Do you actually need a website for your small business in 2026?
- Melanie Johnstone
- 15 hours ago
- 3 min read
Last week I published a breakdown of 50 local businesses — and found that 38% of Wollondilly businesses have no website. A lot of them were doing fine. Some were clearly busy. A few had been operating for years without one.
So I want to be straight with you: not everyone needs a website. If I pretended otherwise, you'd (rightly) tune out.
But there's a version of "I don't need one" that's true — and a version that's quietly costing you work. The tricky part is knowing which one applies to you.
When you genuinely don't need a website
Let's be honest. If you're in any of these situations, a website probably isn't urgent:
You're at capacity — fully booked, referral-only, not looking for new clients. A business owner friend of mine told me: "I get more work than I can handle just through word of mouth. A website feels like a solution to a problem I don't have." Fair enough.
You're winding down — if you're a few years from retirement and not interested in scaling, the ROI on a website just isn't there.
Your industry is entirely relationship-driven — some B2B trades and niche services genuinely live and die by personal relationships. The phone matters more than Google.
If any of these are you, great. Keep doing what you're doing.
When a simple website is enough for your small business
Most small businesses in Wollondilly — the tradie, the salon owner, the bookkeeper — don't need anything fancy.
They need:
A homepage that says what they do and where they do it
A phone number and email address that works
Enough information for someone to decide to call
That's it. No online store, no booking system (unless it's genuinely useful for your business), no blog.
A clean 2-page website built properly is enough to show up in Google, look credible, and convert someone who's already searching for what you do.
When a Facebook page isn't enough for your small business (this is where it gets interesting)
I covered the "Facebook Trap" in our local business audit last week — but here's the short version.
A Facebook page and a website do different jobs.
Facebook is great for: staying in front of existing customers, sharing updates, building community.
A website is for: people who don't know you yet — who are Googling "electrician Picton" or "bookkeeper Tahmoor" right now.
Here's the uncomfortable truth about relying only on Facebook —
You don't own it. The platform changes its algorithm constantly. Organic reach for business pages has been declining for years. One account restriction and your entire online presence disappears overnight.
A website is yours. It works 24/7. It shows up in Google. It doesn't ask you to boost a post to reach your own followers. I've spoken to a few business owners who've said something like: "But everyone knows us locally." Maybe. But what about the young family who just moved to Tahmoor? The person who found you through a Google search while sitting on the couch at 9pm? They're not asking around — they're searching.
The honest truth
A broken or outdated website is worse than having no website at all.
Websites enable businesses to show up in Google, look credible, and convert someone who's already searching for what you do i.e. most businesses will benefit from having one.
Here's a decision tree to help you think it through:
What does it actually cost?
Next week I'll do a full breakdown of the options — from a basic Google Business Profile set-up through to a proper website — and what you actually get for your money at each level.
In the meantime, if you want to ask me about your business, I'm happy to help.
TL;DR
Not everyone needs a website right now — but most local businesses do
Facebook alone leaves gaps: no Google presence, no platform ownership, no 24/7 availability
A simple 2-page website built properly is genuinely enough for most trades and service businesses
If your website is broken or outdated, that's often worse than having none at all
Cost breakdown coming next week
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