What Should a Small Business Website Contain? A Practical Checklist
First screen, essential sections, languages, photos, local SEO and what to check with the owner. A checklist for a small business site that is useful.
In this article
A small business website should answer three questions straight away: what you do, where you are, and how to contact you. After that come the services or the menu, real photos, reviews, opening hours, the address with a map, and a simple way to book or ask for a price. Here is the full checklist, section by section, to follow when you build a site for a restaurant, a salon or a clinic.
The first screen: three answers before any scrolling
Most visitors arrive on a phone with a precise goal: call, come over, book, or check a price. Without scrolling, they should find:
- What the business does, in one plain sentence that names the trade: "Hair salon for women", "Fish restaurant", "Dental clinic".
- Where it is: the city and the neighbourhood, not only the name.
- How to reach it: a WhatsApp button and a click-to-call phone number that starts the call with one tap.
Add one real photo of the place or of the work, and whether the business is open right now if you can show it. Skip the vague greeting such as "Welcome to our website". It answers none of the three questions.
The essential sections, one by one
For a small business, one well built page is often enough. What matters is that each section answers a question the customer has.
| Section | What it contains | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Home | Trade, city, a real photo, WhatsApp and call buttons | The visitor knows where they are and can act at once |
| Services or menu | A clear list, with prices when the owner agrees | It is the most common question before making the trip |
| Photos | The place, the team, the dishes or finished work | They show what the customer will really find |
| Reviews | A few real reviews, unedited, with their source | They reassure better than text written by the business |
| Opening hours | Days and times, holidays, Ramadan hours | Nobody wants to travel to a closed door |
| Address and map | Full address, a known landmark, a map, a directions link | The customer should be able to come without calling |
| Contact | WhatsApp, click-to-call phone, email if used | Each person picks the channel they prefer |
| Request or booking | A short form: name, phone, need, preferred date | Requests arrive even when the business is closed |
| About | Who runs the place, since when, what makes it different | People buy more easily from someone they know |
Two notes. On prices: some owners refuse to show them. Offer a "from" price or a range for the main services, and respect the decision if the answer is no. On the form: three or four fields, no more. Every extra field is a reason not to send it.
Adapting the content: restaurant, salon, clinic
The list stays the same, but the order and the detail change with the trade.
Restaurant or café
The menu comes first, as text that reads well on a phone, not as a photo of a printed card, which is hard to read and impossible to update. Add photos of the dishes actually served, the type of cuisine, whether you can book a table, take away or get delivery, and the service hours.
Hair or beauty salon
The list of services with their duration and, where possible, their price. Photos of finished work, with the customers' agreement. A button to request an appointment, and one useful detail: with or without appointment.
Medical or paramedical clinic
The specialities, consultation days and hours, how to get an appointment, access details (floor, parking, landmark) and the documents to bring. Sobriety is the rule here: no promise of results, no patient photos. Health professions have their own rules on advertising, to check with the practitioner and their professional order.
Languages, mobile, speed and real photos
Languages. In Tunisia, French and Arabic cover most local customers. Add English where tourists or foreigners come: seaside areas, medinas, hotels, business districts. A language you add must be complete. A half translated English version makes the business look careless.
Mobile first. Design the site for a phone screen, then check it on a computer, not the other way round. Text readable without zooming, buttons large enough for a thumb, a phone number you can tap.
Speed. Compressed images, no video that starts by itself, few scripts. Test the site on mobile data, away from Wi-Fi, because that is how the customer will see it in the street.
Real photos. A stock photo says nothing about the business, and customers can tell. Photos of the actual place, even taken with a phone in good light, do a better job. This is the principle behind LeadMax: the site is generated from the business's own photos and reviews, in French, Arabic and English, and you then adjust the text and sections in the editor before showing it.
What to leave out
- Image sliders at the top of the page: the message changes before anyone has read it, and they slow the page down.
- Long texts about history or values: three sentences are enough for the About section.
- Music and autoplay video.
- Pop-ups that open on arrival and hide the phone number.
- Empty "under construction" pages and links to abandoned social accounts.
The rule is simple: if an element does not help the visitor understand, come over or contact the business, remove it.
Basic SEO for a local business
A neighbourhood business does not need complicated technique. Three actions cover the essentials:
- A clear title with the trade and the city: "Pastry shop in Sousse, Dar El Halwa" tells Google and the customer more than "Home".
- The same name, address and phone as on Google Maps, written the same way everywhere, Facebook included.
- A link from the Google listing to the site, in the field provided for the website.
Add a short text that describes the services in the words people really use. None of this guarantees a position in the results, but it avoids the most common mistakes. The listing and the site complete each other: the article on why a Google Maps listing is not enough explains how. For the site's address, read the guide on choosing between .tn and .com.
What to check with the owner before going live
Legal basics
You are not a lawyer, and neither is this article. Simply ask the owner these questions and, when in doubt, send them to their accountant or adviser:
- Is the identity shown (trade name, address, phone) exact and complete?
- Are the prices shown up to date, and do they say what they include?
- The form collects personal data (name, number). Say what it is used for and ask only for what is needed. Tunisian law 2004-63 governs this data: check the formalities with the competent authority.
- Have the people visible in the photos given their agreement?
- Is the trade regulated (health, law, accounting)? If so, the professional order's rules on communication apply.
What the owner should be able to change alone
A frozen site ages fast. The owner should be able to change, without you, the opening hours, the photos and short texts such as the menu or the prices. With LeadMax, the owner gets a small back office to change photos, hours and texts, and to see the requests received. Plan for this in your offer: updates are part of what you sell, see how much to charge for a website.
Frequently asked questions
Does a small business need several pages?
Not necessarily. One well ordered page with the sections from the table is enough for most neighbourhood businesses. Separate pages become useful when there are many different services or a long menu.
Should prices be shown on the site?
That is the owner's decision. Prices avoid pointless calls and reassure the customer, but some owners prefer to give them by phone. A "from" price is a good compromise.
How many photos should there be?
There is no magic number. Aim for a few sharp, recent photos that show the front, the inside and the work, not a long repetitive gallery. Remove the ones that are blurry or dated.
Which language should come first?
The one the business's customers use most in writing. In many Tunisian cities that will be French or Arabic, with a visible button to switch from one to the other.
Share this article