Small business web design that earns its keep
A site sized to the business, not to an agency retainer. Built on WordPress so you own it, editable so you are not billed for changing a price, and structured so people can find you.
What small businesses actually need from a website
Most small business web design gets sold as a smaller version of a corporate site. It is not. The requirements are genuinely different, and the differences are what determine whether the site earns anything.
A small business site has to establish credibility fast, because the visitor has usually never heard of you and is comparing three options. It has to work on a phone, because that is where nearly all of the traffic comes from. It has to make contact effortless, because the enquiry is the whole point. And it has to be editable by whoever has ten minutes, because there is no marketing department to file a ticket with.
What it does not need is a content management workflow with approval stages, a component library, or twelve pages that nobody will ever read.
The pages that do the work
Most small business sites need between four and eight pages. More than that usually means the structure was decided by habit rather than need.
Home. States what you do, who for, and where, above the fold. This one page carries more weight than the rest combined.
A page per service. Not one page listing everything. Separate pages are what let each service rank on its own and let you answer the specific questions each one raises.
About. Underrated. For a small business, the buyer is partly buying you, and this is often the second page they open.
Contact. With more than a form. Phone, email, hours, and a location if customers ever visit.
Proof. Testimonials, past work, or case studies. Whatever you honestly have.
What gets skipped, and why that is fine
No blog you will not write
A blog with three posts from two years ago is worse than no blog. It gets added when there is a genuine plan to write, not by default.
No unnecessary integrations
Every connection is something that can break. Booking systems and payment steps get added when the business actually runs on them.
No page for every keyword
Thin pages built to chase search terms dilute the site and rank badly. Fewer, better pages outperform them.
No feature you cannot maintain
Anything requiring monthly attention from someone who does not exist will be abandoned within a year.
Built to be handed over
The single most common complaint about an inherited small business website is that nobody can change it. Prices go stale, staff who left are still listed, and the opening hours are wrong through every holiday.
Sites here are built on WordPress with Elementor and handed over with a walkthrough covering how to edit text, swap an image and add a page. The domain and hosting accounts stay in your business name, not the studio name, so nothing is held over you if the relationship ends.
If you would rather not touch it at all, a care plan covers updates, backups and small edits. That is offered, never assumed.
What it costs
Quoted in US dollars, and scoped to the business rather than to a package tier. The things that move a small business web design quote most:
- Whether you have copy, or need it written. This changes the number more than page count does.
- Whether the brand exists, or a logo and palette are part of the job.
- Whether real photography exists.
- Whether anything needs to take bookings or payments. If you sell products online, that is ecommerce web design and a different scope.
If the budget does not cover the scope, the answer is which parts to drop, not a thinner version of everything. There is more on what moves a website quote if you are comparing proposals.
Common questions
Is a template cheaper?
Yes, and for a very small operation that mainly needs to exist and be findable, it can be a reasonable buy. What you give up is structure decided for your business rather than a generic one. That matters more as soon as search traffic or enquiries matter.
How many pages do I need?
Usually fewer than expected. Four strong pages beat ten thin ones, and thin pages actively hurt search performance.
Can you work with my existing site?
Often. Sometimes a redesign is the better spend than a rebuild, and sometimes the site is fine and the problem is why it gets traffic but no enquiries.
Do you work with businesses outside your time zone?
Yes. Clients are worldwide and all work is remote, with calls scheduled around the client.
Tell us about the business
What it does, who it sells to, and what is not working now. That is enough to scope it. Worth reading the questions worth asking any designer before you commit to anyone.