I Just Need a Simple Website - Is That Okay?

I Just Need a Simple Website—Is That Okay?

A lot of small business owners say this to me, usually with a little hesitation:

“I just need a simple website and I need it up like, yesterday. Is that okay?" And it’s almost always followed by an apology, as if they’re supposed to want something bigger, flashier, or more complicated.

So let’s get this out of the way right up front: Yes. A simple website is more than okay. In fact, for many small businesses, it’s the best place to start -- and stay.

Somewhere along the way, “simple” got confused with “cheap” but I'd argue that a simple website can create a far better UX (user experience) than something trendy and done up. A simple website can still be:

• well-designed

• thoughtfully written

• visually polished

• trustworthy

Often a simple, professional site with only the pages it needs, that is easy to navigate, has a clear way to contact you, and fits on the screen and phone site is a relief to visitors who land on your site. If I'm looking for a septic guy and I'm looking online, because that's how we find things these days, I don't want to have to navigate an oversized non-mobile obtimized site on my phone, enlarging areas and scrolling, and moving parts of the page back and forth it just to read it, I'm probably going to move on.

If I have to truffle hunt to find a contact number, I'm going to move on.

If I can't see a list of what the septic company offers, what areas they serve, and a ballpark price range, I'm going to move on.

A well-designed simple website is an asset to your business, and website design trends are moving in that direction, meaning the user experience is focused on your clients, both current and future, and providing this for them shows them that you care about them. This will help your business.

What a Simple Small Business Website Does Well

A good simple website usually does a few things really well:

• Clearly explains what you do

• Makes your business feel legitimate and trustworthy

• Works well on phones and tablets

• Gives visitors an obvious next step (contact, book, email)

• Is easy to live with and update

That’s it. It's fun if you assert your brand voice a bit, but you don't even have to do that. You can have a website that is "just the facts, ma'am," and it can function perfectly well, especially in no-nonsense industries, like service industries. If you like your brand voice to be quirky or cool, go for it. Done & Done specializes in that and unless you are in a super serious industry (funeral home, faith institution, medical or mental health industry, rehab centers, grief counseling, law firms, bail bonds (although we think we could have some serious fun with a Bail Bond company brand voice!), we will have as much fun as allowed (fore reference, note the business dogs all over our website).

You don’t need dozens of pages, fancy animations, or constant upkeep for your site to do its job. You just need clarity and easy navigation.

Why “More” Isn’t Always Better

More pages, more tools, and more features can seem like a good idea, but they usually come with more decisions, more maintenance, and more things to go wrong.

Each added feature asks something of you as the website owner: another setting to understand, another update to manage, another choice to make. Ways this might show up in pages might be multiple services pages that basically say the same thing, separate "About," Our Story," "Mission," and "Values" pages with overlapping content. Some people create blog categories before there is actual content, which muddies things up. You can add too many tools, too, such as booking systems when a simple contact form would do, client portals that never get used, chat widgets that no one answers, or too many pop ups that just make visitor click off ASAP. Over time, that complexity adds friction and cost, and the website starts requiring attention instead of quietly doing its job.

For many small business owners, this extra complexity becomes a burden instead of a benefit. The site stops feeling helpful and starts feeling like another item on the to-do list — something you should deal with, but never quite want to. And it's just as bad for visitors. You want your visitors to have the most pleasant time possible on your website. You don't want them confused, annoyed, clicking around aimlessly, and ultimately, clicking away from your site.

A simpler site is easier to manage, easier to understand, and easier for customers to use. Visitors find what they’re looking for more quickly, and you spend less time worrying about whether something is broken, outdated, or unnecessary.

And in practice, that matters far more than the 20-page deep fancy stuff.

When a Simple Website Is the Right Choice

A simple website is often the right fit if:

• you offer services rather than products

• your business is local or relationship-based

• you mainly need to explain what you do and how to contact you

• you don’t want to spend time managing your website

That doesn’t mean your business is small in ambition or has to stay small in other ways. It's just a practical, easy starting point. Many successful businesses run on clean, straightforward websites that do exactly what they’re supposed to do and then get out of the way.

The Real Goal

Most of us don't need to have the fanciest, most graphic-filled, multi-page site loaded with animation or trending designs with the coolest cutting-edge fonts. Most of us simply need a modern, clean website that has a great UX (user experience) and tells your clients or future clients what you are all about and how to quickly get in touch with you.

If you’re wondering whether a simple website is enough for your business, in most cases, it is. It's affordable to get going, quick and easy to keep going, and it's usually a problem with an easy solution: Hire Done & Done and we take care of it for you.

If you want help figuring out what makes sense for where you are right now, a short conversation can usually help clarify things. Call or text Done & Done at 864-686-2616 or use the contact form below and we'd be happy to help you suss it all out and identify a website that suits your needs.