I need a website.
A one-minute answer, a plain-English fix, and one thing you can do today — pick how you'd like to take it in below.
Yes, you probably do — but it doesn't need to be big. A simple, well-written one-page website is enough to look real, be found, and start winning customers. Ignore anyone who tells you it needs to be complicated.
People check you online before anything else. Most of the time, a customer will Google your name on their phone before picking up the phone. If nothing comes up — or what comes up is a rough Facebook page from 2019 — they quietly move on. A tiny, tidy website tells the world you're real, you're open, and you're worth a look.
Imagine you own a bakery. Someone hears about your cinnamon scrolls from a friend. They grab their phone and search for you. Nothing comes up. They don't call you. They call the bakery that did show up. That's what a missing website costs — one customer at a time, quietly, forever.
You need three things
A name, a home, and a page. That's it. You don't need a designer, a developer, or a big budget.
1. The name (your domain)
This is your address on the internet — yourbusiness.co.nz or yourbusiness.com.au. About $20 a year from Cloudflare, GoDaddy or Squarespace. Buy the domain that matches your business name, exactly. If it's taken, add your city (fernandbone-auckland.co.nz).
2. The home (your website builder)
Pick a builder that does the heavy lifting so you can focus on running the business. Squarespace or Wix (about $20/month) are the friendliest. If you're truly on a shoestring, Google gives every small business a free one-page website through Google Business Profile — it's not fancy, but it works.
3. The page (one page, done well)
You do not need a menu of ten pages. One page with five things is enough: who you are, what you sell, where you are, how to book or buy, and one real photo (not a stock image of a woman laughing at a salad).
Register your business name as a domain — today.
Even if you don't build the site for another month. Domains get taken and there's no getting them back. It's $20, it takes five minutes, and it's yours forever. Go to Cloudflare, type in your business name, and hit buy.
- Yes, you need a website — but a small one.
- People will always Google you before contacting you.
- A one-page site with the essentials beats a fancy site you never finish.
- Buy the domain today, before someone else does.
You've got a website. Now — how do you actually get people to visit it?
Topic 02 — I need more customers.