TL;DR: To make a website for your business, (1) decide what the site has to get people to do, (2) register a domain, (3) pick a path: build it yourself, hire a designer, or use a done-for-you builder, (4) make five core pages, (5) write them in the words customers search, (6) check it before launch, and (7) get it on Google. The path decides the clock: Wix says a small-business site takes 3–7 days on a template and 1–2 weeks in its drag-and-drop editor, and GoDaddy says a designer usually needs a few weeks for even a simple site. With WebZum, you describe the business, answer a few questions, and see a finished multi-page site in about five minutes, free, before you pay anything.
Disclosure: WebZum publishes this blog and makes a website builder for small businesses. Wix, GoDaddy, Google, SBA, ADA.gov and BrightLocal figures come from their own pages, checked October 27, 2026.
Verified October 27, 2026.
Do I actually need a website for my business?
If people look you up before they call, yes. In BrightLocal’s 2026 survey of 1,002 US adults, 54% said that after reading good reviews of a local business, they go check its website, up from 32% when BrightLocal last asked in 2019. The same report says, from its own earlier research, that only about 40% of local businesses have a dedicated website (BrightLocal). That gap is customers getting interested and then finding nothing to click.
It also matters for AI answers. BrightLocal found 45% of consumers now use ChatGPT or other AI tools for local business recommendations, up from 6% the year before, and its advice to owners is to “keep your website up-to-date” because those tools lean on it. A Facebook page or a Google listing helps. A website is the one place you control every word. (If you’re still deciding, we covered whether a small business needs a website in 2026.)
Step 1: What should my website do?
Pick one main job before you touch any builder. For most local businesses it’s one of these:
- Get a phone call. Plumbers, roofers, cleaners, movers. Your number goes at the top of every page.
- Get a booking. Salons, trainers, tutors. A booking link or button.
- Get a quote request. Contractors, landscapers, event pros. A short form that emails you.
- Get a visit. Restaurants, shops. Hours, address and directions up front.
GoDaddy’s own guide starts in the same place: “What does your website need to do and what should it look like?” It says a designer’s research and planning phase alone “could last up to two weeks” (GoDaddy). You don’t need two weeks. You need one sentence: “This site exists so people can ___.”
Step 2: How do I get a domain name?
Register it through a registrar. The US Small Business Administration puts it plainly: once you register a domain name, “no one else can use it for as long as you continue to own it,” you’ll “need to renew your domain registration on a regular basis,” and you should check the directory of accredited registrars before picking one (SBA). ICANN, the body that accredits them, explains that registering a domain means entering a contract with that registrar, and after that you manage the domain through them (ICANN).
Two things that save time:
- Don’t stress about stuffing keywords in the name. Google says keywords in a domain name “have hardly any effect beyond appearing in breadcrumbs,” and it “doesn’t care” whether you use .com, .org or something else unless you’re targeting another country (Google Search Central). Pick something people can say out loud and spell.
- Your domain doesn’t have to match your legal name. The SBA’s example: Springfield Electronic Accessories could register techbuddyspringfield.com.
We wrote a longer guide on naming your business and getting the domain. On WebZum’s Professional plan, WebZum registers the domain for you and covers it up to $20 a year.
Step 3: Should I build it myself, hire a designer, or use a done-for-you builder?
It depends on how much of your own time you want to spend. Here’s what each path takes, using each company’s own numbers:
| Path | Typical time to launch | Source | What’s still on you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wix AI builder | Minutes to a few hours | Wix | Rewriting copy, swapping photos |
| Wix template, small-business site | 3–7 days | Wix | Pages, branding, all the words |
| Wix drag-and-drop editor, small-business site | 1–2 weeks | Wix | Designing every section |
| Website builder, several pages plus forms | A few days to a few weeks | GoDaddy | Writing, photos, layout |
| Web designer, simple site | A few weeks | GoDaddy | Meetings and revision rounds |
| WebZum | About 5 minutes after a few questions | Our own timed demo (below) | Checking it, then asking in chat for changes |
Wix’s own data shows the AI step is fast but not the end. Its 2026 State of Websites report, based on 310 million users, says the average time to publish a site fell from 8 days to 4, and that 91% of people rewrite their own copy and nearly 70% swap in their own photos (Wix). So budget time to make it sound like you, whichever tool you use.
A designer is the right call if you need custom software, a big catalog, or a brand built from scratch. GoDaddy describes a design phase of “around a month” and development of “at least a couple of months” for that kind of build. A DIY builder is fine if you like design and have weekends free. If you’d rather not run the site at all, a done-for-you builder does the writing, layout and hosting for you. ChatGPT is genuinely good at drafting page copy and even code; Wix lets you type “@Wix” inside ChatGPT to start a site there. What it won’t do on its own is host the site, connect your domain and keep it running, which is the part WebZum handles. Our best website builder for small business owners post compares the tools, and AI website builder vs. hiring a web designer covers the designer question.
Step 4: What pages does a small business website need?
Five, for most local businesses:
- Home. What you do, where, and the main button (call, book, quote).
- Services and prices. Each service in plain words. Prices or “starting at” ranges if you can share them.
- About. Who runs it, how long you’ve been at it, why you do it this way. Our guide on writing an About page helps.
- FAQ. The questions you answer on the phone every week: service area, payment, how soon you can come out.
- Contact. Phone, email, hours, address or service area, and a form if you want one.
Put your phone number where people can tap it on a phone and see it clearly on a laptop. Both matter. Our post on a website that gets the call goes deeper on that header.
Step 5: What should I write on my website?
Write the words your customers use, not the words in your industry. Google’s SEO starter guide gives the example that some people search “charcuterie” and others search “cheese board,” and says to anticipate those differences. It also says plainly that there’s no magic word count: “the length of the content alone doesn’t matter for ranking purposes” (Google).
So say “water heater replacement in Mesa,” not “comprehensive thermal solutions.” Say your town and the neighborhoods you serve. Answer the price question as honestly as you can. If you’re not sure what a site like this costs to run, our small business website cost breakdown has the numbers.
Step 6: What should I check before my website goes live?
Go through this once on your phone and once on a computer:
- Every button works. Tap the phone number. Send yourself a test form.
- Hours and address match everywhere. Your site, your Google Business Profile and your Facebook page should say the same thing.
- Photos have short descriptions (alt text). The ADA.gov guidance for businesses open to the public lists missing alt text, poor color contrast, uncaptioned videos and forms without labels as common barriers, and points to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines as a helpful standard. It notes the Department of Justice has held since 1996 that the ADA applies to web content (ADA.gov).
- The address bar shows a lock (HTTPS). If it doesn’t, ask your builder or host before you share the link.
- Nothing says “lorem ipsum” or “your text here.”
Step 7: How do I get my new website on Google?
Add it to Google Search Console, submit your sitemap, and set up your Google Business Profile. Google says most sites get “found and added automatically” as it crawls the web, but some changes “could take several months” to show, and it suggests waiting “a few weeks” before judging results (Google).
For your Business Profile, Google says verification reviews “take up to 5 business days” after you finish the steps, and a profile can sometimes be verified instantly if “you verify your website with Google Search Console” (Google Business Profile Help). If you get the postcard option, most codes arrive within 14 days and expire after 30. Our step-by-step guide on how to get your website on Google covers Search Console, sitemaps and the reasons a site doesn’t show up, and the local SEO checklist covers what comes after.
How long does it take to make a website with WebZum?
About five minutes after a few questions, in our own timed test. On October 23, 2026 we built Oak & Vow Ceremonies, a demo site for a fictional wedding officiant in Raleigh, NC, and recorded it in real time. The whole request was one sentence: “wedding officiant in raleigh nc, non denominational, i travel about an hour out.” WebZum asked four follow-up questions (about 1 minute 45 seconds), then the build took about 4 minutes 25 seconds from the Build My Website click to a finished site. It came out with Home, Ceremonies & Fees, About, Booking & FAQ and Contact pages, plus three service pages linked from the footer, a logo, and a tap-to-call number. You can see the Oak & Vow demo site yourself.
It wasn’t perfect. A button on the About page read “Call Call,” and the chat assistant’s greeting showed the business category instead of its name. Both are one-line fixes you ask for in chat. That’s the honest version: the five minutes gets you a real, multi-page draft of your business, and then you read it like a customer would.
We also checked the Google basics on eight WebZum demo sites on October 27, 2026. All eight had a sitemap, a robots.txt that points to it, home pages set to index, and a canonical tag. So steps 6 and 7 start with the plumbing done. You still need to submit the sitemap and set up your Business Profile yourself.
What WebZum does, and what it costs
You type what your business does. WebZum researches it, writes the pages, makes the images and a logo, puts a tap-to-call button in the header, and adds a chat assistant for visitors. You change things by asking (“change Sunday hours to 10–4”) instead of dragging boxes around. Contact forms are free and leads go to your email.
You see the whole site free before you pay. Basic is $19 a month. Professional is $34 a month and adds your own domain, which WebZum registers and covers up to $20 a year. Every plan has a 30-day money-back guarantee. Google ads are optional and paid separately.
FAQ
How do I make a website for my business?
Decide what the site needs to get people to do, register a domain, choose a builder or a designer, create Home, Services, About, FAQ and Contact pages, check every button, then add the site to Google Search Console and your Google Business Profile.
Can I make a business website for free?
You can build and preview for free on many builders, including WebZum, but a real domain costs money every year, and most builders charge to publish on your own domain. The SBA notes you’ll need to renew your domain registration on a regular basis.
How long does it take to make a small business website?
Wix says 3–7 days on a template and 1–2 weeks in its editor. GoDaddy says a few weeks with a designer for a simple site. WebZum’s timed demo took about five minutes after a few questions, plus your time to review it.
Do I need a designer to make a business website?
Not for a typical local business site. A designer makes sense for custom features, large catalogs or a full brand. For five to eight pages, a builder is usually enough.
What’s the best website builder for a small business?
It depends on how much you want to do yourself. We compare Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy, Hostinger and WebZum, with prices, in our best website builder for small business owners guide.
See yours before you decide
Type what your business does and see a finished site in about five minutes. No card to look. See your website free.