What makes a good small business website?

A good small business website doesn't need to be complicated, expensive or packed with features.

It simply needs to do its job well.

That means helping the right people understand what you do, trust your business and take the next step.

Here are some of the things that matter most.

1. It's clear

Visitors should quickly understand:

What do you do? Who do you help? And why should they choose you?

If your homepage is vague or makes people work things out, you're likely to lose potential customers before they get any further.

2. It's built around the customer

Your website shouldn't just tell people about your business.

It should show that you understand their needs, problems and priorities.

Talk about the things that matter to your customers and explain how you can help them.

3. It's easy to navigate

People shouldn't have to hunt for information.

Your services, contact details and important information should be easy to find, whether someone is visiting on a laptop, tablet or phone.

The easier you make the journey, the more likely people are to stay.

4. It builds trust

A potential customer needs a reason to believe you're the right choice.

Reviews, testimonials, case studies, examples of your work, qualifications and experience can all help.

And genuine photography can often do more for trust than a collection of generic stock images.

5. It has a clear purpose

Every good website should have a job.

For most small businesses, that's ultimately to generate enquiries, sales, bookings or opportunities.

Your calls to action should make it obvious what visitors can do next.

6. It can be found

A brilliant website isn't much use if nobody can find it.

Good search engine optimisation helps your website appear when potential customers are searching for the products or services you provide.

But SEO shouldn't be treated as something separate from your website. Your content, structure, messaging and SEO all need to work together.

Good doesn't mean complicated

One of the biggest mistakes small businesses make is assuming that a better website means more pages, more features and more information.

Often, it's the opposite.

A good website is one that makes things clearer, easier and more useful for the customer.

It doesn't need to impress the business owner.

It needs to help the customer.

At Orange Hippo, we look at websites from the perspective of potential customers to identify what's working, what's getting in the way and what could be improved.

You can start with our free 10-minute website health check, where we'll tell you the three things we'd change first.

Your website isn't a vanity project. It's there to help your business grow.