Does a Small Business Need a Website? What to Put on Yours

"I've got Instagram and a Google listing. Do I really need a website?" It's the most common question we hear from small business owners, and it's a fair one. Social media is free and you're already there. So here's a straight answer: yes, you need one, and it's less work than you think. This article explains why, then gets practical about exactly what to put on it depending on what you do.

"I have Instagram, isn't that enough?"

A social profile does a few things well: it shows you're alive, it shows your work, and it lets people message you. Here's what it can't do:

• Show up on Google for "plumber near me." Google ranks websites. Your Instagram grid doesn't appear when someone searches for your service in your town. Your Google Business listing helps, but it sends people to a website, and if there isn't one, it sends them to a competitor's.
• Answer the basic questions in one place. Hours, prices, address, what exactly you offer, how to book. On Instagram that information is scattered across posts from six months ago or buried in a bio. People give up.
• Build trust with someone who doesn't use that platform. Half your customers aren't on Instagram. The 55-year-old looking for an accountant isn't scrolling Reels.
• Be yours. Algorithms change, accounts get locked, platforms fade. A website with your domain is the one piece of your online presence nobody can take away or bury.
• Convert. A booking button, a quote form, a phone number that works with one tap. A website is built to turn a visitor into a customer. A profile is built to keep them scrolling.

Keep Instagram. Put the website link in the bio. They work together; the website is the part that does the selling.

What customers actually look for when they Google you

Before deciding what goes on the site, understand what the visitor wants. Someone who searches for your business is almost always trying to answer one of these:

1. Are you open right now? Hours, today, without hunting.
2. Where are you? Address and a map they can tap.
3. What do you do and what does it cost? Services with prices, or at least "from."
4. Can I trust you? Real photos, real reviews, a real name and face.
5. How do I get in touch or book? Phone, form, booking calendar. One tap.

If the site answers those five in the first scroll on a phone, it works. Everything else is optional. We go through the full section-by-section breakdown in What pages does a small business website actually need?; below is the version by trade.

Recipes by trade

These are drawn from the templates we maintain and from what real businesses publish with them. Each one is a starting point, not a rule.

Restaurant or café

• Hero with the name, the kind of food, and the neighborhood. One photo of the room or a dish.
• The menu, with prices, readable on a phone. A PDF is not a menu.
• Photos: six to ten, real, of food and the space.
• Bookings (a calendar with time slots) or at least a phone number and a "reserve" button.
• Hours, map, and whether you do takeaway or delivery.
• Reviews, copied from Google.

Hair salon, barber or beauty studio

• Hero with what you do and where. One photo of the chair, the space or your best work.
• Services with prices. This is the page people actually look for.
• A before-and-after gallery if your work shows well that way.
• Online booking. Salons that let people book at 11 pm get the 11 pm customers.
• The team, with first names and photos. People book a person, not a business.
• Hours, map, phone.

Trades: plumber, electrician, builder, cleaner

• Hero with the trade and the area you cover, and a phone number you can tap, big, at the top. Someone with a leak is not going to scroll.
• Services in plain words: "boiler repair," "bathroom installation," not "residential solutions."
• A quote request form with three fields: name, phone, what's the job.
• Photos of real jobs. Before and after works especially well here.
• Reviews. Trust is the entire sale.
• Area covered, emergency availability, and whether you're insured or certified.

Coach, consultant, therapist or other professional

• Hero with who you help and with what. "Bookkeeping for freelancers" is better than "financial excellence."
• Who you are. A real photo, a short story, credentials if they matter.
• How working with you goes: three steps, first call to outcome.
• Services or packages with prices, or "from."
• A way to book a first conversation, ideally a calendar.
• Testimonials with names.

If your trade isn't on the list, find the closest one. A gym is a salon with classes instead of services. A shop is a restaurant with products instead of dishes. A photographer is a consultant with a bigger gallery.

The universals: mobile-first, one goal per page, privacy done right

Whatever you do, three things apply to every small business site:

• Mobile first. Most of your visitors are on a phone, often while walking or waiting. Check every page on your own phone before you publish. If the phone number isn't tappable, fix it.
• One goal per page. Decide what you want the visitor to do: call, book, request a quote, walk in. Put that action at the top and again at the bottom. Don't ask for five things at once.
• Privacy and legal done properly. A legal notice, a privacy policy, and a cookie banner only if you set tracking cookies. If anyone in the EU or UK can use your site, GDPR applies. At 1h1app these pages are generated from your details and the analytics are cookie-free, so there's no banner to bolt on. If you build elsewhere, put it on the list; don't leave it for "later."

How to have it live this week

You don't need a redesign project. You need an afternoon and a list:

1. Write one sentence about what you do and where. Write down your services with prices, your hours and your phone.
2. Pick four to six real photos from your phone.
3. Grab two or three reviews from Google.
4. Open a builder, pick the template for your trade (1h1app has 30, each with real example content for that business), replace the example content with yours, and publish.

Then put the link in your Instagram bio and on your Google listing, and you've done in a week what most of your competitors have been "meaning to do" for three years. The step-by-step afternoon is laid out in How to make a website fast. It costs $16/month or $160/year (€16/€160 in Europe), the first 7 days are free with no card, and a real person answers if you get stuck.

By trade, with prices: see the affordable small business website page (restaurant with menu and reservations, salon with online booking, small shop, freelancers) and, if you're still deciding, build your own website or hire a designer?

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