What content do I need for a new business website?

Start with the pages, not the paragraphs

Before writing a word, list the pages a first site actually needs. For most small businesses that is a home page, a services or products page, an about page, and a contact page. That is enough to launch. You can always add more once the business tells you what people keep asking for.

Trying to fill twenty pages on day one is how sites end up half finished and never published. Four solid pages beat twenty empty ones.

The home page

The home page has one job in the first few seconds: tell a visitor what you do, who you do it for, and where. "Plumber in Centurion, same day callouts" does more work than a paragraph about your journey. Under that, put a few lines on your main services, one or two photos of real work, and a clear button to get in touch or request a quote.

Service or product copy

This is where most enquiries are won or lost, so give each service a short, honest description. What it is, who it suits, roughly how it works, and what happens after someone contacts you. You do not need a full price list if your work is quoted per job, but say so, because silence on price makes people nervous. If you sell products, that is a different exercise, and I have written separately about the detail an online store needs.

An about page that builds trust

People buy from people, especially for local services. A short about section that says who runs the business, how long you have done it, and the area you cover does more for trust than stock photos ever will. Keep it about the customer, not a life story.

The details that quietly decide the sale

A surprising amount of what you need is small, factual, and easy to forget:

• Contact options people actually use here: a phone number, a WhatsApp link, and an email or form.
• Trading hours or response times, so nobody wonders if you are still operating.
• Your service area or physical address, with a map if customers visit you.
• Real photos of your work, your team, or your premises. One genuine photo beats ten stock images.
• Proof, in the form of a few honest reviews, logos of brands you work with, or before-and-after shots.

None of this is glamorous, but it answers the questions running through a customer's head before they commit.

Frequently asked questions

An FAQ section is the cheapest content to write and one of the most useful. Every question a customer asks on the phone is a question the page could have answered instead. Write down the five things people always ask, answer them plainly, and you will cut down on time-wasting enquiries while ranking for the exact phrases people search.

Where the words come from

You do not need a copywriter to start. The best raw content is already in your head and your phone. Voice-note yourself explaining what you do to a friend, then tidy it up. Pull the real questions from your WhatsApp chats. Use the language your customers use, not industry jargon, because that is what they type into Google.

Write for one person reading on a phone with patchy signal. Short sentences, clear headings, the important thing first. If a paragraph does not help someone decide to contact you, it can usually go.

What you can leave for later

Blogs, detailed case studies, team bios, and long histories are all worth having eventually, but none of them need to hold up your launch. Get the core pages honest and clear, publish, and add more content once you see what customers respond to. A live site that answers the basics beats a perfect one still sitting in drafts.

If you want a hand shaping this before you build, send me a rough list of your services and I will tell you what is missing. The contact page is the place to start, or take a look at how I approach a first business site.