Websites
What is a brochure website, and is it enough for your business?
Michele Caddeo ·
A brochure website is a small site of a few pages that says what you do and how to contact you, without selling online. It’s often the next stop after your reviews: BrightLocal found that 54% of consumers check a business’s website after reading positive reviews. It’s enough until your customers need to book or buy by themselves.
People who open a brochure website have usually found you already, through a friend or on the map. Before they call, they want to see who you are.
Do you need one if you already have Facebook and a Google profile?
Yes. The site is yours, and you set the rules. A social page follows the platform’s rules, which can change whenever it likes.
And people who find you on the map go and check you.
After the reviews
Good reviews send people to your website
54%
of consumers check the business’s website after reading positive reviews
85%
are more likely to use a business after reading positive reviews
Source: BrightLocal. Keep your address, phone and opening hours identical on the site and on your Google profile, word for word.
When is a brochure website enough?
Answer four questions.
- Do customers need to book by themselves, even at night?
- Do they compare products with technical data?
- Do customers search for you in other languages?
- Do you want to sell online?
If every answer is no, a brochure site is enough. If one is yes, you need something more on that point. If the site is built for it, bookings or a second language can be added later without starting again.
Which pages does a brochure website need?
Usually four.
The pages
Four pages answer what people check before they call
Home
Who and whereWhat you do, where you work, and the button to call you.
Services or work
Is it for me?Photos of finished jobs with two lines under each. One page per service if you offer several.
About
The peopleWho you are and where you work, with real photos.
Contact
One tapAddress, map, hours, phone and a short form.
If you do one thing only, a single scrolling page can be enough. If you do several, say kitchens and windows, give each its own page. Someone searching “timber windows in Leeds” then lands on a page about exactly that.
What goes on the home page, from the top down?
- Your trade and your area in the first line, before the photos: “Bakery in Harrogate”, “Joiner in Bath, made-to-measure kitchens”.
- A contact in one tap, phone or WhatsApp, visible on every page.
- Real photos of your work, your place and your people, not stock images.
- Two or three reviews from real customers, with their name if they allow it.
- Where and when: address, map and opening hours.
What does UK law ask a brochure website to show?
Three things, if they apply to you.
- Your company details. On its website a limited company must show its registered number, its registered office address, where it’s registered (England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland) and that it’s a limited company (GOV.UK). The footer of every page is the simplest place.
- A privacy notice, if you have a form. Ask only for what you need to reply: a name, a phone number, the job.
- A cookie banner, only if you need one. Cookies that are strictly necessary for what the visitor asked for don’t need consent; the others do, and consent must be actively given (ICO).
How much does a brochure website cost?
Startups.co.uk, a UK business publication, puts website builders from £1.99 a month, and a web designer from £300 to £10,000 and more up front (Startups.co.uk).
Two ways to build it
Your evenings, or someone else’s hours
Do it yourself
A builder
A template and a monthly plan.
- Sì: Low monthly cost
- No: Copy written for you
- No: Photos chosen or shot for you
- No: Site and Google profile matched
Have it made
A designer
Copy, photos and pages done for you.
- Sì: A higher one-off cost
- Sì: Copy written for you
- Sì: Photos chosen or shot for you
- Sì: Site and Google profile matched
From the second year you pay the domain, the hosting or builder plan, and maintenance if someone else looks after it. Ask for the three-year total, at renewal prices: the guide to website costs has a worked example.
Should you build it yourself or have it made?
Build it yourself if one or two pages are enough, you can write the copy and you already have good photos of your work.
Have it made if you want the copy and photos looked after, the site and your Google profile matched, and the forms and cookies right from day one.
You can have my full quote whenever you like. If you want to see the home page first, the fixed-price prototype costs €450, no VAT added, and comes off the quote in full if we go ahead within 60 days.
How do you make a brochure website, step by step?
- Gather the material: your first line, logo, best photos, one line per service and your reviews. The timing depends mostly on this.
- Register the domain in your company’s name, even when someone else does it for you.
- Build the pages and test them on a phone: tap the call button and send a message through the form.
- Match your Google Business Profile with the same details as the site.
- Add the site to Google Search Console as soon as it’s live, to see which searches bring people to you.
