A small business needs five to seven well-planned pages, not thirty. The essentials are a clear home page, a presentation of your services, an about page, proof that you are reliable and a simple way to get in touch.
Many business owners hesitate between a minimal site and a "complete" one with dozens of sections. Yet a visitor arriving on your site is looking for three things: to understand what you do, to decide whether you can be trusted, and to find out how to reach you. Every page should answer one of those expectations.
Which pages are essential?
This is the foundation we recommend for a small business, a shop, a practice or a freelancer:
- The home page: within seconds, who you are, who you serve and what action to take (call, request a quote, book).
- Services or products: one page per main offer if they differ a lot, a single page if they are similar.
- About: who is behind the business, since when, and with what approach. It is often the second most read page.
- References or reviews: completed projects, genuine testimonials, verifiable figures.
- Contact: a short form, phone number, address and opening hours.
- Legal notices: mandatory in France, placed in the footer.
With these six pages you already cover the essentials. A site of this kind can be built in a few weeks and can grow afterwards. Our custom website design page explains what we deliver.
Do you need one page per service?
Yes, if each service matches a different Google search. A plumber who offers emergency repairs and bathroom renovation is better off with two separate pages: someone looking for a water leak does not have the same need as someone planning works.
Here is an example with figures. A single "Our services" page with eight mixed offers answers eight searches badly. Eight pages of 300 to 500 words each answer every one precisely. On the other hand, creating five near-identical pages to say the same thing is pointless and hurts clarity.
Which pages should you add later?
Once the foundation is in place, add only what serves a precise goal:
- a blog if you have recurring customer questions to answer;
- an FAQ page if you always answer the same questions by phone;
- a pricing page if you can show honest ranges;
- one page per area if you work in several towns;
- a customer area if your clients have documents or progress to follow.
The rule is simple: a page with no reader and no purpose adds nothing. It makes maintenance heavier and dilutes your message. Seven living pages are better than twenty abandoned ones.
How should the menu be organised?
A readable menu has five to seven entries. Make the main action ("Quote", "Contact", "Book") stand out, for instance as a button. Avoid three-level drop-down menus: on a phone, they put visitors off. Also keep it consistent with your domain name and professional email address, which add to the credibility of the whole.
Every page should also end with a logical next step: a link to the contact page, to a project or to related content. The visitor should never reach a dead end.
What should you check before going live?
A few checks avoid unpleasant surprises: a unique title and description for each page, proofread texts, a correct display on smartphones, a tested form, and legal notices, GDPR and cookies in order. A large share of visitors will come from their phone, so this point is not optional.
Where to start?
Take a sheet of paper and list the ten questions your customers ask most often. Group them: each group becomes a page or a section. Then write down the action you want to trigger on each page. You get a realistic site map, centred on your customers rather than on your organisation chart.
If you would rather be supported, discover our method: one to two days of scoping is usually enough to set the structure. You can also contact us for a free first conversation with no obligation.