Websites for New Businesses
You are opening a shop, a restaurant, a salon, a practice or a service business, and the budget is spoken for twice over. You still need a website, a logo and a Google listing that look like a real business on opening day. We build first websites for new local businesses on a plan with no large upfront cost: $200/month for the Small Business plan, or nothing up front with Grow Together. Here is what to do first, and what can wait.
A launch checklist for a new business’s website
Most new owners either spend too much on a website they do not need yet, or open without one and lose the customers who searched for them in the first month. The order below is what we recommend to the new businesses that come to us. It applies whatever your trade; the industry pages cover what established businesses in each one need later.
- Buy the domain name now. Even before you can afford the site. A .com costs around $10 a year, and the name you want is easier to get today than after you have printed the signs.
- Claim your Google Business Profile. It is free, and it is what shows up on the map when someone nearby searches for what you do. We set it up and tune it as part of the launch, so the name, address, hours and phone number match the site exactly.
- Get the logo and the site designed together. When the same person does both, the colors and the type match from the start and you are not paying twice. Logo design is part of the Small Business plan.
- Launch small. One page that says what you do, where you are, when you are open and how to reach you is a real website. River Falls Limo’s site is one page with a gallery and contact details, and it does its job.
- Write the copy from a conversation. You do not need to write anything. We interview you and draft the words, and you fix what does not sound like you.
- Add pages when customers tell you to. After a few months you will know what people ask about. That is when a menu, a services page, a gallery or a booking page earns its place.
What can wait
Professional photos (phone photos are fine to open with and easy to swap later), a blog, online ordering unless it is the business, and anything that adds weeks to the launch. A plain site that is live beats a perfect one that is not.
What a first website can look like
Two sites from our portfolio that show the shape of a sensible first website: a single page, and a logo and site designed together.
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River Falls Limo
A one-page site: gallery, services, contact details and a logo we designed to go with it. The size of site most new businesses need on day one.
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LCM Industries
Logo and website designed together, so the brand was consistent from the first day. Their owner’s review mentions the price, which matters when you are just starting.
What we need from you
Your business name, the domain if you have one, your address and hours, what you sell or do, and a few photos, even from a phone. If you have nothing yet but the idea and the opening date, that is enough to start the logo and reserve the domain.
We keep the first version small on purpose so it is live before you open, and we set up your Google Business Profile to match. The price is in writing before anything starts, and on Grow Together there is no price up front at all.
Two ways to pay for it
Grow Together costs nothing up front. We build the site and run the marketing, SEO included, and we are paid 10% of the sales the site brings in. It is built for owners who have a good business and no cash to spare before opening.
The Small Business plan is $200/month and covers branding, copywriting, design and development on one bill, with no large invoice at the start. Hosting and maintenance runs the same way: hosting, backups, security updates and changes made in under 48 hours, so when your hours change in month two, the site changes with them. Both are on the pricing page.
Jason’s post on advice for entrepreneurs covers the free resources around a new business too, from local small business development centers to the first Facebook page.
What a first website costs
Published starting prices, and a written quote before any work starts.
Grow Together
10% of sales
Nothing up front. We build the site and run the marketing, SEO included, and we are paid only from the sales it brings in.
Small Business plan
$200/month
Branding, copywriting, design and development on one monthly bill, with no large invoice at the start.
Logo design
from $750
A logo designed for your business, not picked from a template.
From an owner who started with a logo and a site
“Lackey Designs did an excellent job of creating my company logo and website. Jason and his team were excellent at listening and organizing all of my information.”
Scott Bents, LCM Industries
Read every review on the testimonials page, or see the work in our portfolio.
Frequently Asked Questions
What new owners ask before they hire us.
Two. Grow Together costs nothing up front: we build the site and run the marketing, and we are paid 10% of the sales it brings in. The Small Business plan is $200/month and covers branding, copywriting, design and development with no large invoice at the start.
Buy the domain name, ideally the .com, even before you can afford the site. Then claim your Google Business Profile and set up a Facebook page. Jason’s advice for entrepreneurs covers those steps and the free local resources that help.
It helps to do them together, so the colors and type match from the start. Logo design starts at $750 and is part of the Small Business plan.
Small. One page that says what you do, where you are, when you are open and how to reach you is enough to open with. Pages for services, a menu or a gallery can be added once you know what customers ask about.
No. We write the copy from a conversation with you, and we can launch with a few phone photos and replace them later. Waiting for perfect photos is the most common reason a new business opens without a website.
Tell us what you are opening
The business, the opening date if you have one, and what you already have: a name, a logo, a Facebook page, nothing yet. All of those are fine.
Jason replies in under 24 hours with next steps.