Do small businesses still need a website?

Most small businesses that want new customers still need a website, but not all of them, and not a big one. If every customer comes through word of mouth and you are booked solid, you can manage without. If strangers ever look you up before calling, a simple site of a few pages does a job that a Facebook page or a listing on someone else's platform cannot: it is the one place that says exactly what you want, stays under your control, and shows people you are a real, current business.

Who can honestly go without one

It is fine to skip a website, at least for now, if one of these describes you:

You are fully booked from referrals and have a waiting list. More enquiries would only mean more people to turn down.
You sell to a handful of business customers you already know, such as a machine shop supplying three local factories.
You are winding the business down over the next year or two.
You are testing an idea for a few weekends and do not know yet whether it will last. A free listing can do for a month or two.

If that is you, put your effort into a complete, accurate Google Business Profile and keep your phone number current everywhere. You can add a site later.

What customers actually do before they call

Think about the last time you needed a plumber, a dentist or a caterer you had not used before. You probably asked someone, then looked the name up. People check:

That you exist and are still open. A business with no website, or a site with a 2017 copyright and old prices, makes people wonder.
That you do the specific job they need. "Do they fix tankless water heaters?" "Do they do gluten-free cakes?"
That you cover their area. Town names and a service area matter here.
What you are like. A photo of you, your van, your shop or your team, and a few honest words.
How to reach you in one tap. A phone number they can press, an email, a form.

A referral gets you the first look. What they find when they look decides whether they call. Do customers really check your website before calling? goes into this in more depth.

What a website does that other places cannot

It belongs to you

A Facebook page, a Yelp listing and a marketplace profile are all rented space. The platform decides the layout, shows ads next to you, changes its rules, and can suspend you. A website on your own domain stays put. When a platform changes, your address on the truck and the business card still works.

It answers the questions you are tired of answering

Prices or price ranges, service area, what is included, how long a job takes, what to do before you arrive, parking, payment methods. Every question your website answers is one fewer phone call that goes nowhere, and one more customer who calls already ready to book.

It explains the details

A listing has room for a short description and a few photos. A website can have a page per service, before-and-after photos with captions, a page about warranties, a menu, a list of insurance plans you accept. Customers looking for something specific want that depth.

It gives Google something to read

Google shows businesses partly based on what it can learn about them. A site that clearly states what you do and where helps Google understand you. Nobody can promise a place in the results, but a business with clear pages gives Google far more to work with than one with none. How Google finds a new website explains the basics.

It makes you look current

A clean, simple site that works well on a phone tells people the business is active and cared for. For a lot of trades, that alone is the difference between a call and a scroll to the next result.

"Isn't my Google listing enough?"

A Google Business Profile is free and important, and every local business should have one. It is also limited: short text, no proper service pages, and Google decides what is shown and how. Many owners find the two work best together, the profile bringing people in and the site convincing them. Is Google Business Profile enough without a website? looks at that question in detail.

What "a website" needs to mean for you

The word puts people off because it sounds like a big project. For most small businesses, a website is four or five pages:

Home: what you do, where, and a phone number at the top.
Services: one short section or page for each main job.
About: who you are, how long you have done this, a real photo.
Reviews or photos of your work.
Contact: phone, email, form, hours, area served.

That is enough to do everything described above. It does not need a blog, a store or monthly updates. Simple website ideas for small businesses has examples by type of business.

What it costs to not have one

There is no bill for not having a website, which is why the cost is easy to miss. It shows up as:

People who looked you up, found only a listing, and called the competitor whose site answered their question.
Jobs you are not asked to quote because customers did not know you offered them.
Phone time spent repeating the same answers.
Dependence on one platform for every new customer.

Whether that adds up to more than the cost of a simple site depends on your business. For most that want to grow, it does.

A quick way to decide this week

Search your business name on your phone and look at what a stranger would see.
Search the service you offer plus your town, and look at the businesses that show up and what their sites say.
Write down the five questions customers ask you most.
If those questions are not answered anywhere you control, you probably need a site.

If you decide you do, you can see a first website for your business built from your details, and judge it before you commit to anything.