Who visits a small-town business website?
Mostly three groups. People who've been recommended you and want to check before they call. People comparing two or three local names. And people from further away who found you in a search.
The first two already half-trust you. They're looking for reasons to go ahead, or reasons to doubt. Out-of-date hours, a broken form or a site that looks abandoned can lose a customer someone else had already sent your way.
What should a website for a Melton business include?
These ten things, roughly in order of how often people look for them:
- What you do and where, in the first line of the homepage.
- A phone number you can tap on a phone, at the top of every page.
- Opening hours, matching your Google Business Profile.
- Your address and a link to directions, if customers come to you.
- The areas you cover, if you go to them.
- A page for each main service.
- Real photos of your team, premises and work.
- Reviews, linked back to where they were left.
- A price signal, such as a starting price, so people can tell if you're in range.
- How to book or enquire, in one simple step.
Should you mention nearby villages?
Yes, if you genuinely serve them. A plain line such as which villages you cover, on your contact or service pages, helps customers and search engines alike.
Don't create a separate page for each village with the name swapped in. They add nothing for customers, and Google treats them as doorway pages.
What do local business websites get wrong?
The same few things, mostly easy to fix:
- Stock photos in place of the real team and work.
- Hours or prices that haven't been updated in years.
- Contact details hidden on one page, or different from the Google listing.
- A site that breaks or crawls on a phone.
- A homepage that talks about values instead of saying what you do.
- Relying on a social media page alone, which you don't control and which many people won't see.
Do you need a big website?
No. For most local businesses, a homepage, a page per main service, an about page with real faces, and a contact page is plenty. Make those pages clear, fast and up to date before adding anything else.
Grow it when there's a reason: a new service, questions customers keep asking, or a part of your business you want to be found for.
How do you check your own site?
Open it on your phone, on mobile data, and pretend a friend just recommended you. Can you tell in a few seconds what you do, whether you're open and how to get in touch? Can you call with one tap? If not, start there.