A website for a one-person business

When you are the whole business, the website's main job is to stand in for you while you are working. It should show who you are, answer the questions you would otherwise answer on the phone, tell people honestly when and how you will get back to them, and collect enquiries in a way you can handle alone. Being one person is not something to hide; for many customers it is the reason they choose you.

Lead with you, not "we"

Many solo owners write "we" on their site to look bigger. Customers usually see through it, and it costs you the thing that makes a one-person business attractive: they deal with the person who does the work.

Use "I". "I've been tuning pianos in the Hudson Valley since 2004" is warmer and more believable than "We are a leading provider".
Show your face. A clear, friendly photo near the top, ideally at work. Customers letting someone into their home, or trusting them with their books or their dog, want to see who is coming.
Name yourself. First and last name, and how long you have been doing this.
Show proof that you are qualified: licence numbers where your trade has them, insurance, certifications, memberships. Put them where people will see them, not hidden in a footer.

Answer the questions that eat your day

Every call you take while on a job, or every evening spent replying to the same email, is time a solo owner cannot get back. Use the site to answer the common ones before they are asked:

What do you do, and what do you not do? A short "I don't do" list is just as useful: "I don't do commercial jobs" or "I don't work on gas lines".
Where do you work? A list of towns or a radius.
How do you price? Fixed prices, ranges, a call-out fee, or how quotes work.
How far ahead are you booked? Even a rough answer, updated monthly.
What should the customer have ready? Photos of the problem, measurements, documents, the make of the appliance.

Write down every question you are asked over a week. Most of them belong on the site. Do customers really check your website before calling? explains why this pays off.

Be honest about how you respond

A team can answer the phone at any hour. You cannot, and customers accept that if you tell them:

"I'm usually on a job during the day, so I return calls between 5 and 7 pm."
"Text is the fastest way to reach me."
"I answer every message within one working day."

Place this right next to your phone number and contact form. Then keep the promise; it matters more than the speed itself.

Contact options you can actually handle

Offer the ways of reaching you that fit how you work, not every possible one.

A contact form with a few questions that save you a call: what they need, where, when, and how they prefer to be contacted. Ask for a photo upload if pictures help you quote.
A phone number, tappable, if you take calls. If you would rather screen first, say "text or call".
Online booking, only if your work fits fixed time slots, like lessons, grooming or consultations. Link to your booking tool rather than taking bookings by email. Booking tools for service businesses compared can help you pick one.
Leave out live chat. You cannot staff it, and an unanswered chat looks worse than none.

Protect your privacy

Solo owners often work from home. You do not need to publish your home address to look established.

If customers come to you, give the address and parking details.
If you go to them, list your service area instead and leave the street address off the site and listings. Service-area businesses on Google explains how to do the same on your Google profile.
Consider a separate business phone number and email, so you can switch off in the evening.

Plan for days off

When you are the business, a week away means no business, and customers should know that before they try to reach you.

Keep a short notice you can switch on and off at the top of the site: "I'm away until June 12. Messages will be answered when I'm back."
Update your voicemail and Google hours at the same time.
If a fellow tradesperson covers emergencies while you are away, say so, with their permission.

Choose a website setup where you can change this notice yourself, from your phone, in a couple of minutes. If it needs someone else to do it, it will not get done the night before you leave.

Keep the site small enough to keep current

Four or five pages are plenty: home, services, about, reviews or work photos, contact. Each extra page is something you alone will have to check. A solo owner's site that is small and correct beats a big one with last year's prices.

Set a reminder every three months to check hours, prices, availability and photos. Fifteen minutes is usually enough.

What to do this week

Ask someone to take a good photo of you at work.
Write down every question customers ask you this week.
Decide how and when you will reply, and write it as one sentence.
Choose the two or three contact options you can truly keep up with.
Write your holiday notice and save it.

If you would rather spend your evenings off than build the site, you can see a first website for your business made from those details and edit it yourself afterwards.