What does a good website need to have?

What absolutely has to be on a website?

Every company website needs clearly named services, a statement of who you work for, contact details with a phone number and a way to inquire, your service area or address, as well as a legal notice (Impressum) and a privacy policy. That sounds obvious but is surprisingly often missing – for example when the phone number appears only in the legal notice or it is unclear whether a business also works in the neighboring town.

Answers to the questions your customers keep asking on the phone are also helpful: how does working together go, how fast is it, what do you need from me? A short FAQ or a description of the process removes uncertainty and saves you follow-up questions. Such content also works well as quotable answers for search engines and AI assistants.

• Services with clear names
• Target audience and service area
• Phone, email and inquiry form clearly visible
• How the collaboration works
• Real photos of team, premises or work
• Legal notice (Impressum) and privacy policy

What does a modern website need to be able to do?

A modern website is above all fast, optimized for smartphones and easy to use. Many visitors come on mobile, often on the go and with little patience. Readable type, easy-to-tap buttons, a clear menu and a way to make contact that is reachable with the thumb decide whether someone calls or moves on to the next search result.

Modern websites are also easy to maintain and extensible. Your team should be able to change texts, images and news themselves without the layout falling apart. And the website should grow with you: a booking system, a customer portal or an AI chatbot can be added later if the technical foundation is planned cleanly. That spares you a complete rebuild after a few years.

Design and user guidance: how visitors become inquiries

Good design organizes information instead of decorating it. The first visible area answers three questions: what do you offer, for whom, and what should the visitor do next? A clear call to action such as “Book a free initial consultation” is usually more helpful than a vague “Learn more.” Further down come services, benefits, process and proof.

Trust comes from specifics: real project examples, comprehensible processes, named contact persons and honest information about prices or price factors. Design in line with your corporate design ensures that website, business card and vehicle lettering match. Together with our partner agency LOMA DESIGN, we develop design and technology from a single source so that both fit together from the start.

Technology: load time, security and findability

Beneath the surface, technology plays its part. Short load times improve the user experience and, via Core Web Vitals, also feed into Google's assessment. Optimized images, lean code and good hosting are the foundation for that. HTTPS encryption is standard today, and regular updates and separately stored backups protect against outages and attacks.

For search engines, every page needs its own title, a fitting meta description, a logical heading structure and descriptive URLs. Structured data helps Google and AI search classify opening hours, services or FAQs correctly. An XML sitemap and Search Console ensure that new pages are found quickly and errors are detected early. That way the website stays technically clean even after extensions.

What does an accessible website need to have?

Accessible websites follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). These include sufficient color contrast, alternative texts for meaningful images, full keyboard operability with visible focus, labeled form fields, understandable error messages and a structure that screen readers can read aloud correctly. Videos need captions, and texts need clear, understandable language. In practice, conformance level AA is usually the benchmark.

For online stores and booking flows with consumer contracts, the German Accessibility Strengthening Act (BFSG) may apply since June 2025. But even without an obligation, accessibility pays off: good contrast helps in sunlight on a smartphone, clear forms can reduce drop-offs, and a clean structure supports search engines. Accessibility is easiest when it is planned from the start.

A small website: site builder, WordPress or lean custom solution?

Three routes come into question for small websites. Website builders are ready to go quickly but tie you to one provider and limit customization. WordPress is widespread, flexible and supportable by many service providers, but needs regular updates of core, theme and plugins. A lean, custom-developed website or a headless CMS is suitable when load time and security are priorities.

The best choice depends on who maintains the content and how often. If the website rarely changes, a lean solution with little maintenance effort can be ideal. If your team regularly publishes posts or job listings, a convenient editor matters. You will find a detailed comparison in our guide on which CMS is right for your company.