How to sell websites to local businesses

Plenty of local businesses still have no website, or one that does them more harm than good. They are the easiest web design clients to find, because the need is visible from outside. This guide covers finding them, deciding which are worth contacting, pitching honestly in person, by phone or by email, pricing, and following up.

Why local businesses still need websites

Many small businesses run on word of mouth, a Facebook page and their Google listing. That works until someone searches for the service, compares two businesses and picks the one with a site that shows prices, photos, opening hours and a way to book. A good pitch is not “you need a website”: it is “people searching for you can’t find what they need, and here is what that costs you”.

Find businesses without websites

Google Maps shows whether a business has listed a website. Search one trade in one place (roofer in Columbus, OH) and keep the businesses with no website. Social pages, link-in-bio pages and directory listings do not count as a website: a business with only a Facebook page is still a lead.

The businesses without websites tool does this search for any trade and city. To cover a whole city or many towns, use a lead search in the app with the No website preset; one Maps search stops at 60 places, so a grid over the city finds the ones a single search misses.

Trades worth trying first

Trades where customers compare before calling, and where a single job is worth a lot, tend to see the value of a site fastest:

• Home services: roofers, plumbers, electricians, landscapers, cleaners, pest control.
• Health and beauty: salons, barbers, physiotherapists, dentists, personal trainers.
• Food: restaurants, cafés, bakeries and caterers, where menus and opening hours drive visits.
• Venues and events: wedding venues, photographers, party hire.

Find businesses with weak websites

A business with a bad site is often a better client than one with none: it already believes in having a website and has paid for one before. Signs to look for:

• The site is not secure (no HTTPS), or the browser warns about it.
• It is hard to use on a phone: tiny text, pinch to zoom, buttons too close together.
• Opening hours, prices or the phone number differ from the Google listing.
• The copyright year in the footer is many years old, or there is no way to book or get a quote.

In the lead finder, search with the Established, with a website preset to get businesses with good reviews and a site, then open the sites to judge them yourself.

Qualify leads before you pitch

Not every business without a website is a good lead. Before you contact one, check:

Rules in OpenReach can do most of this for you: business status is operational, no website, at least 10 reviews, rating 4.0 or more, combined with all or any.

How to pitch a website honestly

The pitch that works is specific, short and about the business, not about you. Before you contact anyone, look at what their customers see today: search for their trade in their town and see who comes up, and with what.

In person

For shops, salons and restaurants, walking in at a quiet time works better than any email. Ask for the owner, say who you are in one line, and show them one thing on your phone: their listing next to a competitor’s site. Leave a card and offer to send a short mock-up of their homepage.

By phone

Trades are often on a job and answer the phone between visits. Keep it to a minute: who you are, the one thing you noticed, and a question. “I saw you have great reviews on Google but no website, so people searching for a roofer in Columbus see your competitors’ sites first. Would it be useful if I sent you an example of what yours could look like?” Respect a no.

By email

Use the email on their listing or site, or a contact form. Write one email per business: mention their name, their trade, what you saw, and one concrete idea. Offer something small and free (a mock-up, a short review of their listing) rather than asking for a meeting. The cold email templates include one for web designers. Follow the CAN-SPAM Act and, in Europe, GDPR: say who you are, give a way to opt out, and stop when asked.

How to price websites for local businesses

Prices vary too much by country, city and trade for a single number to be useful. Work it out from three things instead:

• Your costs and time: the hours a site takes you, what you need to earn per hour, plus hosting, domain and tools.
• What a customer is worth to them: if one extra job a month pays for the site in a few months, the price is easy to accept. Ask what an average job is worth.
• What happens after launch: many small businesses prefer a lower setup price and a monthly fee that covers hosting, updates and small changes. It gives you recurring income and gives them someone to call.

Offer two or three packages with clear contents, so the conversation is about which one, not whether.

Follow up without being pushy

Owners of small businesses are busy, and no reply usually means “not now”, not “no”. Send one follow-up after about a week with something new (the mock-up, a competitor’s site), and a last short one later. Then stop and mark the lead as not now; come back in a few months if something changes.

Find web design clients with OpenReach

1. Search a trade in your area

   Open Leads and run a Quick search, such as landscaper in your city, with the No website preset. Adjust the rules (reviews, rating, business status) until the list looks like businesses you would want as clients.

2. Cover the whole area

   Start a Lead search with several trades, one per line, across the towns you serve or a grid over your city. Each place is kept once, and the matches are added to the project’s lead list as the search runs.

3. Contact, note and follow up

   Work through the list: call, visit or email, set each lead’s status, and note what you said and what they asked for. Export as CSV whenever you want.

4. Upsell the businesses with weak sites

   Run a second search for the same trades with a website, open the sites, and add the weak ones to the list with a note on what to fix. Use Find emails to read a contact address from each homepage.

For more channels beyond Google Maps, read how to find clients.