Every small business website needs the same basics: what you do, where you are, how to reach you and reasons to trust you. What changes from one industry to another is the main action: booking a table or a session, scheduling an appointment, requesting a quote, buying online or finding out where to buy a product.
A restaurant and a dental office need different websites, even though both are there to bring in customers. What changes is the main action, the one that turns a visitor into a customer: booking a table, scheduling an appointment, requesting a quote or buying. If that piece doesn't work, it doesn't matter how good the rest of the site looks. This guide covers what every small business website needs, what each industry adds on top, and ends with a quick test for your own site.
What every small business website needs
Whatever you do, your website has to answer these questions on a phone, without making people search for them. Pew Research Center reports that 91% of U.S. adults own a smartphone, so that's where most of your customers will see it first.
- What you do and who it's for, in one sentence at the top of the page.
- How to reach you: a phone number people can tap to call, a way to text and a short form.
- Where you are and when you're open: address, map, hours and holiday closures.
- Why people should trust you: real photos, reviews with their source and examples of your work.
- A site everyone can use: the Department of Justice states that the ADA applies to everything a business open to the public offers, including what it offers on the web. Its guidance lists common barriers such as poor color contrast, images without text descriptions, videos without captions and forms that can't be used with a keyboard.
How to put all of that in the right order is covered in How to design a small business website that brings in customers.
Restaurants, bars and coffee shops
The main action is the reservation or the order. The reservation or order button has to stay visible on the phone, and every reservation, whether it comes from the website, a call or a text, should end up in the same list. Put the menu on the page as text, not as a PDF, so it reads well on a phone and search engines can read it. Your Google Business Profile should match what your website says: hours, address and phone number.
Medical, dental and wellness practices
The main action is the appointment. People looking for a practice want to know which treatments you offer, who will see them and what the first visit is like. Introduce each provider with their background, explain each treatment in plain words and let people request an appointment without calling.
Keep appointment forms short: ask only for what you need to schedule the visit and leave medical questions for the appointment. If your practice is covered by HIPAA, check with whoever handles your compliance before you add online forms or tracking tools to the site.
Salons, barbershops and spas
The main action is booking a specific service, with its length and the person who does it. Show your service list with prices or a "from" price, photos of work done in your own salon and online booking with each stylist's open times. Link to your Google reviews so people who are still deciding can read them.
Contractors and home services
The main action is the quote request. Make it clear which area you serve and which jobs you take, show photos of finished work and use a form that collects what you need to quote: type of job, address, measurements and a few photos of the problem. If you handle emergencies, say so at the top, next to your phone number. If your trade requires a license, show your license number.
Stores and product brands
For an online store, the main action is the purchase: a full product page, the final price, shipping costs and the return policy, all visible before checkout.
A brand that sells through stores or bars needs something else: people have to understand the product and find out where to buy it. Salitre, a vermouth brand, is one of our sample projects of that kind: a website in four languages, a product page and a locator for the venues that serve it.
Venues, activities and lodging
The main action is booking a spot or a date. For a park, a class or a tour, the website has to show open times and stop taking bookings once a session is full. For lodging, direct booking on your own site works alongside the booking platforms and lets you keep the relationship with the guest.
Jumpoline, a trampoline park, is one of our sample projects: people pick the day, the number of jumpers and the session length, and only see the times that still have room.
Law firms, accountants and other professional services
The main action is the first consultation. People looking for a lawyer, an accountant or an architect want to know whether you handle cases like theirs, who will work with them and how to get started. Explain each practice area on its own page, introduce your team and their experience, answer the questions people ask most and make it easy to request a first consultation.
Three projects you can try
Three sample projects, each built around a different main action: booking, product information and a members' area.
Trampoline park: a website for booking from a phone and software with capacity-based bookings, ticket office, parties and passes.
Open the project →
Vermouth brand: a website in four languages and software for orders, stock by batch and reviews, with ordering by QR code.
Open the project →
Published website with breeds, events, regional regulations and a members’ area, plus a dashboard for each business.
Open the project →Does your website have what your industry needs?
Open your website on your phone and check off what's true. Based on what you check, you'll see what's missing.
Your result will show up here as soon as you check the first box.
With this many gaps, it's worth building a new site around the main action of your industry instead of patching the old one.
Go over what you didn't check off in the sections above. Most of it can be fixed without starting over. If the main action doesn't work well, fix that first.
It has what a small business website needs. Next step: check every month how many people visit and how many get in touch.
Frequently asked questions
What should a small business website have?
What you do and who it's for, how to reach you, where you are and when you're open, real photos and reviews, and a site everyone can use. On top of that, the main action for your industry: booking, scheduling, a quote request or a purchase.
Does the ADA apply to small business websites?
The Department of Justice's guidance, published March 18, 2022, states that the ADA applies to all the goods and services a business open to the public offers, including those offered on the web.
What does a contractor website need to get quote requests?
A clear service area and list of jobs, photos of finished work and a form that collects the type of job, the address, measurements and a few photos.
How much does a website from Proclub cost?
It depends on what your business needs. Tell us about it in the order form and within 48 hours we'll send you a sample website and a proposal with the price.
Sources
- Mobile Fact Sheet · Pew Research Center Published October 19, 2026 (survey conducted January 30 to June 18, 2026); accessed November 5, 2026.
- Guidance on Web Accessibility and the ADA · U.S. Department of Justice Published March 18, 2022; accessed November 5, 2026.
Keep reading
How to design a small business website that brings in customers
How much does a website cost for a small business
Proclub Agency. Custom websites and management software for businesses. This guide is reviewed whenever its sources change.