Do You Need a Website for a Small Business? Website vs Landing Page

Most small businesses that ask whether they need a website already have a free page on Instagram or Facebook. A site on your own domain costs money every year, starting with the domain itself. Yet the free page follows the platform's rules, and the platform can change them. The paid site stays as you built it for as long as you pay for it.

Almost every small business needs a website, though usually a small one. A one-page landing site covers the basics if it shows:

• your business name
• what you do
• where you work
• how to reach you

A local business with a strong Google Business Profile can manage without a site for a while. But that works only if Google considers the business eligible, and only as a stopgap. Social pages and a Google profile do cover a lot now. Still, customers, partners and banks look for a site when they check that a business is real.

Why most small businesses still need a website

Your first instinct is to look at what other small businesses do. In a 2025 Clutch report, 83% of US small businesses had a website, compared with 64% in 2018. About 12% had launched their site within the past year.

Among businesses still without one, over a third said a website wasn't relevant to them. They relied on social media or marketplaces instead, and 28% of that group had no online presence at all. The release says these owners pointed to misconceptions about websites rather than cost.

Then you think about your own customers. BrightLocal surveyed 1,002 US adults in 2026. 97% said they read reviews when they look at local businesses. And 54% went on to visit a company's website after reading positive reviews.

So more than half of the people who already like what they've read about you look for your site next. If you don't have one, you have nothing to show them at that moment.

Website vs landing page and the terms around them

When you start asking around, people use four terms as if they meant the same thing. Each one is a different tool, and it helps to sort them out first.

A website is a site on your own domain (for example, yourcompany.com) with one or more pages. You decide what it says and how it looks.

A landing page has two common meanings. In Google Ads, it's "the webpage where people end up after they click your ad". That's usually the ad's final URL. Canva describes it more broadly as "a single webpage that serves as the first thing a customer sees". It's simpler than a full website and often built for one purpose.

For a small business, a landing page often works as a one-page website with one goal. That goal might be a call or a quote request.

A Google Business Profile is a free listing that shows the business on Google Search and Maps. It can link to a website, but it isn't one. A social media page is a business page on a platform such as Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn. The platform sets the rules and can change them.

We look at how these pieces work together in What Is an Online Presence and What Does a Small Business Need.

The objection that social media and AI replaced the website

You've probably heard that social media and AI search have replaced the website. It comes up a lot in videos and forum threads. But the numbers from 2025 and 2026 point the other way.

Partners and customers check young companies

Your company has no history yet, so the people who might work with you look for evidence. In our work with clients, we see partners checking young companies more and more. They use these:

1. AI tools
2. the company's Google profile
3. reviews on Google, Trustpilot and similar sites

A website gives all of those checks something to find. We cover this in more detail in How to Tell if a Business Is Legitimate, and How a New Business Looks Credible.

AI answers have become a source of local recommendations

According to BrightLocal, 45% of US consumers used generative AI tools for local recommendations in 2026. A year earlier it was 6%. ChatGPT was used by 31% of respondents for this, and Google AI Mode by 23%.

Among AI users, 97% said they sometimes double-check the AI's suggestions against real reviews. BrightLocal didn't measure how many of them then visited a website. Still, most AI users also look at reviews and other sources before they choose a business.

The site belongs to you

Your Instagram page follows Instagram's rules, and those rules change. Your own site stays as you built it for as long as you pay for the domain and hosting. Further down you'll see what happened when Google closed its own free website service.

Google reads the mobile version

Google uses the mobile version of a site's content for indexing and ranking. A site can appear in search without a mobile version, but Google "very strongly recommends" one.

Google also says page experience isn't a single ranking signal. It "always seeks to show the most relevant content, even if the page experience is sub-par". So a fast, well-designed site helps visitors, but it doesn't guarantee a higher position in search.

Deciding how big your site should be

Once you accept that you need a site, the next decision is its size. Few guides draw this line clearly. In our view, it depends on how much you need to explain and what visitors should do on the site.

A one-page site is quick to launch and cheap to keep. It gives people one place to land when they come from your Google profile, your social pages or directory listings. It also fits a new business that's still testing demand.

From what we see, a large multi-page site suits big companies with many services or products. Online stores are the usual example. Even then, those companies need a landing page with a funnel.

The reason is paid traffic, and it matters if you plan to run ads. In our work, search ads that send people straight to a website with no funnel lose money. Visitors land on a homepage that tries to say everything. They look around and leave.

A funnel means a page built for one offer and one next step. It also includes a way to follow up with people who weren't ready to buy on the first visit. So for a growing business, the answer is often both: a website and a landing page, each doing its own job.

You also don't have to choose once and for all. Many businesses start with one page and add more later. If you use a site builder, check that adding pages later doesn't mean starting over.

The temptation to skip the site for now

At some point you'll wonder whether you could hold off and use other channels. A business can run for a while without a site. It can use a Google Business Profile, social pages, marketplaces or directory listings instead. Each of these has limits.

We explain which listings matter in Business Directories Explained: Which Listings a New Business Needs and Why.

What your Google profile can and can't replace

You can verify a Google Business Profile without a website. Google picks the verification method, and the owner can't change it. The options are:

• phone or text
• email
• a live video call
• a postcard
• a video recording

If you do have a site and verify it through Search Console, verification can be instant. Postcard codes mostly arrive within 14 days. We explain what the profile does for a new business in What Is a Google Business Profile and Why a New Business Needs One.

Eligibility is the limit. Google's guidelines say a business must make in-person contact with customers during its stated hours. Online-only businesses aren't eligible. Neither are businesses that have only a PO box or a remote mailbox address.

So if your business is online-only, the website is your main presence online. There's no Google profile to fall back on.

The free Google sites that were shut down

Google used to offer a free "website made with Business Profile" on business.site addresses. Many small businesses used it as their only site. Google shut the service down in 2024, and by June 2024 those sites no longer worked.

Sources give different dates for the earlier stages. But they agree that the sites were gone from June 2024.

What a small business website costs in 2026

So you decide to build one, and you open a few pricing pages. The cost depends on who builds the site and what it needs to do. The vendors published the prices below in October 2026. They change often and can differ by region, so check them before you buy.

A professionally built site costs more, but there's no reliable independent figure for how much. Wix says a traditional small business site costs "about $1,000 to over $10,000". The agency WebFX lists a starting price of $8,000 per site. Both are vendors describing their own market, and we didn't find an independent average.

Our own two-year example

We worked this out ourselves from Wix's published prices. The Light plan costs $17 a month on yearly billing, which Wix lists as $204 a year. The first year includes a free domain.

In the second year, the .com renews at $13.35. So the total is $204 in year one and $217.35 ($204 plus $13.35) in year two. That assumes the plan price stays the same.

That's the lowest cash cost for a paid site on a custom domain with this builder. Your time is the larger cost, as you'll see below.

Domain costs

You pay for a domain every year. For a .com, the registry fee is $10.26 a year, and the registrar you buy it from adds its own margin. Many builders, Wix and Squarespace among them, include a free domain for the first year on an annual plan. After that you pay the normal renewal price.

You may also be tempted by an older domain with a history, bought at auction. In our experience, this is one of the things that delays a launch. Those auctions can take weeks.

Costs outside the monthly plan price

A few costs don't show up in the plan price itself:

• Renewals. The free first-year domain renews at the standard rate.
• Payment fees. On Squarespace Basic, store sales carry a 2% transaction fee plus the card rate of 2.9% + $0.30.
• Your time. You write the text, choose photos, check the phone version and keep the page current.
• Updates. Prices, hours and services change, and an outdated page gives visitors wrong information.

Wondering whether your LLC needs a domain

While you're buying the domain, you may ask whether your LLC must have one. The law doesn't require an LLC to own a domain. Forming the company and registering a domain are separate things. But the SBA advises registering a domain name if you want an online presence. The SBA describes a domain name as "your website address, or URL".

A domain you own protects your brand online. According to the SBA, it doesn't have to match your legal business name. In practice, a domain also gives you a business email address on your own name ([email protected]).

What to put on a small business website

With the site and the domain settled, you sit down to decide what goes on the page. Whether the site has one page or twenty, the basic content is the same. This list covers what the page needs to contain, not how to build it:

1. The business name and a one-line description of what you do, at the top.
2. Your services, in plain words, with what the customer gets.
3. Where you work: your city, region or service area.
4. How to reach you: a phone number, an email address or a working contact form.
5. Hours, if customers can call or visit.
6. Proof: reviews, photos of real work, examples.
7. One clear next step, such as a call, a booking or a quote request.
8. A layout that works on phones, since Google indexes the mobile version.
9. Accessibility for people with disabilities (more on that below).
10. CAN-SPAM compliance, if you collect email addresses for marketing.

On accessibility, the US Department of Justice says the ADA applies to goods and services that businesses offer to the public online. The DOJ hasn't set detailed web standards for private businesses. But a site that people with disabilities can use avoids problems.

On email, the CAN-SPAM Act asks each marketing email to carry a valid physical postal address and a clear way to opt out. Opt-outs have to be honored within 10 business days. The FTC lists penalties of up to $53,088 per violating email.

Website mistakes that cost visitors

Even a site with all of that can lose visitors through a few common slips. These follow most directly from everything above:

• Running an online-only business without a site. It can't have a Google Business Profile, so the website is the main proof it exists.
• Relying entirely on a free page on someone else's platform, as the business.site shutdown showed.
• Sending paid search traffic to the homepage instead of a landing page with a funnel.
• Planning to handle SEO and GEO in-house later. In our work, owners who plan to do this themselves often never get to it.
• Never checking the site on a phone, even though Google looks at the mobile version first.
• Leaving out a clear way to get in touch. Then visitors who arrive from reviews or an AI answer have nowhere to go.

Mistakes that go beyond the website are covered in Common Mistakes New Small Business Owners Make.

The last choice: building it yourself or hiring someone

Your final decision is who builds the site. Both approaches are common. Clutch found this split in what powers small business sites:

• do-it-yourself builders such as Wix and Squarespace: 41%
• WordPress and Shopify: 34%
• custom-built sites: 12%

As for who builds them, outside partners developed 45% of the sites. 37% were built in-house and 8% by the owners themselves.

Building the site yourself costs the least money, and builders make it possible without a programmer. The price is time. You write clear text and pick images, then check the phone version and keep everything current. It also takes judgment about what a stranger needs to see before trusting a new business.

Hiring someone costs more and saves those hours. It makes the most sense when the page has more work to do than just exist. For example:

• your ads lead to it
• partners will use it to check you
• you're outside the US and the site is most of what people see

Our team builds simple landing pages for new companies as part of a US launch, together with the Google profile and listings.

Before you hire anyone, ask how you'll update the page later. Also ask whose account the domain will be registered under.

What to do this month

If you don't have a site yet, start with one page that shows your name, what you do and how to reach you. Check it on your phone before you share the link. Register the domain in your own account, so the address stays yours.

Watch where your visitors will come from. If ads will lead to the page or partners will use it to check you, hiring someone makes the most sense. For how new companies look credible beyond the site, see How to Tell if a Business Is Legitimate, and How a New Business Looks Credible.