The 3 Essential Pages
- Homepage — what you do, who you do it for, where you work, contact info. 80% of visitors only see this page.
- Services / Menu — what you offer, ideally with prices or "from £X". Vagueness costs you customers.
- Contact — phone, email, form, address, hours. Visible from every page, not just here.
Optional but high-impact: About page (trust), Portfolio/Reviews (proof), FAQ (objection handling).
Table of Contents
The Homepage (Where 80% of Visitors Stop)
The homepage is the most important page on your website by a huge margin. Most visitors will only ever see this one page. If it doesn't immediately answer their three questions, they'll leave.
The three questions are:
- What do you do? — In plain language. Not "innovative solutions for modern challenges." More like "Emergency plumber covering Bristol and Bath."
- Who is it for? — Domestic, commercial, both? Beginners, experts? Be specific.
- What should I do next? — Call you, request a quote, book a slot, see your menu? One clear next step.
Homepage Essentials
- A clear headline saying what you do (visible without scrolling on mobile)
- A short description under the headline (1–2 sentences)
- Phone number in the header — clickable on mobile
- Service area or "X miles around [town]" if location matters
- 3–5 services as cards or a list
- 2–3 customer reviews or testimonials
- One main call-to-action repeated 2–3 times down the page
- Photos of your actual work, not stock images
- Footer with full contact details and opening hours
Services or Menu Page
This is the page where customers decide if they're in the right place. Vagueness is the enemy. The biggest mistake is listing services as a single block of buzzwords ("Full-spectrum design solutions") instead of a clear list of what you actually do for what kind of customer.
What works:
- Each service gets its own short section with a clear heading
- 1–2 paragraphs of plain-English description
- A starting price, range, or "from £X" — even if pricing varies
- What's included and what isn't
- How long it typically takes
What doesn't:
- One long paragraph listing everything you've ever done
- "Contact for pricing" on every service (most people won't)
- Industry jargon nobody outside your trade understands
Restaurants and cafés follow the same logic — your menu should be the menu, fully visible, with prices. Don't make people download a PDF.
Contact Page
The contact page is the simplest page to get right and surprisingly common to mess up. The most-missed details:
Contact Page Checklist
- Phone number, displayed large, clickable on mobile (use
tel:links) - Email address, also clickable (
mailto:) - A short contact form with 3–4 fields max (name, email, message, optional phone)
- Service area on a map if you're a local business
- Physical address if you have a premises customers can visit
- Opening hours, including which days you're closed
- A response-time promise ("We reply within 4 hours during business hours")
Important: contact details should also live in the header and footer of every page, not just the contact page. Most people don't navigate to a "Contact" tab — they scroll to the bottom.
About Page (Optional but Powerful)
An About page isn't strictly required, but for service businesses, trades, professionals, and anything trust-driven, it's worth its weight in gold. People hire people, not businesses.
What an effective About page contains:
- A real photo of you (or your team) — not stock images of people in suits shaking hands
- A short story — how you started, why you do this work, what makes you different
- Qualifications, certifications, memberships — Gas Safe registered, ICAEW chartered, RICS member, etc.
- Your service philosophy — how you treat customers, what they should expect
- Years of experience — "Plumbing in Bristol since 2009" is more reassuring than "Established"
Don't overthink it. 200–400 words is usually enough.
Portfolio, Case Studies, and Reviews
Social proof is the most under-used part of small business websites. Owners feel awkward about showcasing their own work. Customers absolutely need it to make a decision.
If you do visual work (trades, photography, design, food, hairdressing)
Build a simple gallery of your best 8–12 jobs. A grid of before-and-after photos beats any testimonial.
If you do non-visual work (consulting, accounting, coaching)
Use case studies. 3–4 short ones, each a few paragraphs: who the client was, what the problem was, what you did, what changed.
Reviews
Pull 4–6 of your strongest Google or Trustpilot reviews onto the homepage and a longer list on a dedicated page. Real names and locations beat anonymous quotes — "Sarah J., Bristol" beats "S.J."
FAQ Page
An FAQ page does two things at once: it handles common objections so you don't have to do it on every sales call, and it's a quiet SEO win. Search engines and AI assistants love structured questions and answers.
The right questions to include are the ones you actually get asked. Some common ones:
- How quickly can you start?
- What areas do you cover?
- Do you offer free quotes / estimates / consultations?
- What payment methods do you accept?
- Are you insured / qualified / licensed?
- What's your guarantee or warranty?
- What happens if I'm not happy with the work?
6–10 questions is the sweet spot. Keep answers short.
5 Things Owners Forget That Cost Customers
1. Phone number not clickable on mobile
If your phone number is just text, mobile users have to copy and paste it. Most won't bother. Use a <a href="tel:..."> link so a tap calls you.
2. Service area unclear
"London" can mean Zone 1 or M25. "Bristol" can mean BS1 or 30 miles around. Spell it out: postcodes covered, miles from your base, or specific towns.
3. No prices, anywhere
Customers searching with intent to buy will skip your site if they can't get a sense of pricing. "From £X" or starting prices are enough — you don't need to commit to a fixed quote.
4. Stock photos instead of real work
Smiling models in suits don't sell. Photos of your actual van, your actual workshop, your actual finished kitchens, your actual food — these convert. Use your phone, not a photographer.
5. Slow loading on mobile
If your site takes more than 3 seconds to load on a phone, you've lost a chunk of your visitors before they see anything. Most modern AI builders handle this for you. Older Wix and WordPress sites with lots of plugins are the usual culprits.
What You Don't Need
Several things many small business websites have but probably shouldn't:
- A blog you can't maintain. Two stale posts from 2022 hurt more than no blog at all. Skip it unless you'll actually publish.
- A pop-up newsletter signup before they've seen anything. Annoying. Save it for after they've engaged.
- An automated chatbot for a 1-person business. Customers can tell. They want to reach you, not a bot pretending to be you.
- "Coming soon" placeholders. Either build the page or remove the link. Half-built sections look unprofessional.
- A "Team" page with one person. The About page covers it.
- A long mission/values statement. Customers want services and prices, not your philosophy.
Build a Site That Hits All of This in 60 Seconds
Describe your business. ChilledSites generates a small business website with all the essentials — homepage, services, contact form, mobile-ready. From £9/month including hosting and domain.