5 ways your business website should be serving your business

Your website should be your best employee, playing a direct role in decreasing your workload and increasing your revenue; however, as a web designer for local business, I often see websites that are pretty much just an expensive ‘digital business card’. There’s no decent ROI on that.

When designed and developed with purposeful intention a small business website should be at the hub of the day to day marketing strategy and sales process.

Free website tip

• The size of the logo is not important (unless it’s too big),
• the slideshow of images is not actually that helpful…and
• the funny picture of your dog is -in most circumstances- no benefit to conversion.

In this article, I identify 5 ways your website should be working for you in order to decrease workload and increase your revenue, throughout 2025.

Catch the VIDEO VERSION on Youtube

1. Your website should make you visible to potential customers

Any business aims to be available and easily reachable for their potential customers. Successful marketing strategies have always been focused on placing information about a business in front of the ideal customer.

For small and local business, this used to mean that high street shop locations, leaflet drops through doors and adverts on local radio were surefire wins. But the world has changed.

Where are your potential customers? They’re at the bus stop, but they’re not reading the 8 foot advert a hundred times.

They’re in the kitchen and waiting for the kettle to boil, but they’re not flitting through the junk mail flyers.

They’re on the toilet, but their mind isn’t repeating a radio jingle.

Why? Because wherever they are…they’re on their phones.

As a local business, your potential customers are on their phones. They’re not listening to radio and your jingle. They’re not noticing the leaflet you’ve designed, printed and had posted through their door. If they’re actually looking for products or services, they’re not scouring the high street or consulting any other directory, other than…Google.

We know this, and yet there are so many local businesses who still continue to use old, expensive and comparatively ineffective methods. Is that you?

In order to carry out effective marketing in 2025, you need to place information about your business onto the digital platforms that are frequented by your ideal customer, and you need to give them a digital location to visit when you’ve grabbed their attention. That…is the almighty website.

How does your website make you visible to customers?

• Creating content on your website that answers customer queries about your service or product is how your business appears in Search Rankings. Google shuffles helpful information to the top of the search pages, so -if you have helpful content- you have every chance of featuring at the top of a search query.
• When you create content on your website, you don’t need to wait for Google to rank it! Sharing your blog post or service page to social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest are fantastic ways to have potential customers directly link to your website and get to know your business.
• Especially when integrated with a Google Business Profile, your website will increase the chances of your business being presented as a ‘near me’ or local service. Ensure your About and Contact page feature location information and that your site is linked to from your Google Profile.

A purposeful and intentionally built website is not only going to rank well in digital directories (Google being the main focus, of course) but also perform well when a prospect finds your business.

2. Your website should automate the customer qualifying process

As a local business owner, you undoubtedly wear numerous hats; tasks are numerous, lists are long and time is precious. While every call from a potentially suitable customer is precious, every call from an unsuitable customer is, simply, a waste of your time, energy and revenue potential.

It may seem counter intuitive but quickly qualifying or disqualifying customers is important to ensure time spent on your business is put to best use; and your website can help with this.

How can a website help with qualifying customers?

Your website can -and should- present information that lets a customer know whether you are suitable for their needs, location or price range. This will eliminate their need to phone you for the information, and -in turn- will minimise the time you spend on dead leads.

Ensure your website specifies these aspects of your business:

• What services you provide. A dedicated service page that outlines the different aspects of your service categories is helpful. Try to include a ‘page per service’ so that you can define various aspects and give your customer the helpful information they need.
• Your business operating hours. Ensure you make it clear when you will be open for business or provide services. If a potential customer is looking for early evening but you clearly close at 5.30pm, they’ve no need to call. It’s also good to state whether you do -or do not- do emergency call outs.
• Your service area. It’s always helpful to provide a list of areas you cover or a boundary line to a broader location, such as a city name. You can also provide ‘Extra Fees’ for working outside a particular location or radius to ensure customers can fully understand your policies without needing to call.
• Minimal costs of your service. Whether you are a salon or offering home repair services, everyone appreciates a ‘from’ price; whether or not they can afford your rates is usually the primary purpose of an enquiry call…but they often won’t say that. Adding a ‘From’ price will let customers look elsewhere without embarrassment and save you time.

When your website provides this information effectively to those who have found your business, it not only automates the disqualification of time-wasting enquiries, but it also moves potential customers along in the sales process as they find they helpful information they’re looking for, and gain confidence in your service.

If you hit a time track button throughout a week…you’d be surprised how much time you currently lose -and would gain back- if you allow your website to handle the initial enquiry and disqualify the time wasters.

3. Your website should build customer relationships

Whether a sales person has knocked on our door or we’ve visited a store, all sales conversions begin with a smile and the establishment of a positive relationship. This is also important in the digital space.

As we’ve established, most customers will seek out local services and business online and -whether they find you on a Google listing or on Facebook- it’s imperative that their first impression of you is positive and takes them further on the journey of “Like, Know and Trust”.

A well planned website will begin establishing this positive rapport immediately, with purposeful branding, a professional look and feel, as well as a welcoming and friendly manner. This is about more than the aesthetics, but also in the words written for the page.

Ensure your website builds rapport with customers, with some of the following:

• Create content that helps them with their initial queries with nothing expected in return. The perfect place to do this is in your blog section, or you could even have a page dedicated to “Helpful Hints and Tips” which answer Frequently Asked Questions about your industry.
• Use real images of yourself, your team and your location . Stock images are great to illustrate services or aesthetically communicate the intention of a page, but the use of real images of a business’ team and the environment goes a long way to build familiarity and trust. Customers feel safer knowing how they’ll meet and what a place looks like. Give them the smile. This is most important for service-types that visit a customer’s home.
• Share your business story and values . If they would like to know, tell them. While an ‘About’ page is more rare on larger brands, it’s an essential part of the smaller and local business website. This is the page where you can share your business values and intention as well as divulge some of the history of your development. Give a nugget of this information on the home page and, for those who’d like to learn more and find it important, link to the About page for more information.

4. Your website should handle sales and upsells

I can’t think of any business that wouldn’t benefit from placing their services sales on their site. Equally, I can’t think of any that wouldn’t benefit from selling products that are related to their service.

For example, let’s think of hair products in a salon: it’s an opportunity to offer the customer something they are likely to have interest in, at the time when they’re most likely to want to purchase it. There’s simply no downside to having a go at making that sale and taking a mark up on a product.

Providing a service and then announcing “You might also like…” or asking “Would you like fries with that?”, is a solid way to increase revenue for your business, but once the moment is gone, it’s gone.

If -however- you have the products available on your website, you can simply follow up with something like: “No worries, have a think about it…if you’re still interested then you can purchase on our site. 10% off your first purchase too!” Boom.

However, service-based businesses can also make the purchase (or pre-purchase) of service sessions, such as classes, appointments or sessions, much easier for customers by offering online payment.

An ecommerce section to your website is not difficult to set up or maintain once it’s in place, but offers huge benefits for increasing sales of related products or session bundles, while swinging the money straight into your business account.

This process saves you a lot of time, with reduced time spent on invoicing or arranging and checking payments, but it also makes it easier for your customer and adds them to your mailing list for future marketing.

Each of these aspects contribute to increased revenue.

5. Your website should help you retain customers

It’s much easier to convert a previous customer to a new sale, than to start fresh with someone new. Customer retention is a number one priority for local business and is most easily implemented by giving your customer a reason to come back.

Discount codes

When a customer is happy with a service or purchase, offer them a discount on their return, valid until a particular date.

Advice and tips

Ensure your customers are readers of your regular free tips and tricks, related to your industry. Bringing this back to your website for further info and surrounded by Call To Action elements will keep you top of mind when they’re in need of your service or product.

Members area

Provide a section on your website that is for Members Only. This can be filled with exclusive content, offers, advice and benefits. Perhaps it is only members who can have the pick of premium booking slots. It doesn’t matter that it’s free to join up, it matters that they feel they are getting something more .

For more ideas on how to use your website for increased customer retention, watch my FREE VIDEO, where I go further into this topic, with a FREE checklist for increased ROI on your website!

How to create an effective website for your business

Perhaps you’re excited by some of these strategies and ideas? I hope so.

Personally, I find that local business owners have strong thoughts about how their website should look and what the essential features should be -without considering the strategy of its use. A website design should not be all about the what (what it looks like, what’s on it, what pages are on it), but about the why : Why is this on the page? Why is the button in the header? Why is the review carousel near the top?

It's really all about understanding why a website is important and what it should achieve for a business . If you feel these methods could better help your business revenue over the next year and are excited to try out some new tactics, consider getting in touch for a free consultation on what strategies and website plan could work for your business.

What next?

If you feel a website would be an important addition to your business, you're not wrong...and it would be advisable that you get some professional help. But, perhaps you'd like to take a peek at what's needed in a business website? If so, read How to make a fantastic small business website next!