What Makes a Good Website for a Small Business?

In a day and age where people spend more time scrolling on TikTok or watching reels than in the real world, the importance of a digital presence is becoming increasingly apparent. For small businesses, this shift is not just a trend, it’s a wake-up call. Your website is often the first interaction a customer will have with your brand. It's your digital storefront, business card, and sales pitch all rolled into one. Whether you're a local bakery, a freelance designer, or a startup founder, having a well-designed, user-friendly, and trustworthy website can mean the difference between gaining a customer and losing them to a competitor.

But what exactly makes a website “good” for a small business? Is it a flashy design? Fancy features? Not necessarily. Simplistic design is often better when it comes to attracting and converting visitors.

Your Website Is Your Best Employee

Imagine having an employee who works 24/7, never gets sick, costs very little, and always delivers. That's your website. Whether you own a bakery or a plumbing service, when people hear about your business, the first thing they will do is visit your website. If it's confusing, outdated, or missing important information, you will likely never hear from them, losing your potential customers.

For a small business, your website should do the job of a receptionist and a sales rep all in one. It should be a design that is friendly and displays exactly what you offer. What you don't want is an overload of information, so structure the details of your services concisely. Make sure that it is very easy to book your services, or be able to contact you to schedule at a minimum. You would also want to add testimonials to provoke trust, showing that you know your stuff.

Use One Call-To-Action On Every Page

Let's say you own a dog grooming shop. When someone visits your website, what's the one thing you want them to do? Book a grooming appointment for their dog, right? That should be the focus of your pages, funneling to the call-to-action, so that they converge. This applies to all pages, you want to structure all your information such that the call-to-action naturally follows.

The thing is, most small businesses know the importance of a call-to-action; they just overdo them. Visitors land on their websites and are overwhelmed by buttons to "Read our Blog", "Book an appointment", "Follow us on Instagram", and sometimes even a pop-up asking for your email within 5 seconds. It's too much and overwhelming to potential customers, who then leave.

So, what is the right answer? Well, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution, but as a golden rule, using one call-to-action per page is the most effective approach. This doesn't mean you can't include other links. It just means that you shouldn't have links or buttons that compete with the main action you want the customer to take.

Taking it back to the dog grooming shop example, visitors will most likely land on the homepage. Everything on that page should be guiding the visitor towards booking a dog grooming appointment. You should add pictures, testimonials, and text, all adding value to the main action, namely, booking an appointment.

Make Navigation Simple

Let's be honest, absolutely no one has the patience to figure out how a website works, you want to instantly know where to find what information. If someone lands on your website, but has to click around just to find your pricing or availability, there is a good chance they will leave and never become a customer.

Think of it like walking into a store. If everything’s all over the place and you can’t even tell where to check out, you’re probably not buying anything. But if things are laid out, you’re in, you’re out, and you get what you came for. Same idea with your website.

So what does that look like? Let's say that you are a plumber, you don't need ten different links in your menu, "Pricing", "Case Studies", and "Contact" would be more than sufficient to show your potential customers that you know how to fix a pipe. The whole point is to make it easy for people to do what you want them to.

Making Content Concise

When you’re running a small business, it’s easy to think you need to explain every little detail on your website. But here's the thing: less is more. Customers don’t have the time to read through long paragraphs or wade through confusing jargon. They just want to know what you do, how you do it, and how to get in touch.

Take a local coffee shop, for example. Instead of listing every ingredient in each drink, focus on what sets you apart, like “Freshly brewed coffee made from locally sourced beans.” It’s short, sweet, and to the point. No one, and I mean absolutely no one, wants to know exactly which farm these were sourced from, they are only interested in the coffee, and that they are locally sourced. That means, don't overload your website with potentially useless information.

By keeping your content straightforward and easy to read, you’re showing your visitors that you value their time, and that makes them more likely to convert into a customer. If you want to build such a website, make sure to check out our website-building service.