Website & Domain

1. 1

   Domain ownership

   Register your domain in the business name, under a business email you control, at a registrar you can log in to yourself. Pick one known for fair renewal prices and simple account controls. Turn on auto-renew, keep a current card on file and turn on the registrar lock.

   If a designer or past employee registered it for you, ask them to transfer it to your own account now, while everyone is on good terms. A lapsed domain can be bought by someone else within days, and with it goes your email and every link that points to your site.

   • Log in and confirm the business owns the domain
   • Turn on auto-renew and the registrar lock
   • Move any domain held by someone else
   • Add the renewal date to your calendar
2. 2

   DNS and hosting

   Know where your DNS is managed and where your site is hosted, because they are often two different companies. DNS is the settings list that points your domain to your website and your email. One wrong change there can take both offline.

   Keep a saved copy of your DNS records before anyone edits them. Pick hosting that includes SSL at no charge, automatic backups and support you can actually reach. Simple sites often run well on fast static hosting, while WordPress needs a host that keeps it updated. Write down every login in your password manager.

   • Write down your DNS provider and host
   • Save a copy of all DNS records
   • Confirm SSL and backups are turned on
   • Store every login in the password manager
3. 3

   Keep the site running

   Check the site every month and fix problems before customers notice. Update plugins, themes and the platform, or have your web person do it. Confirm the contact form still sends, the phone number is right and the SSL padlock shows.

   Set up an uptime monitor so you get an alert when the site goes down. Run the site through Google PageSpeed Insights a few times a year and fix slow images first, since oversized photos are the most common cause of a slow small business site. Keep a recent backup you know you can restore.

   • Run updates on a monthly schedule
   • Test the contact form and phone links
   • Set up an uptime monitor
   • Compress large photos to speed up pages
4. 4

   Plan the site

   Start with a list of what customers ask before they hire you, then plan one page for each main service and each area you serve. Match your service names to the services listed on your Google Business Profile so both say the same thing.

   Sketch a simple menu with no more than six or seven main links. Decide the one action you want most visitors to take, such as calling, booking or requesting a quote, and make it easy to find on every page. A short plan on paper saves weeks of rework later.

   • List the questions customers ask most
   • Plan one page per service and area
   • Match service names to your Google profile
   • Pick one main action for every page
5. 5

   Key pages

   Build the pages people look for first. That means a home page, one page for each main service, an about page, a contact page, a reviews or projects page, and a privacy policy. Put your business name, phone number and service area in the same form on every page footer.

   Write each service page around what the customer wants to know, including what you do, where you do it, what the process looks like and how to get started. Add a short FAQ to each one. Plain answers help customers and also help search engines understand the business.

   • Build home, service, about and contact pages
   • Add a reviews or projects page
   • Put the same name and phone in every footer
   • Add a short FAQ to each service page
6. 6

   Proof and ownership

   Show proof that you are real and that you do good work. Use your own job photos, real customer reviews with permission, license and insurance details where your trade requires them, and the name and face of the owner. Stock photos make a local business look like everyone else.

   Add schema markup, a small block of code that tells search engines your business name, address, phone, hours and services. Your web person can add LocalBusiness schema in an hour. Keep the website files and content in an account the business owns, so you can move them if you change web help.

   • Replace stock photos with real job photos
   • Show license and insurance where required
   • Add LocalBusiness schema markup
   • Keep site files in a business‑owned account
7. 7

   Track results and launch

   Before launch, set up Google Analytics or a simpler privacy-friendly tool, plus Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools. Mark calls, form sends and bookings as goals so you can see which pages bring in work.

   Test the whole site on a phone before it goes live. Click every link, send a test form, tap the phone number and check that the site can be found by search engines. After launch, submit your sitemap in Search Console and look at the numbers once a month to decide what to fix or add next.

   • Set up analytics and Search Console
   • Track calls, forms and bookings as goals
   • Test every page on a phone before launch
   • Submit the sitemap after going live

General information only, not legal, tax or financial advice. See the Disclaimer.