What's The Bare Minimum I Need To Build A Small Business Website?
So, you've started a business and now you need a website so people know you exist, but where do you start? If you're up against a deadline, DIYing, or just don't need much, here's the bare minimum I'd recommend to build a small business website.
Content
Content is all the stuff that goes on your website, like graphics, text, images, files, your portfolio, etc. Doing a bit of planning ahead of time will save you a big headache later. It's important to build your site around your content first, rather than building a site and plugging the content in later. That way, you're strategically guiding people through your website in a way that makes sense and covers all the bases. To get started, I've got three high-level topics for you to think through:
Your Business
As the owner/founder/whatever of your business, you should truly know it best inside and out. If you cannot clearly communicate exactly who you are and what you do, then you've already lost people. So make sure you're crystal clear on that, then add in "what makes you different?" and "why should people buy from you?" to round this out into a pretty well thought-out homepage.
Selling
Again, the name of the game here is clarity, not confusion. Before you even think about building a website, you should know exactly what you're offering, how you're offering it, and be able to articulate that clearly to someone who has never interacted with your business before. Add in answers to the questions people need before they can make a decision, and you've got a services page.
Convert
Once you've explained those things thoroughly, you can gently guide folks toward becoming paying customers. So, you should know how your intake process flows so you can clearly communicate the best next step. Should they fill out a form? Call you? Schedule a consult? Check out directly online? Make it so obvious that a monkey could figure it out.
Look & Feel
Once you know what your content will entail, you can start thinking about how things look and feel. All the visuals on your site will evoke emotions that help people know if you're the right fit for them. But overall, you really don't need much on the visual side to make an impact.
Typography
And by that I mean the fonts you use and how you use them. You should select 1–3 fonts and stick with them consistently (there are tons to choose from for free on Google Fonts, which are typically built into most website builders). This prevents the dreaded "Who vomited every font known to man on this page?" feeling people used to get every time a new Geocities site was created. Pick the fonts based on the feeling you want people to have, how they complement each other, and how easy they are to read. Then create hierarchy by using a few different sizes so you can help people scan (biggest headings = most important sections).
Colors
Depending on your business and the vibe you want to give off, you could have just one color or, like, ten! But if you want to keep things really simple, I would choose one main color, a complementary color, and then a dark and light version of each. Done! Use these consistently throughout your site, don't add random colors, and keep the contrast in mind to make sure it doesn't hurt your eyes or make things hard to read. If you're grandma couldn't read it, then there's not enough contrast.
Pictures
Some sites can get away with using no supporting photos, but you've gotta have a pretty decent eye to do it right. It's much harder than it looks, which is why I'd suggest you have a good handful of them to sprinkle throughout your site to support the content you've outlined. These could be custom brand photos of you, your products, or services, or they could be stock images that are either literal or more conceptual to represent what you do. They can help break up the page into more digestible chunks and reinforce the messaging of the page..
Getting On The Web
Platform
There are tons of options nowadays for building your website, and there's definitely one that'll fit your needs. Do some research to decide what's important to you + what will work best for future updates up front, because deciding to switch platforms halfway through—or years later—isn't the most fun process. If you're hiring a web designer, they'll likely give you suggestions based on what they work with, but still be sure to do your research to make sure it's the right fit. Here are some of my favorites + others that I've heard good things about:
Squarespace (my favorite for most service businesses)
Showit (great for highly custom designs)
Shopify (best for ecommerce)
Wix (beginner-friendly)
Webflow (powerful but more advanced)
Kajabi (great for courses and memberships)
Domain
Some of these platforms help you set up a domain (the URL address for your website), while others do not. Some even include it as a perk of their subscriptions. But again, do some research to see how you'd like to handle your domain. Many times, I'll recommend clients get a domain separately from where they're hosting their website, as it can get really messy to untangle if you ever want to move away from that platform. Here are some of the domain providers that I know + trust:
GoDaddy (most popular)
That's it. Seriously.
It's easy to get caught up thinking you need all the bells and whistles before you can launch a website, but you really don't. You can always add more pages, features, and fancy stuff later. The important thing is getting something clear, intentional, and helpful out into the world.
So, what's the bare minimum?
Know what you want to say.
Make it look intentional.
Pick a platform and a domain.
Once you've got those things, you've got everything you need to build a solid foundation for your small business website. The rest can come with time.
