No Website Yet? Here's How to Work Out What You Actually Need (and Who Can Help)
If you've started a small business and you don't have a website, or perhaps you’ve had a business a while and not quite got around to it, here's what usually happens. You search "how to build a website for my business" and within about four clicks you're being told you need SEO, branding, copywriting, a logo, a content strategy, a Squarespace website keyword research, and probably a newsletter too — and yes that can be overwhelming!
Some of that advice is helpful. A lot of it is written for people with a much bigger budget, a marketing team, or a completely different kind of business to yours. And almost none of it tells you the one thing you actually need to know: what order to do things in, and who to ask for help with each part.
That gap is exactly where florists, coaches, yoga teachers, retreat leaders and other independent business owners tend to get stuck. Not because you're not capable — you clearly are, you've started a business — but because nobody's laid out the path in a straightforward way.
So here goes:
What you actually need, in the order you need it
Before you think about SEO, before you think about a blog, before you agonise over fonts — there are three things worth sorting first.
1. Clarity on who you're for and what you do
This sounds obvious, but it's the single most common thing missing when a new website doesn't work. Not "who could theoretically buy from me" — the actual person. A bride planning her wedding flowers. A burnt-out manager looking for a career coach. Someone searching for a beginner-friendly yoga class near them.
Once that's clear, everything else — your words, your photos, your services page — gets easier to write, because you're writing to someone real instead of into the void.
2. A simple website that says clearly what you do
You don't need anything fancy to start. You need a website that tells a visitor, within about five seconds, who you help, what you offer, and how to get in touch or book. A homepage, a services or shop page, an about page, and a contact page - get your business out in the world and you have somewhere to steer potential clients, instagram followers and referrals to.
This is usually where a web designer or Squarespace specialist comes in — someone who can build the site itself, make it look and feel like you, and get it working properly on mobile view too.
So who do you actually need — and when?
Just starting out, no website at all? Start with a web designer to get the website foundations built. find someone you click with, someone who understand small business
A website people online can find Ensure that the website designer you go with understands SEO (even if you don’t) and is at least implementing the basics. If not, your website won’t be found online- it won’t show up in Google searches, and that’s money down the drain!
Already busy and juggling all of it yourself? This is usually the point people come to me for ongoing SEO support, because trying to do everything alone is exhausting, and it doesn't have to be.
A note on SEO and AI search
You might be wondering whether you need to "optimise for AI" now, on top of everything else. I'd encourage you not to panic about this. The businesses that show up well in AI answers are, overwhelmingly, the ones with clear, honest, well-organised websites that actually answer people's questions — not the ones chasing the latest trick and not packed with AI copy content. Be you, be true to your business and Google will reward this. Stuff a website with AI generic content and you run the risk of not showing up at all.
Quick answers, if you're short on time
Do I need a website before I think about SEO? Yes — SEO helps people find a website, so it needs somewhere to send them. Get a simple, clear site up first.
What should I prioritise first: design, copywriting, or SEO? Design first (to have a site at all), copywriting next (so it sounds like you), then SEO to help people find it. Many small businesses do all three closely together rather than strictly one after another.
Can one person do all of this? Sometimes, but more often it's a small team of specialists working together — and for a solo business owner, that collaboration is often the most valuable part, not just the output.
Is SEO a one-off job or an ongoing thing? It's ongoing. Search changes, your business changes, and results build steadily rather than overnight — which is also why collaboration and consistency matter more than quick fixes.
Wherever you're starting from
If you're reading this because you don't have a website yet, talk to your web designer about any worries or concerns - ask questions.
You just need the right people around you, at the right time — and a way of working that still feels human. That's genuinely the part I love most about this work building a website and watching a small business become findable.
You can find more about how I work, and the kind of support available at each stage, at clareashbrook.com
