Every local business wants to be found when someone is looking for what it is they have to offer. It all starts with the website. It's your 24/7 online salesperson. It's not at static "Yellow Pages" ad. It's a living, breathing, crucial component of your business. Without a properly constructed website, your business might as well not exist.
The infographic below from Austrailian company WebAlive.com.au lists 53 Must-Have Features for a Local Business Website.
Some highlights are:
- Proper headlines and calls-to-action
- Location page
- Contact us page
- Pages for products or services
- Testimonials (this is hard if you're a start-up, but keep in mind that you need them ASAP)
- A blog (this provides the fresh, relevant content that Google is looking for)
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for each page (I recommend the Yoast SEO plugin)
- Mobile reponsive
- Search box
- Social Media share and follow buttons - make it easy for people to follow you and to share your content with their friends.)