Websites for Small Business Owners

Small business owners, like everyone else that owns a business, needs to have an advertising budget so that their customers or clients can find and use or visit their business. This is true unless they are an established business that has plenty of customers and repeat customers. Unless they cannot handle any more business, most of them could use a website.

Use your Marketing Funds Wisely

Most small business owners have limited budgets and most of them know that the most effective use of their advertising money should be spent on a website. With that in mind and limited funds many businesses decide to try and build their own website or rely on Facebook as a website. First, let me address the Facebook issue. Facebook is NOT a website; it is a social media platform. Although Facebook does an excellent job for what it is, it should never be a substitute for a website.  I have built many websites for customers who attempted to build their own website using many of the DIY website builders like; WordPress, GoDaddy, Square, Site123, Wix, Webador, etc. There are advantages and disadvantages with all these website platforms. These DIY platforms offer a great alternative for small business owners, but they still require a web designer with expertise in website design.

Hire A Professional Web Designer

I build small business websites using Wix exclusively for a variety of reasons, which I have outlined in the following paragraphs.

It is fast and easy to build a website in Wix once you learn to use the editor. I can create a website for a client in a short time that is; professional, user friendly, easy to navigate, considerably less expensive that custom coding and provides me with all the tools to get the website online and ranked on the search engines. I can do this because I have 11+ years of building and maintaining Wix websites.

I do not recommend that anyone try to use Wix or any other DIY website builder unless you have the skill set to do so. There are many aspects to building a website that novice users have no clue about and if they are not done correctly, they are basically useless for driving people to your business and will only frustrate you and your business will suffer. Additionally, you will have to make time to update your website, which takes tine away from running your business.

Regardless of who builds your website or on what platform, there are certain thinks that are required for the website to be a success and start driving customers to your business, regardless of whether your business goes to the customer or you have a fixed location, like a restaurant or bar, photo studio, hair salon, parts store, dog grooming studio, etc.

Below is an example of a Wix Nashville website designed by Simple Design Websites in Nashville TN

Wandering Boots - Appalachian Trail Hiking Guides website by Simple Design Websites

Important Website Design Criteria

Listed below are some important things that must be done correctly for a successful website design. This is certainly not all of them, but some of the more important ones.

·       Rich content that is relevant to your business and is easy to read and understand

·       Proper page titles and descriptions in accordance with accepted website standards

·       Proper placement and use of H1 through H6 headings

·       Proper sizing of images and use of ALT text for images

·       Privacy policy on website or link to a privacy policy, cookie opt-out popup, ADA compliance as much as possible

·       Integration with Google analytic tag manager, Google search console and Bing Webmaster tools

·       Mobile optimized for Smartphones

·       Establish a Google business listing or update an existing business listing

·       Contact information that includes information needed to contact you or find your business. This may include; hours of operation, phone number for calls or text, email address, physical address and map with directions, if needed. It is also a good idea to include a contact form.

·       Internal links within the website and external Google compliant back links and blog posts

·       Secured domain name with an SSL certificate

·       Social media links or integrations with Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc.

Below is an example of a Wix website design for a Sevierville TN client that was re-designed by Smoky Mountain Websites in Gatlinburg in early Jan 2026. Another web design company in Sevier County designed their website in 2024 at a cost of thousands of dollars. The client was unhappy with: the overall design, the high costs, the lack of timely support and requested changes to the website and most importantly the fact that their rankings on Google were dismal. It is now mid-Feb 2026 and the website has been completely re-designed at substantial savings to the client and is now ranked on the first page of Google for several search terms. This was a very intense effort to finish the website and start the ranking process because the client was not happy and saw the potential of loosing existing and new customers.

Mountaineer Cleaning vacation property cleaning website re-design by Smoky Mountain Websites

Unfortunately, I have seen expensive web sites built by web design agencies that are not done properly and are certainly not helping the business owner drive customers to their business.

If you own a business in the Nashville TN area or in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and are looking for an affordable new or replacement web site, then please visit our websites at:

Simple Design Websites – A small business web design company for Nashville and surrounding communities

Smoky Mountain Websites - A small business web design company for Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and surrounding communities