One of the most common questions when planning a new website is: "What pages do I actually need?" It's a good question, and the answer is simpler than most web design agencies will tell you.
More pages doesn't mean a better website. What matters is having the right pages, with the right content, structured in a way that makes it easy for visitors to understand your business and take action. Here are the five pages every small business website needs — and what each one should actually do.
1. Homepage
Your homepage is your most visited page, and it needs to do one job: make it immediately clear what you do, who you do it for, and why someone should choose you over a competitor.
A strong homepage includes:
- A headline that directly addresses your customer's need (not "Welcome to [Business Name]")
- A clear description of your main service and the area you serve
- A prominent call to action — "Get a Free Quote" or "Book Now" — above the fold
- Brief trust signals: years in business, number of customers served, key accreditations
- A short preview of your services, a couple of testimonials, and a strong CTA at the bottom
Visitors decide within seconds whether to stay or leave. Your homepage's job is to keep them on the site long enough to become a lead.
2. Services Page (or Individual Service Pages)
People who find your website via Google are almost always searching for a specific service. A clear services page — or individual pages for each major service — gives Google something specific to rank and gives visitors a detailed explanation of what you offer.
Each service page should explain what you offer, who it's for, how it works, and what the customer gets. Include relevant keywords naturally throughout. If you offer more than four or five services, consider individual pages for your highest-value ones rather than cramming everything onto one page.
For local businesses, this is also where location-specific pages live: "Plumbing Services Brisbane", "Web Design Gold Coast". These pages are among the most effective tools for local SEO.
3. About Page
Most businesses underestimate the power of a well-written About page. When people are deciding whether to hire or buy from a business, they want to know who they're dealing with. An About page answers that question.
A great About page tells your story honestly: why you started the business, what makes you different, who's on the team, and what you care about. Real photos of the founder or team — not stock imagery — are more effective here than almost anything else you could add.
The About page is often where undecided visitors make up their minds. It's worth spending real time on.
4. Contact Page
This sounds obvious, but many small business websites make it unnecessarily hard to get in touch. A contact page should make contact as frictionless as possible.
A strong contact page includes:
- A phone number formatted as a click-to-call link (critical on mobile)
- An email address or contact form (keep it short — name, phone, brief message)
- Your physical address with an embedded Google Map if you have a premises
- Business hours
- Response time expectation ("We reply to all enquiries within 2 business hours")
Your contact details should also appear in the header and footer on every page, not just the contact page. Many visitors won't navigate to a contact page — they need to find your number wherever they are.
5. Testimonials or Portfolio Page
Before buying from any business, people look for evidence that others have had a good experience. A dedicated testimonials or portfolio page gives you a place to showcase your best social proof in depth.
For service businesses: genuine written testimonials with the customer's name, suburb, and a specific description of what you did are far more credible than anonymous five-star ratings.
For visual businesses (builders, photographers, landscapers, designers): a portfolio of real project photos is often the single most persuasive page on the site. Visitors are imagining what you could do for them — show them what you've done for others.
What You Don't Need (Straight Away)
A blog, a resources section, an FAQ page, a news page — none of these are essential from day one. They can all add value once your core pages are performing well, but adding complexity too early just makes the site harder to navigate and maintain.
Start with these five pages, do them properly, and you'll have a website that outperforms the majority of small businesses in your market. See what a professionally built small business website looks like →