Bristol for twelve years" sounds far more genuine than "John Smith has been installing kitchens in Bristol for twelve years."
Services page: what you actually offer
Your services page (or products page, if you sell physical goods) is arguably the most important page on your site after the homepage. It is where people go to confirm that you do what they need, and to understand the scope of your work.
A good services page should:
- List each service clearly. Do not lump everything into one paragraph. Break it out. If you are a landscaper, separate sections for lawn care, patio laying, fencing, and garden design make it far easier to scan.
- Explain what is included. A short description under each service helps customers understand what they are getting. "Full garden clearance including removal of all waste" is more useful than just "garden clearance."
- Mention the areas you cover. Again. Repetition on this point is not overkill — it is good for SEO and good for clarity.
- Include pricing if possible. Even a starting price or a typical range filters out unsuitable enquiries and attracts people who are ready to buy. If your work is always bespoke, a "request a quote" prompt works instead.
If you have a large range of services, consider whether individual pages for each service might be worth building. A dedicated page for "emergency boiler repair in Leeds" will rank far better on Google than a general services page that mentions it in passing.
Contact page: make it easy to reach you
This sounds obvious, but a surprising number of business websites make it harder than it should be to get in touch. Your contact page should remove every possible barrier between a potential customer and a conversation with you.
At minimum, your contact page needs:
- A phone number. Click to call on mobile. Many customers, especially older ones, still prefer to pick up the phone.
- An email address or contact form. Some customers prefer to write rather than call. A simple form with name, email, and message is enough.
- Your working hours. When will they get a response? "Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm" sets realistic expectations and stops people from worrying when they do not hear back on a Sunday evening.
- Your service area (yes, again). It belongs on the contact page too. Someone who has scrolled all the way down to contact you should not have any doubt about whether you cover their location.
If you have a physical address or premises people visit, include that too along with a map embed. If you work from home and do not want to publish your address, that is completely fine — just omit it.
Testimonials: let your customers do the talking
Testimonials and reviews are one of the most powerful things on a small business website, and they are also one of the most commonly underused. A few genuine quotes from happy customers can do more to convert a hesitant visitor than any amount of clever copy.
You do not need a dedicated testimonials page, though you can have one. Reviews can live on your homepage, your services page, or scattered throughout the site. The key things:
- Use real names and, if possible, the area the customer is from. "Sarah from Leeds" is more credible than "S.L."
- Specific reviews work better than vague ones. "Arrived on time, fixed the leak in under an hour, left the place spotless" is far more convincing than "great service, would recommend."
- If you have Google reviews, link to them or embed them. Third party reviews carry more weight than quotes you have put on your own site.
Blog: worth having if you can maintain it
A blog is not essential for every small business, but it can be genuinely valuable if you have the time and inclination to keep it going. Here is why.
Every blog post you publish is another page that can show up in Google search results. A plumber who writes helpful articles about common boiler problems, how to spot a leak, or when to replace a radiator is giving Google more reasons to show their website to people searching for those topics. Over time, that builds traffic without you spending a penny on advertising.
But — and this is important — an empty blog or one with posts from three years ago does more harm than good. It makes the site look neglected. If you cannot commit to writing something new at least once a month, do not add a blog at all. You can always add it later.
If you do have a blog, keep the posts practical and genuinely useful for your customers. Answer the questions you get asked most often. That approach works far better than trying to game search engines.
FAQ page: answer questions before they are asked
A frequently asked questions page is underrated. Done well, it serves two purposes: it helps visitors find answers without having to contact you, and it is great for SEO because it contains natural question and answer language that search engines love.
Think about the questions you get asked on every initial call or enquiry. Things like:
- How long does it take?
- Do you work weekends?
- Are you insured?
- What areas do you cover?
- How do I book?
Answer those clearly and honestly on an FAQ page. It saves you time fielding the same questions repeatedly, and it gives hesitant visitors the reassurance they need to get in touch.
Privacy policy and terms: legal requirements you cannot skip
This is the least exciting part of having a website, but it matters. Under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, if your website collects any personal data — and it almost certainly does, even if only through a contact form or analytics tracking — you are legally required to have a privacy policy.
Your privacy policy should explain:
- What data you collect (names, email addresses, IP addresses via analytics, and so on)
- How you use it
- How long you keep it
- Whether you share it with third parties (such as email providers or analytics platforms)
- How visitors can request their data is deleted
It does not need to be written by a solicitor. There are free generators online that produce a compliant UK privacy policy in minutes. The important thing is that it exists, that it is accurate, and that it is linked from every page of your site — typically in the footer.
Terms and conditions are optional unless you are selling products or services directly through the site. If you have an online shop or take bookings, terms covering payment, cancellations, and your liability are worth having.
What about other pages?
Depending on your business, there are a few other pages that might be worth adding:
Gallery or portfolio
For visual trades — landscapers, builders, decorators, kitchen fitters, photographers — a gallery of your work is enormously persuasive. Before and after photos are especially effective. Keep it updated and make sure the images are good quality.
Case studies
A step up from a gallery. If you do complex or high value work, a detailed write up of a project — what the customer needed, what you did, and the result — builds credibility with other customers who have similar requirements.
Areas page
If you cover a large geographic area, a dedicated page listing all the towns and cities you serve is useful for SEO. Someone searching for "electrician in Harrogate" is more likely to find you if you have a page that specifically mentions Harrogate, rather than a general site that just says "West Yorkshire."
Online booking
For service businesses where appointments are the norm — hairdressers, therapists, personal trainers — an online booking system can save you a lot of back and forth. Many booking tools integrate directly with a website and are straightforward to set up.
Putting it all together
If you are starting from scratch, do not try to build everything at once. Get the essentials right first: homepage, about, services, contact, privacy policy. A tight, well written five page site will serve you better than a sprawling site with ten pages of thin content.
Once the core is solid, add what makes sense for your business. A gallery if you do visual work. A blog if you are willing to write. An FAQ if you get lots of the same questions. An areas page if you cover a wide region.
The goal is not to have lots of pages. The goal is to have the right pages, done properly, so that anyone who lands on your site knows immediately what you do, trusts that you are good at it, and knows how to reach you.
Think of your website as your best salesperson. It works around the clock, never takes a day off, and is talking to potential customers even while you are on a job. Make sure it is saying the right things.
If you would like help getting a clean, well structured small business website built without the jargon or the monthly fees, have a look at what PageShift offers. We build professional sites for UK small businesses, from sole traders to growing teams.
Frequently asked questions
How many pages does a small business website need?
Most small businesses do well with five to six pages: a homepage, an about page, a services or products page, a contact page, and optionally a testimonials page. You do not need dozens of pages to be effective. A focused, well written five page site will outperform a bloated twenty page site almost every time.
Do I need a blog on my small business website?
A blog is useful for SEO if you have the time to keep it updated with helpful content. If you cannot commit to publishing at least once a month, it is better to leave it out. An empty or outdated blog can actually make your site look neglected. Start without one and add it later if you want to invest in content marketing.
Does my website legally need a privacy policy?
Yes. Under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, if your website collects any personal data — including via a contact form or analytics cookies — you are legally required to have a privacy policy. It does not need to be complicated, but it does need to exist and be accessible from every page.
What should go on my homepage?
Your homepage should immediately tell visitors who you are, what you do, and where you work. Include a clear headline, a short description of your service, the areas you cover, and a prominent call to action such as a phone number or contact button. Social proof like reviews or logos helps too. Visitors decide within seconds whether to stay or leave, so make the essentials unmissable.
Should I put my prices on my website?
For most small businesses, showing at least indicative pricing filters out time wasters and attracts better quality enquiries. You do not need to list every variation, but a starting price or a price range gives visitors enough context to decide whether to get in touch. If your work is always bespoke, a "request a quote" page works just as well.