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Seven things a local business website must have

Before design, before a blog, before ads: seven basics. Each one can be checked in about a minute, and our free audit checks most of them for you.

Written October 7, 2026, from the sources listed at the bottom. Where a rule comes from Google, Google's page is the final word.

  1. A phone number you can tap. At the top of every page. See tap-to-call.
  2. What you do and where, in the first screen. A visitor should know within seconds that you fix AC in Katy, not just that you're "committed to excellence".
  3. Your hours. People check whether you're open before they call.
  4. A page for each service. Someone searching for brake repair wants a page about brakes.
  5. A clear title and description on each page. Google asks for titles that are unique, clear and concise, and descriptions that are short and specific to the page.
  6. A secure connection. The address should start with https. Without it, browsers label the site "Not secure".
  7. It fits a phone. Open it on yours. If you have to pinch and zoom, so do your customers.

Worth having next

  • A short form for people who won't call.
  • Real photos of your team and your work, with a short description on each image.
  • Your license number, where your trade requires one in advertising.
  • A link to your Google Business Profile, with the same name, address and phone as your site.

What you can skip

Google says a sitemap isn't required for a small site, that it ignores the keywords meta tag, and that there's no ideal word count. Spend the time on the seven above instead.

Want to see all of this on a real page? Open one of our demo sites on your phone.

Sources

This guide is general information, not legal advice.

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