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How to Make a Website for a Small Business

· 3 min read · 6 sources

How to Make a Website for a Small Business. Start by deciding what the site must do for your business, then build a simp
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Start by deciding what the site must do for your business, then build a simple site that works on every screen size. Web design covers graphics, layout, user experience, code and search optimization, and you can cover these yourself or split them across a team[6]. Make it responsive so it adapts to desktops, tablets and phones[5].

What should a small business website do first?

Decide the job of the site before you pick a layout. Research on small business website adoption says the marketing context of the business plays a role in what drives adoption[3]. In plain terms, your goals should shape the site, not the other way round.

Write down who the visitors are and what they should do: call you, book, buy or find your address. Keep every page tied to one of those actions.

What parts of web design do you need to cover?

Web design is made of several areas. Some designers cover them all, and others work in teams[6]. A small business owner often does most of it alone, so it helps to know the list.

  • Web graphic design[6]
  • User interface design[6]
  • Authoring, including standardised code and proprietary software[6]
  • User experience design[6]
  • Search engine optimization[6]
What parts of web design do you need to cover?: Web design is made of several areas. Some designers cover them all, and
Made with AI for this guide.

Why should the site work on phones?

Responsive web design aims to make pages render well on many devices and screen sizes[5]. Mobile users came to account for the majority of website visitors[5]. In 2015 Google started to boost the page ranking of mobile-friendly sites when searching from a mobile device[5].

Google has also recommended responsive design for smartphone websites over other approaches[5].

How does responsive design work?

Three techniques are behind it. You rarely need to write these yourself if you use a builder, but it helps to know what to look for.

  • Fluid grids size page elements in relative units like percentages, not pixels[5].
  • Flexible images are also sized in relative units, so they do not spill outside their container[5].
  • Media queries let the page use different style rules depending on the device, such as its width[5].

Keep it usable and accessible

Web designers are expected to know about usability and to keep up with web accessibility guidelines[6]. For a small site, that means clear text, readable layout and simple navigation. Keep pages few and easy to scan.

How do you check the site before launch?

Browsers such as Chrome, Firefox and Safari have offered responsive design viewport resizing tools in their developer tools[5]. Use them to see how pages look at different widths. Then open the site on a real phone and a real computer and try every link and form.

Can you use a site for local campaigns?

Small Business Saturday in the UK takes place on the first Saturday in December and encourages consumers to shop local[1]. If you take part in a campaign like that, make sure your site shows your opening hours and location clearly. That is general advice, not a rule from the campaign.

Try it in InksForm

  1. Write down the one action you want visitors to take.
  2. List the few pages you need, such as home, services, and contact.
  3. Build the pages in InksForm sites and add your text and images.
  4. Preview the site at phone, tablet and desktop widths.
  5. Fix anything hard to read, then publish.
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Questions

Do I need a developer to make a small business website?

Not always. Web design covers many skills, and some designers cover them all[6]. A small site can be simple, but know which areas you are covering.

What does responsive mean?

It means the layout adapts to the viewing environment, so pages work on desktop, laptop, tablet and phone[5].

How do I test my site on different screen sizes?

Use the viewport resizing tools in browser developer tools, then check on real devices[5].

Does search optimization matter?

It is one of the areas of web design[6]. Mobile-friendly sites have been boosted in mobile search rankings by Google since 2015[5].

Sources

  1. [1] Small Business Saturday (UK), Wikipedia, 2025-08-05
  2. [2] Small business, Wikipedia, 2026-10-19
  3. [3] A Conceptualization of the Determinants of Small Business Website Adoption, International Small Business Journal Researching Entrepreneurship, 2008-05-13
  4. [4] An exploration of small business Website optimization: Enablers, influencers and an assessment approach, International Small Business Journal Researching Entrepreneurship, 2011-02-14
  5. [5] Responsive web design, Wikipedia, 2026-05-20
  6. [6] Web design, Wikipedia, 2026-05-21

How this guide was made

Written with AI from the 6 sources listed below, which it read in full; every number and quote was checked against its source in code before it was published. Pictures marked as AI were made for this guide. Published without a person reviewing it first; tell us at info@inksform.com if something's wrong.