What to Put on a Small Business Website: The 7 Pages That Matter
Staring at a blank website wondering what to write is where most DIY website projects stall. The good news: a small business website doesn’t need much. It needs the right things, in the right order, written the way your customers speak.
Here are the seven pages (or sections — on a smaller site these can live on one page) that do the work.
1. Home — answer three questions in five seconds
A visitor decides whether to stay within seconds, so the top of your homepage must answer, instantly: What do you do? Where do you do it? What should I do next?
“Gas boiler repairs and servicing across Maidstone — call now or book online” beats any amount of “Welcome to our website, we are passionate about excellence.” Passion is proven by reviews, not adjectives. Lead with the plain facts, one clear button (call, book, get a quote), and a photo that’s actually you or your work — not a stock handshake.
2. Services — one section per thing you sell
List each service separately and describe it in your customers’ words, not the trade’s. Nobody searches “domestic hard-landscaping solutions”; they search “patio laid”. For each service: what it is, who it’s for, what it roughly costs (ranges are fine and hugely appreciated — “most bathroom refits land between £4,000–£7,000” filters out mismatched enquiries before they waste your time).
3. About — the trust page
The About page is read by people already halfway to buying — don’t squander it on corporate waffle. What works: who you are (with a real photo), how long you’ve been doing this, any accreditations that matter (Gas Safe, DBS-checked, insured), and why you do it. One honest paragraph beats five generic ones. If it could be copy-pasted onto a competitor’s site, rewrite it.
4. Reviews — proof beats promises
Pull your best Google reviews onto the site, with names where you have permission. Specific reviews (“fixed our boiler on a Sunday evening, charged what he quoted”) convert far better than star ratings alone. Keep this fresh — a newest review from three years ago raises questions. (Struggling to collect them? Our Google Business Profile guide includes a simple system for getting reviews without begging.)
5. Areas covered — say where you work
If you serve a local area, name the towns — a plain list is fine and it’s what people search. “Covering Ashford, Tenterden, Charing and villages in between” tells both the customer and Google exactly where you belong. If you go to customers, say so; if they come to you, make the address, parking and directions obvious.
6. Contact — remove every ounce of friction
Every way to reach you, on one page and repeated in the footer everywhere: phone (tap-to-call on mobile — a shocking number of sites still get this wrong), a short contact form (name, contact detail, message — every extra field loses people), your hours, and how quickly you respond. If you’re 8am–6pm weekdays, say it — unanswered expectations feel like being ignored.
7. FAQ — the objection-handler
Write down the ten questions you answer on the phone every week and answer them once, in writing. Do you charge for quotes? Are you insured? How soon can you come? Do I need to be home? This page saves you time, wins over quiet researchers who’d never call to ask, and — bonus — it’s exactly the format Google likes to show in search results.
The mistakes that quietly cost customers
- Jargon. Write like you talk. Read it aloud; if you’d never say it to a customer’s face, cut it.
- No prices at all. You don’t need a full price list — but ranges signal honesty, and their absence signals “expensive”.
- Stock photos everywhere. People can smell them. One genuine photo of you and your van outranks ten glossy models in hard hats.
- Out-of-date anything. Old hours, old prices, “Christmas opening times” in July. Stale details make people wonder what else is wrong.
- Burying the phone number. For local businesses, the call is the conversion. It goes top-right on every page.
Don’t want to write any of this yourself?
Fair enough — most business owners don’t. Here’s where we declare our interest: this structure is exactly what we build, free, for UK businesses. We take what’s already on your Google Business Profile — services, photos, hours, reviews — shape it into these seven sections, and launch it on a free .co.uk domain. The only cost is £20/month hosting. If you can send us a link, you can have a website.
Either way, keep this page as your checklist. Seven sections, plain English, real photos, phone number everywhere. That’s the whole secret.