What pages does a small business website need? A plain checklist

Most small business websites have too many pages or too few. Too few, and a customer cannot find the price, the hours or how to book. Too many, and you are maintaining a dozen pages nobody reads. This is a plain checklist of what a small business website needs, what goes on each page, and how to decide whether you need one page or five.

Start with the question a customer is asking

Someone who lands on your website is almost always trying to answer one of these.

• What do you do, and is it what I need?
• Where are you, and are you open?
• How much will it cost?
• How do I get in touch or book?
• Can I trust you?

Every page you add should answer one of those faster than the page before it. If a page does not, it is decoration.

The five pages most businesses need

1. Home

The home page says what you do, where, and for whom, in the first screen. It carries your phone number, a way to book or ask for a quote, and the three or four things people most often want. It does not need a slideshow. It needs a clear sentence, one strong photo of your real work or place, and a button.

2. Services (or menu, or treatments)

This is where prices and detail live. Write them as real text, not as a photo of a price board or a PDF, so they are readable on a phone, searchable by Google and easy for you to change. If you have several distinct services, give the biggest ones their own page, because a person searching for "emergency plumber" or "balayage" should land on the page about exactly that.

3. About

People hire people. An about page tells them who runs the business, how long you have been working in the area and what you care about. Keep it to facts you can stand behind: your name, your trade, your licence or registration where one applies, and your approach. Leave out awards and years you cannot back up.

4. Contact

Your phone number as a tap-to-call link, your address with a Google Maps link, your opening hours, and a short form. Write your business name, address and phone number exactly as they appear on your Google Business Profile, because mismatches confuse both customers and search engines.

5. One more, chosen for your business

A café might add a menu page. A clinic might add a page for how to prepare for a first visit. A shop might add delivery and returns. A trade might add the suburbs it covers. Pick the page that answers the question people ask you most often.

Pages you can usually skip at the start

• A blog, unless you will genuinely write it. An abandoned blog with a last post from two years ago does your credibility no favours.
• A gallery page by itself, when the photos can sit on the pages they relate to
• A "news" page of announcements
• Separate pages for every tiny variation of a service

You can always add pages later. Starting smaller and keeping everything accurate beats starting big and letting it go stale.

One page or five?

A landing page, which is one long page, is enough for many cafés, barbers and trades whose customers mostly need to find the business and call. A five-page website suits a business with several services, a booking step, or customers who compare options before they decide.

A simple way to choose: list the questions customers ask you. If you can answer them all comfortably on a single scrolling page, one page works. If you find yourself wanting to link to separate detail for each service, you want several.

Realtiq's published prices, in Australian dollars:

A landing page can be live within seven days. For a larger website or an online shop, the timeline is set on the first call, once we know the pages and features you need. You can see what changes the price in the website cost guide.

Things every page should do

• Load fast on a phone. Most visitors arrive on one. Heavy images and sliders cost you visitors.
• Have one clear next step. A Book button, a phone number, a form. Not six.
• Use real words. Text as text, not inside images, so Google can read it and so people using screen readers can too.
• Show the same name, address and phone number everywhere.
• Have its own title and description, written for the page and including your suburb or area when it matters.

Check yours in ten minutes

Open your website on your phone and answer these honestly.

1. Can I tell what the business does within five seconds?
2. Can I find the price of the main thing it sells?
3. Can I call with one tap?
4. Can I find opening hours and the address?
5. Is there a button to book or ask for a quote on every page?
6. Does it still look right when I turn the phone sideways?

Every "no" is a page or a fix to add.

Common questions

How many pages should a small business website have?

Between one and five pages covers most small businesses at the start. Add pages when you have something real to put on them, not to look bigger.

Do I need an About page?

Yes, usually. It is one of the pages people check when they are deciding whether to trust you. Keep it short and factual.

Should my prices be on the website?

If you can state them, yes. People who cannot find a price often leave. If your work is quoted job by job, show a starting point or explain how quotes work and how to ask for one.

Do I need a blog?

Not at the start. A blog helps only if you will keep writing it and the posts answer real questions your customers ask.