How to write your small business website, page by page

Most small business websites don't get stuck on design or budget. They get stuck on a blinking cursor. You sit down to write the homepage, look at the empty box, and close the laptop.

The way out is to stop thinking of it as writing and start thinking of it as answering questions. Every page on your site answers something a customer is already wondering about. Once you know which question each page is for, the words come much more easily. Here is how to work through it, one page at a time.

Start with one sentence

Before you touch a single page, finish this sentence in plain words. I help a certain kind of person to do a certain thing, so that they get a certain result.

For example, I help busy families in Cascais keep their gardens tidy so they can enjoy their weekends instead of mowing. Everything else on the site is just a longer version of that one line, so keep it next to you while you write.

The homepage

The homepage has one job. Within about five seconds, a visitor should understand what you do, who it is for, and what to do next.

Open with a headline that says what you do and for whom, in normal language. Not "Welcome to our website" and not a slogan that needs decoding. Something like "Garden maintenance for homes in Cascais and Sintra" does the job. Under it, add a line that gives the reason to keep reading, such as "Weekly or fortnightly visits, the same team every time, and the first visit is free."

After that, describe what you do in three to five short blocks, either your main services or the steps of working with you, a sentence or two each. Then show some proof, which can be two or three customer quotes with a first name and a location, logos of clients you have worked with, or a simple number like "over 200 gardens maintained since 2019."

Finish with one clear next step and repeat it at the top and the bottom of the page. Pick a single main action, whether that is "Request a quote", "Book a call" or "See prices", and make it easy to find rather than hiding it at the end.

The about page

People read the about page when they are close to choosing you and want to feel comfortable doing it. It is not your life story.

Cover who you are and who is on the team, and use a real photo rather than a stock image. Say why you do this work in the short, honest version. Explain what makes working with you different, which might be your process, your standards or a guarantee you offer. Add a line about where you are based and the area you cover.

Write it the way you would explain your business to a new neighbour. Use "I" or "we", keep it warm, and be specific.

The services or products page

This is the page where the sale is won or lost, so be concrete.

For each service, give it a plain name that a customer would actually use rather than your internal term. Say what is included, who it is for, and how much it costs, even if that is a range like "from 45 euros per visit." If you genuinely cannot publish prices, at least explain how pricing works and what a typical job comes to. Then point to the next step with a link or a button.

Vague pages that promise "a bespoke solution tailored to your needs" make people assume you are expensive and move on. Specific pages build trust.

The contact page

Make it as easy as possible to reach you. A short form with name, email or phone, and one message box is enough, because every extra field costs you enquiries. Put your phone number and email as links people can tap, add your WhatsApp link if that is how your customers prefer to talk, and include your area or address with a map if you have a physical location.

It also helps to say how quickly you reply, such as "We get back to you within one working day", and to tell people what happens after they send the form so the wait does not feel like silence.

A short FAQ helps too

A few frequently asked questions clear up the last doubts before someone contacts you, and they quietly help your search ranking because they match what people type into Google. Answer the five questions you get asked most often, which are usually about pricing, timelines, the areas you cover, what you need from the client, and what happens if something goes wrong.

A few notes on tone

Write the way you talk. Read each sentence out loud, and if you would not say it to a customer's face, cut it. Talk about the reader more than about yourself, since the page is about their problem and not your company. Keep sentences short, with one idea in each. Drop the throat-clearing, so "We are pleased to offer a wide range of services" simply becomes "We offer." And reach for specifics instead of adjectives, so rather than "fast, reliable service" you say "same-day callbacks, and we turn up in the window we promised."

Don't let the words stop you launching

Your first draft does not need to be perfect. A live site with honest, plain writing beats a perfect site that never goes online, and you can always improve the wording later once you see what customers actually ask.

If writing it yourself is still the thing standing between you and a live website, that is exactly what Brandeet handles for you. We build the site, shape the words around your business, and publish it, so the blinking cursor stops being your problem.