Does your local business need a website?
An honest guide, with no jargon or hard sell. What's really worth knowing before you decide: whether you need a website, what it should have (and what it shouldn't), and what it costs.
Do you really need a website?
The short answer: almost always yes, although maybe not for the reason you imagine.
To get found, your Google profile does a huge amount today (the one that shows up on the map with your opening hours and your reviews). Lots of people reach you that way without going through any website.
But when they find you, what do they see? That's where a website changes things. It's the place where someone decides whether to trust you: they look at your menu, your work, your prices, your photos. Without a website —or with an old, slow one— that person hesitates. And for a local business, hesitation goes to the one next door.
Put plainly: a website isn't just where people find you. It's where they choose you. That's why it's worth having one for almost any local business. Even a simple one.
What a local business website should have.
You don't need anything complicated. A website that works has these things, done well:
Clear, to-the-point information
What you offer, where you are, your opening hours and how to contact you. What people are looking for, without digging.
Perfect on mobile
Most people will look at you from their phone. If it looks bad there, you've lost the visit.
Fast
If it takes long to load, people leave before seeing anything. Speed also helps you rank on Google.
Frictionless contact
Phone, WhatsApp and a simple form. Taking the step should cost one tap.
Your Google reviews
Your customers' opinions, in plain sight. It's what convinces people who don't know you yet.
Basic SEO done right
So Google understands what you do and where, and shows you to people searching nearby.
A good image
Real photos and clear text. A well-kept website says the business is well kept too.
And what your website does NOT need.
The simpler, the better: fewer things to break, faster, and no constant maintenance. For a local business, you almost always can do without:
- Huge catalogues that would need updating every season or sale.
- A complex online shop, if you're not going to dedicate yourself to running it.
- Animations and frills that only make it slower.
- A blog you won't keep up (better none than an abandoned one).
- "Just because" features that add to the price and nobody uses.
A local business website does one thing well: it projects a good image and gets people to contact you or visit you. Everything else usually gets in the way more than it helps.
How much does a website for a local business cost?
We have it clear: creating your website is free, and you first see a prototype with no commitment. If you like it, you choose a monthly plan with a 12-month minimum: Base €10/month (1 change per month), Plus €20/month (2 changes per month, weekly reviews and a booking calendar) or Pro €40/month (full sections, monthly report and improvement). Prices exclude VAT. The domain is billed separately, depending on the one you choose.
Isn't Instagram enough for me?
You'll benefit from both, because they do different jobs.
Social media is great for the day-to-day: showing news, talking to your customers, staying present. But it isn't yours (the platform sets the rules) and it isn't where people verify you.
Your website is your own space: it shows up on Google, looks serious and gathers in one place everything someone needs to decide. The ideal isn't to choose, it's to combine: social media for the day-to-day, a website as a solid base.
What people ask most.
You'll benefit from both. Social media is great for the day-to-day, but it isn't yours and it isn't where people verify you. When someone searches for you on Google, your own website looks serious and shows up in the results. The ideal: social media for the day-to-day, a website as the base.
A well-made informational website can be ready in a few days. At DEPROCE, once we have your business information, it's online within 24 hours.
No. A good professional takes care of the domain, hosting and publishing. You only provide the information about your business.
If it's well planned, with no catalogues or things that change often, almost never. A one-off change of opening hours or phone number and little else, and that already fits within your plan's monthly changes.
It helps, but let's be honest: for a local business, the most traffic usually comes from your Google profile and reviews. The website is where that visitor decides to stay with you. The two together work.
Is a website like this right for your business?
At DEPROCE we do exactly this: simple, tailor-made websites with no hassle for local businesses. Free prototype with no commitment, and a free website with a plan from €10/month.