Do I need a website for my small business?

Updated October 31, 2026

Many local businesses can start with a Google Business Profile and a one-page link with a QR code. This guide shows what that covers, what you give up, and the signs that you need a real website.

Not always. If your customers find you through word of mouth, your van, your shop front or a local Google search, you can run well without a full website. A complete Google Business Profile, plus a single page with your prices, your hours and a way to book or pay, covers what most of those customers want to do.

You do need a website if people find you by searching for what you sell rather than your name, if you sell online, if you have no in-person contact with customers, or if the job is big enough that buyers want to read about you first. A one-page link is not a cheaper website. It does a different job. The honest answer depends on how your customers arrive, so start there.

Start with how customers actually reach you

Think about your last 20 customers. Ask yourself how each one found you, and what they needed before they got in touch.

• A referral already trusts you. They need your number, maybe your prices.
• Someone who saw your van needs a quick way to check you're real.
• Someone searching "plumber near me" sees your Google listing, your reviews and a call button.
• Someone comparing kitchen fitters over three weeks wants photos, process and proof.

The first three can be served without a site. The fourth usually can't.

What each option does

Google Business Profile comes first

If customers meet you in person, set this up before anything else. It's what appears when someone searches for your name or your trade nearby.

Check that you qualify. Google says a business must make in-person contact with customers during its stated hours. A shop qualifies. So does a business that travels to its customers, as a service-area listing. Online-only businesses don't, and neither do lead generation agents or an address that is just a P.O. box or a virtual office. If that's you, skip ahead: you need a website.

A website is something you can share on your profile, and the help page presents it as an option, though it doesn't spell out that it's optional. Some categories can also add links for orders, reservations or appointments.

Google says local ranking comes down to relevance, distance and prominence. Prominence is partly based on how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have. You can't pay for a better local ranking. In practice, that leaves you with three jobs: fill in everything accurately, pick the right categories, and ask every customer for a review.

Google also has rules that trip people up:

• Your website link should represent your individual business location.
• Links can't be pages that redirect people elsewhere, including pages on social media sites.
• Your description can't contain links.
• Menu links can't go straight to third-party ordering or delivery services.
• There should be one profile per business.

What a one-page link is good for

Your profile tells Google about you. A single page gives your own customers one address to use. Put it on your van, card, invoices and social bio. Include:

1. What you do and where, in one sentence.
2. Prices or starting prices, if you can give them.
3. Your hours and a tap-to-call number.
4. A button to book or ask for a quote.
5. A way to pay.
6. A link to your reviews.

The QR code matters because people will not type a long address from the side of a van at a red light. The same code can stay on your printed cards while the page behind it changes.

The honest tradeoffs

A one-page link is quick and cheap to run, and it does not do everything.

• It won't bring you strangers from search. Plan on a link page doing nothing for "emergency plumber" searches. Your Business Profile has to do that work. It's for people who already have the link.
• You are renting. Google, a social network or a page tool can change terms or features. A domain you own is the one address nobody can change for you.
• Depth is limited. Case studies, long service pages and FAQs need room.
• Some buyers expect a site. Larger commercial customers and anyone spending serious money may check for one.
• Email looks different. A domain gives you an address at your business name. You can buy a domain and set up email without a full site.

Facebook or Instagram alone is the common alternative. Both are useful for showing work. But people may need an account to see much, posts bury your prices, and you can't take a booking there in your own way. Treat social as a place to be seen, not as your main address.

When you do need a website

Build one if any of these is true.

• You're online-only. Google's profile isn't open to you, so your site is your storefront.
• You want search traffic beyond your name and area. That takes pages with real content, and it takes time.
• You sell a real product range online. Stock, shipping, tax and returns need a proper shop.
• Your sale is large or slow. Kitchens, roofing, consulting, and anything people research for weeks.
• You're running paid ads. You want a page built for the ad, and one you can measure.
• You're hiring, or you sell to bigger organisations. Applicants and buyers will look you up.
• You've outgrown the link. If you're repeating the same explanation on the phone every day, that explanation belongs on a site.

When you get there, keep it small. Five good pages beat 30 thin ones: home, services, work, about, contact. Keep your name, address and phone number identical on the site and your profile.

A worked example

Say you fix bikes from a van in one town, with no workshop customers visit. You charge $45 for a basic service and $85 for a full one.

1. Google Business Profile: a service-area listing with your town and neighbouring areas, your hours, your phone number, and your address hidden.
2. A links page: book a service, see prices, pay, read reviews.
3. QR code: on the van, on a card you hand over, and on the invoice.
4. Reviews: every customer gets the same request the day after a service.

This setup is enough for a long time. Six months in, a local office asks you to service 40 staff bikes a year, and wants a proposal and something to show their manager. That is the sign. Buy a domain, write a short site with one page on corporate work, and keep the rest as it is.

Wording to copy

Profile description (no links allowed):

Mobile bike repairs across Springfield. We come to your home or workplace, with most services done on the spot. Basic and full services, punctures, brakes and gears.

Top line of your one-page link:

Bike repairs at your door in Springfield. Basic service $45, full service $85. Book below or call.

Under the QR code on your van:

Scan to book, see prices and read reviews.

Social bio:

Mobile bike repairs in Springfield. Book and pay here: [link]

Common mistakes

• Different details everywhere. Pick one business name, phone number and address format and use it everywhere.
• Stuffing keywords into your business name. Google's guidelines say your name should reflect your real-world name, and extra detail in it could get your profile suspended.
• Using a P.O. box or virtual office to look local. Google doesn't accept those addresses.
• Printing a long link instead of a QR code. Nobody types it.
• Paying for a big site before you know what customers ask. Start small and let the phone calls tell you what to write.
• Letting the page go stale. Old prices are worse than no prices.

On Programmable, each page gets its own link and QR code, and if you have a website later, you can put a page on it too. Pages are private by default, seen only by people with the link or code. A menu or price list can be made public, and a page you link from your Google profile should be public as well, because Google needs to be able to read what you link to.

Questions

Can I have a Google Business Profile without a website?

Google presents a website as something you can add to your profile, and eligibility rests on in-person contact with customers rather than on having a site. Online-only businesses are not eligible.

Is a Facebook page enough instead of a website?

It can help customers see your work, but some content may sit behind a login, and you control less of how it looks. Pair it with a Business Profile and a simple page you control.

Will a one-page link help me rank on Google?

Don't count on it. Google says local ranking comes from relevance, distance and prominence, so your Business Profile and reviews do the most. If you want search traffic beyond your name and area, you need a website with real content.

When should a small business get a website?

When you sell online, have no in-person contact with customers, want search traffic beyond your local area, or sell something big enough that buyers research it first.