Which pages does a small business website need?

Write down what someone needs to know before they call, visit, book or buy. Include the questions that repeatedly arrive by phone or email. Group answers that belong together rather than making a separate page for every question.

A common starting plan is Home, Services, About, Work and Contact. Work is optional if you do not have useful examples to publish. You might instead need a menu, appointments page or product catalogue. Privacy and selling information may need their own pages too; do not leave them out to fit an arbitrary page limit.

A one-page site can suit one simple service with little supporting information. Separate pages are more useful when customers need to compare several services or follow different routes. Google's guidance recommends logical organisation and useful content. It does not prescribe a minimum number of pages.

• What do you provide, and who is it for?
• Where do you work, or where can customers visit?
• What does it cost, or how does someone get a price?
• What should a customer know before booking or ordering?
• How can they take the next step?

Your homepage should explain the business in ordinary language. Say what you do and where you do it. If you serve customers remotely or only by appointment, make that clear. A visitor should not need to interpret a slogan before finding the service they came for.

Show the main services with links to fuller details, then a clear enquiry, booking or order route. Keep important information as readable text, not only inside a photograph. Work images can help, but they should support the explanation rather than replace it.

• A heading that describes the service or business, followed by the area served where relevant.
• A short explanation of who you help and what customers can get.
• Links to the main services, products or practical visitor information.
• An obvious next step with a label such as Request a quote or Book an appointment.

For a small range of closely related services, one well-organised services page may be enough. Give a service its own page when the audience, questions or booking process are genuinely different. An emergency repair and a planned installation may need different information even when the same business offers both.

Explain what is included, what is excluded and how the work happens. Publish prices when they can be stated accurately. If each job needs a quote, explain which details you need and what affects the price. A bare instruction to contact you for everything makes customers do work the website could handle.

End each service page with the relevant next step. A visitor may arrive directly from search and never see the homepage. Avoid creating near-identical pages just to change the town name. Add a location page only when it has useful, accurate local information.

A repairs business could put routine maintenance and small repairs together, but give emergency call-outs a separate page explaining the area covered, the contact route and any actual availability limits. The split helps the customer find the right information; it is not a reason to invent more services.

An About page should explain who provides the service and how the business works. Relevant experience, real qualifications and an accurate description of the team are more useful than claims about being passionate or delivering excellence. List memberships or accreditations only if they are current and you can substantiate them.

A separate Work or Projects page earns its place when images and explanations help customers judge suitability. Describe what you provided, not just what the finished result looks like. Get permission before publishing identifiable customers, homes or private project information.

If you have little material, put a short About section and useful work images on another page. Do not create an empty gallery or make up projects to complete the menu. The page plan should fit the content you can honestly publish.

Give people the contact route you actually monitor. Show a readable phone number or email address where appropriate, even if you also have a form. State your opening hours or appointment arrangement if that affects when customers can reach you. Publish a response time only if the business can honour it.

If customers visit, include the correct visiting address and useful directions. If they cannot visit, say so. Do not present a registered office as a shop or appointment location when it is not one. For a mobile service, the area served may be more useful than a map pin.

A booking page may be separate from Contact, or the button may open your booking provider. Make the destination and purpose clear. Tell people what information they need and whether they will pay, request a slot or immediately confirm an appointment.

• Use clear labels for each form field and explain any required format.
• Ask only for information needed for that enquiry or booking.
• Place a clear privacy information link beside the form, not only in the footer.
• Test the form through to delivery in the business inbox before launch.
• Check calling, email and booking links on a phone.

Extra pages should help someone make a decision or complete a task. A blog is optional. It is useful when you can maintain genuinely helpful material, not because every website is supposed to have one. An FAQ can be a short section on a service page rather than a separate destination.

• A cafe or restaurant may need a current menu, opening hours, booking information and directions. Keep essential details readable on the page rather than available only in an image or download.
• A salon or treatment business may need a treatment list, accurate prices, appointment details and preparation or cancellation information.
• A shop selling online needs product pages, a working basket and checkout, plus delivery and returns information relevant to what it sells.
• A consultant may need service pages for distinct audiences and a clear explanation of the enquiry process.
• A club or community organisation may need joining information, event details, costs and contact routes. Keep anything intended only for members out of public pages.
• A trades business may benefit from useful work examples and an accurate service area. Separate urgent help from planned work if the customer needs a different contact route.

The page plan must account for how the business handles information and sells. The requirements depend on your legal structure, technology and customers. Check your actual setup against the official guidance, and get professional advice where your situation is unclear.

If you collect personal information through enquiries, bookings or newsletters, provide the relevant privacy information. The ICO says information about direct collection must be provided when the data is obtained. A clear Privacy notice page linked at the form is a practical way to help do that. Describe your real purposes, lawful basis, retention and sharing arrangements rather than copying another business's notice.

Check cookies and similar technologies separately. The ICO's current guidance has several exceptions, so not every cookie requires consent. Where consent is required, a Cookies page alone does not obtain it or prevent a tracking tool from running. Provide accurate information and configure the required consent or objection controls for the technologies you actually use.

For a UK limited company, GOV.UK lists website disclosures including the registered company details. A readable footer is a practical place for the full registered name, company number, registered office and part of the UK where it is registered. These details do not necessarily need a separate page, and a trading address may be different.

If you sell to consumers at a distance, GOV.UK sets out information you must give before an order, including prices, contact details, delivery and applicable cancellation rights. Plan delivery, returns and terms information around the actual transaction. A Terms page is not a substitute for the required information at the right stage of purchase.

Write one sentence saying what each page helps a customer do. Then list the content you need to supply and who will keep it current. If two pages have the same purpose and little distinct content, combine them.

Use familiar menu labels such as Services and Contact. Give pages clear titles and headings, and use links that describe the destination. W3C's accessibility guidance recommends those choices so more people can understand and move through the site.

• Check that each important service can be reached through a visible link.
• Make sure visitors arriving on an inner page can understand the business and take the next step.
• Open the menu and follow the main enquiry or booking route on a phone.
• Check opening hours, prices and addresses against the business's current information.
• Confirm that required privacy and selling information is available where people need it.
• Remove empty pages and set aside content you cannot maintain yet.