Small business website builder
- Customizable templates for SMEs and the self-employed
- Industry-specific designs, content, and image library
- Free domain, SSL, and email
Why should independent businesses need a website?
In short, a small business website is crucial for getting found by potential customers. Think of your website like an online business card that’s easy to update and accessible 24/7.
After all, most people look online when they’re interested in a product or service. And if your company doesn’t have a website, then you might be missing out on potential customers searching online for a product or service like yours. If you add search engine marketing and SEO to your new website, you can increase your chances of getting found even further.
Building your own small business website means you can design it to meet your exact needs. This isn't possible with just a social media presence on Facebook, Instagram or any of the other social media platforms.
What information belongs on a small business website?
To get the most out of your small business website, there's certain information you need to include. Your site doesn’t have to be complicated with a lot of content to be successful — just listing your company's contact info is a great way to start. Here's a few things that every SME website should include:
- Contact info, business location (preferably with a map), plus a written description of how to get there
- Your mission and a little bit about what you and your team do
- Photos, logos or other images that can help people remember your company
- Links to your social media channels
- Reviews and comments from existing customers
Engaging templates optimized for business
Mobile responsive and built for business
Everything you need for your online presence
Professional email
Domain and SSL
Responsive design
Easy analytics
Built-in privacy tools
Grows with you
Plus
Build a professional website for your business
Website builder
Includes professional templates prefilled with text and business-related images
Free domain for 1 year and email account First year domain offer only valid on initial purchase of a 12-month contract. Included free domain extensions: .us, .ca, .com, .net, .org, .info, .me, .biz, .online.
Social media widgets Connect your social media accounts like Facebook and Instagram. Integrate videos with YouTube and Vimeo or upload and manage images from your Dropbox and Google Drive accounts.
Business widgets Easy drag and drop business widgets like customer reviews and online scheduling.
Multilingual
Pro
Professional website with built-in marketing tools
Website builder
Includes professional templates prefilled with text and business-related images
Free domain for 1 year and email account First year domain offer only valid on initial purchase of a 12-month contract. Included free domain extensions: .us, .ca, .com, .net, .org, .info, .me, .biz, .online.
Social media widgets Connect your social media accounts like Facebook and Instagram. Integrate videos with YouTube and Vimeo or upload and manage images from your Dropbox and Google Drive accounts.
Business widgets Easy drag and drop business widgets like customer reviews and online scheduling.
Multilingual
Tailored content Create individual experiences for your visitors: pop-ups based on location, device, or time e.g. for holidays or special events, and for first-time or returning visitors.
SEO tutorials Analyze your website and learn how to get more visitors from Google and other search engines.
Online Store
Plus
Our most popular way to sell online — perfect for customizing every aspect of your online store
Website builder
Includes professional templates prefilled with text and business-related images
Free domain for 1 year and email account First year domain offer only valid on initial purchase of a 12-month contract. Included free domain extensions: .us, .ca, .com, .net, .org, .info, .me, .biz, .online.
Social media widgets Connect your social media accounts like Facebook and Instagram. Integrate videos with YouTube and Vimeo or upload and manage images from your Dropbox and Google Drive accounts.
Business widgets Easy drag and drop business widgets like customer reviews and online scheduling.
Multilingual
Tailored content Create individual experiences for your visitors: pop-ups based on location, device, or time e.g. for holidays or special events, and for first-time or returning visitors.
SEO tutorials Analyze your website and learn how to get more visitors from Google and other search engines.
Online Store
List up to 5,000 items. Includes a range of payment and shipping options
Other highlights: Facebook Store, multi-currency, Pay via credit card, PayPal, bank transfer, Vouchers and discounts
Your personal consultant
Helpful advice from a single point of contact. Exclusively for you. Experience customer service on a whole new plane. All this and more, free.
Learn moreWebsites for SMEs
Attracting visitors to your small business website should be one of your first goals. An easy way to get started is to fill out the company profile on your website. It contains important data such as your company’s address and email address. This not only keeps your customers up to date, but it's also really important for search engines. Keeping your contact info updated and consistent on your website can help improve your rankings.
If you want to improve your reach even further, list your businesses in popular directories with local business listings. You can verify your company profile on Google Maps, Yelp, or other directories. This way you'll be found both online and off.
You can create a website for your small and medium business in just a few steps — even if you don’t have any knowledge of programming languages like HTML or CSS. First, choose the right plan and create an account with IONOS. After you pick a custom domain, you can choose a website template. Then all you have to do is fill it with great content! The IONOS website builder makes it all simple and intuitive.
You can also be creative and design the website yourself with our small business website builder. Search engine optimization (SEO) is definitely something you should think about, especially if you want more people to find your site. In Search Engine Optimization from A to Z, you'll find some great explanations for the most common SEO terms.
All IONOS websites include an SSL certificate. By encrypting any information visitors transfer to your site, an SSL certificate reliably protects your visitor's data. However, there are also other rules your small business website has to follow. A few US states have enacted data protection legislation. We recommend checking if any of these apply to you.
- Companies that do business in California need to follow the California Consumer Privacy Act. This legislation gives people residing in the state control over how their personal data is used. Because of California's size, this act is likely to set the national standard for data protection.
- In Virginia, the Consumer Data Protection Act (CDPA) is set to take effect on January 1, 2023. After that date, the CDPA will be the second consumer data privacy law in the United States.
- Two states — Washington and New York — both have bills currently under debate. If passed, the Washington Privacy Act (WPA) and the New York Privacy Act (NYPA) could soon come into force.
Don’t live in CA, VA, WA or NY? Try any one of these privacy measures to make your website more transparent:
- Privacy policy: There is no US federal law that requires a privacy policy. But if you collect personal information from users, it makes sense to include a privacy policy on your site that explains how you handle visitor's data.
- Links to social media: When linking to social media platforms, make sure that your visitors can decide for themselves whether they want their data transferred.
- Comment section: If your small business website allows visitors to leave comments, you should let them know that you are saving their data.
Although the GDPR is a European Union (EU) initiative, if your website handles any data from visitors who live there, then your website has to comply with the EU's GDPR.
