Small Business Website Checklist: What You Actually Need (Ant What You Don't)

A client once showed me her small business website. She had spent four months building it. The site had a booking system, live chat widget, animated logo, parallax scrolling, Instagram feed, newsletter popup, blog with zero posts, and a chatbot that asked visitors five questions before letting them see anything.

Her actual business? A local bakery. Customers wanted to see the menu, check the hours, and get the address. That was it.

She had spent four months and significant money on features nobody needed. The information people actually wanted was buried under layers of "professional" functionality.

This happens constantly. Small business owners get sold on features they do not need. Website builders promote every possible add-on. The result is bloated, slow, confusing websites that hurt more than they help.

Let me tell you what you actually need. And more importantly, what you do not.

The Only Question That Matters

Before any checklist, ask yourself this:

What do visitors want to accomplish on my website?

Not what you want them to see. What they want to do.

For most small businesses, the answer is surprisingly simple:

• Understand what you offer
• Decide if it is relevant to them
• Find out how to contact you or buy
• Maybe check if you are legitimate

That is usually it. Four things. Your entire website should serve these four goals. Everything else is decoration at best, distraction at worst.

A restaurant website needs: menu, hours, location, maybe reservations. A plumber website needs: services, service area, phone number, maybe reviews. A consultant website needs: what you help with, who you help, how to get in touch, proof you are good.

Start with visitor goals. Everything else follows.

What Every Small Business Website Actually Needs

Let me give you the essentials. These are non-negotiable.

1. Clear description of what you do

Within five seconds, visitors should understand your business. Not your mission statement. Not your company history. What you do and who you do it for.

"Custom wedding cakes in Austin, Texas." "Emergency plumbing repairs for Portland homeowners." "Accounting services for freelancers and small agencies."

One sentence. Immediately visible. No scrolling required.

This sounds obvious but most small business websites fail here. They lead with vague taglines like "Excellence in everything we do" or "Your trusted partner." These say nothing. Be specific.

2. Contact information that is easy to find

Phone number. Email. Physical address if relevant. Contact form if you prefer.

This should be visible on every page. Header, footer, or both. Do not make people hunt for how to reach you. Every extra click costs you customers.

If phone calls are how you get business, make the phone number huge. If you prefer emails, make the contact form prominent. Match your website to how you actually want to be contacted.

3. Your location and service area

For local businesses, this is critical. What areas do you serve? Where are you located?

A map helps. An address helps more. A clear statement of service area helps most. "We serve the greater Chicago area including Evanston, Oak Park, and Naperville."

This is also important for search engines. Local SEO depends on clear location signals. Google needs to know where you operate to show you in local searches.

4. Basic information about your offerings

What services do you provide? What products do you sell? What are the prices, or at least price ranges?

You do not need elaborate descriptions. You need clarity. A list of services with brief explanations. A menu with prices. A portfolio with project types.

People want to self-qualify before contacting you. They want to know if you offer what they need at a price they can afford. Help them figure this out quickly.

5. Some form of credibility

Why should anyone trust you? New visitors have no reason to believe you are good at what you do.

This can be simple:

• A few testimonials from real customers
• How long you have been in business
• Relevant certifications or licenses
• Logos of businesses you have worked with
• Before and after photos of your work

You do not need all of these. You need something. One section that answers "why should I trust these people?"

6. Mobile-friendly design

More than half of web traffic is mobile. For local businesses, it is often higher. People search for services on their phones.

If your website is hard to use on a phone, you are losing customers. Text should be readable without zooming. Buttons should be easy to tap. Phone numbers should be clickable.

This is not optional. This is essential.

What Most Small Businesses Should Have

These are not essential for everyone, but valuable for most.

A few quality photos

Real photos of your work, your space, your team. Not stock photos of generic smiling businesspeople.

A restaurant should show the food and the dining room. A contractor should show completed projects. A salon should show the actual salon.

Quality matters more than quantity. Five good photos beat fifty mediocre ones. If you cannot afford professional photography, a modern smartphone and good lighting work fine.

Basic SEO setup

Title tags that describe each page. A meta description that summarizes your business. Your business name and location in key places.

You do not need an SEO expert for basic local SEO. You need your website to clearly say what you do and where you do it. Search engines are smart enough to figure out the rest.

Google Business Profile connection

This is free and often more important than your website for local businesses. Claim your Google Business Profile. Keep hours updated. Respond to reviews. Add photos.

When someone searches "bakery near me," Google shows local results before any website. Your Google profile is often the first impression.

A simple way to collect inquiries

A contact form that sends you an email. That is all most businesses need.

Make the form short. Name, email or phone, and a message box. Maybe one dropdown to categorize the inquiry. Every additional field reduces submissions.

Social proof section

A dedicated area for testimonials, reviews, or client logos. Even three good testimonials make a difference.

Ask happy customers for quotes. Specific is better than generic. "Sarah fixed our AC in two hours on a Saturday night" beats "Great service, highly recommend."

What Is Nice to Have But Not Essential

These add value in specific situations but are not requirements.

A blog

Blogging can help with SEO and establish expertise. But only if you actually write posts. An empty blog or one with three posts from two years ago looks worse than no blog at all.

If you will commit to posting at least monthly, a blog makes sense. If not, skip it. You can always add one later.

Newsletter signup

Email lists are valuable for businesses with repeat customers or ongoing relationships. Restaurants, retail shops, service providers with maintenance offerings.

But newsletter signup only matters if you will actually send newsletters. A signup form that collects emails you never use is pointless.

Online booking or scheduling

For appointment-based businesses like salons, consultants, therapists, or contractors, online booking removes friction. Customers can schedule without phone tag.

But booking systems add complexity. They need to sync with your actual calendar. They need correct availability. They require maintenance. If your business handles only a few appointments per week, a phone call might be simpler.

Portfolio or gallery

For visual businesses like photographers, designers, contractors, or artists, showing your work is essential. For others, it may not matter.

A lawyer does not need a portfolio. An accountant does not need a gallery. Know whether your business benefits from visual proof.

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ sections reduce repetitive inquiries and help visitors self-qualify. Good for businesses with common questions about process, pricing, or logistics.

But do not create fake FAQs. If nobody actually asks these questions, do not pretend they do. Real questions from real customers make for useful FAQs.

What You Probably Do Not Need

Here is where I save you money and headaches.

Live chat widgets

Those chat bubbles in the corner of every website? Most small businesses cannot support them properly.

Live chat only works if someone is actually available to respond immediately. If visitors start a chat and wait ten minutes for a reply, you have made things worse than a simple contact form.

Unless you have staff dedicated to monitoring chat during business hours, skip it. A clear phone number and email work better.

Chatbots

AI chatbots that ask visitors questions before showing them content? These annoy people far more than they help.

Visitors come to your website for information. Making them interact with a bot to get that information is friction. Most people will leave rather than chat with a robot.

There are exceptions for high-volume businesses with common queries. But for typical small businesses, chatbots solve a problem you do not have.

Elaborate animations

Parallax scrolling. Fade-in effects. Animated logos. Hover transitions on everything.

These slow down your website. They distract from your content. They often break on mobile devices. And nobody ever chose a plumber because the website had smooth scroll animations.

Simple, fast, and clear beats fancy every time.

Social media feeds

Embedding your Instagram or Facebook feed on your website seems like a good idea. Fresh content, automatically updated.

In reality, it slows your site, often looks messy, and gives visitors a reason to leave your website for social media. If they want your Instagram, they will find it. Do not pull them away from your main content.

Complex booking systems you do not need

If you get five appointments per week, you do not need a sophisticated booking system with automated reminders, payment processing, and calendar sync.

A phone number works. A simple contact form works. Do not add complexity for problems you do not have.

E-commerce for businesses that do not need it

If you sell services, you probably do not need a shopping cart. If you have a few products as add-ons, a simple order form or link to a payment page works fine.

Full e-commerce systems are expensive and complex. They make sense for retail businesses with inventory. They make no sense for a consultant who occasionally sells a PDF guide.

Membership areas or client portals

Unless your business model requires gated content, skip this entirely. Membership systems are complex to maintain, confusing for users, and overkill for most small businesses.

The Real Cost of Unnecessary Features

Let me explain why this matters beyond just money.

Slower websites. Every feature adds code. Every widget adds loading time. Slow websites rank lower in search and lose visitors who will not wait.

More maintenance. Features break. Plugins need updates. Booking systems need monitoring. The more you add, the more can go wrong.

Confused visitors. Every element on your page competes for attention. More features mean more noise. Your core message gets buried.

Harder updates. Simple websites are easy to update. Complex websites require technical knowledge or hired help for any change.

Higher costs. Premium plugins, booking software, chat services, maintenance time. It adds up fast.

I have seen small businesses spend $200 per month on tools and plugins for websites that could work better with zero monthly cost. That is $2,400 per year for features that do not help and might hurt.

Simplicity is not just easier. It is more effective.

What Your Small Business Website Should Cost

Let me give you realistic numbers.

Domain name: $10-15 per year. This is your website address. Do not skip this, and do not let anyone charge you significantly more.

Website builder or hosting: $0-20 per month. Many quality builders offer free tiers that include everything a small business needs. Paid tiers add features, but free often works fine.

Professional photos: $0-500 one time. Smartphone photos work for many businesses. Professional photography is worth it if visuals matter to your industry.

Logo: $0-300 one time. If you are just starting, simple text works. When budget allows, a professional logo helps, but it is not urgent.

Total first-year cost: As low as $15, realistically $100-500 for most small businesses.

If someone quotes you thousands of dollars for a basic small business website, they are either overcomplicating it or overcharging. A professional five-page website with everything discussed above should not cost more than $1,000-2,000 if you hire someone, and can cost nearly nothing if you do it yourself with modern tools.

A Simple Checklist to Print

Here is your reference list.

Must have:

• Clear one-sentence description of what you do
• Contact information on every page
• Location and service area clearly stated
• List of services or products offered
• At least one form of credibility (testimonials, years in business, certifications)
• Mobile-friendly design
• Fast loading speed

Should probably have:

• Real photos of your work, space, or team
• Basic SEO setup (title tags, meta descriptions)
• Google Business Profile claimed and updated
• Contact form for inquiries
• Dedicated testimonials section

Nice to have if relevant:

• Blog (only if you will post regularly)
• Newsletter signup (only if you will send newsletters)
• Online booking (only if appointment-based business)
• Portfolio or gallery (only if visual work matters)
• FAQ section (only with real frequently asked questions)

Probably do not need:

• Live chat widget
• Chatbot
• Elaborate animations
• Embedded social feeds
• Complex booking system
• Full e-commerce (for service businesses)
• Membership areas

How to Build This Simply

Practical steps to get your small business website live.

Step 1: Write your core content first.

Before touching any website builder, open a document. Write:

• One sentence describing what you do and where
• List of your services or products
• Your contact information
• Three testimonials or proof points
• Answers to common customer questions

This content is your website. Everything else is just presentation.

Step 2: Choose a simple builder.

You do not need the most powerful tool. You need the simplest one that does the job. Block-based builders let you pick pre-designed sections and add your content. No design skills required.

Avoid builders that require weeks of learning. If you cannot figure it out in an afternoon, it is too complex for your needs.

Step 3: Pick five to seven pages maximum.

Home, About, Services (or Products), Contact. Maybe Testimonials or Portfolio if relevant. That is enough for most small businesses.

More pages means more maintenance and more places for information to get outdated. Keep it tight.

Step 4: Focus on clarity over creativity.

Use your content. Make it easy to read. Make contact information obvious. Do not worry about standing out with design. Standing out comes from being clear, professional, and easy to work with.

Step 5: Launch before you feel ready.

Your website will never feel perfect. Launch it anyway. A live simple website beats a perfect website that never exists. You can improve it later based on real feedback from real customers.

Step 6: Tell Google you exist.

Claim your Google Business Profile. Make sure your website name, address, and phone match your Google listing exactly. This is the single most important thing for local search visibility.

The Bottom Line

Your small business website has one job: help customers understand what you offer and how to reach you.

Everything that serves this job is valuable. Everything that does not is noise.

You do not need chat widgets, chatbots, animations, social feeds, or complex booking systems. You need clear information, easy contact methods, and some proof that you are trustworthy.

Simple websites win. They load faster, rank better, confuse less, and convert more. They cost less to build and less to maintain.

The bakery client I mentioned at the start? She eventually rebuilt her website. Five pages. Menu, hours, location, about, contact. No booking system. No chat. No animations. The new site took one weekend to build.

Her phone started ringing more. Customers found what they needed. The four-month, feature-packed website never achieved that.

"The best small business website is not the one with the most features. It is the one that answers customer questions fastest."

Keep it simple. Launch it fast. Focus on your actual business.

Your website is a tool, not a trophy. Build it like one.