When people think about having a website built, it's easy to assume that a good website needs to be packed with features.

Sliders, animations, videos, booking systems, pop-ups, chat boxes and dozens of pages can all be added to a website.

But does your business actually need them?

Probably not.

For many small businesses, the best website is one that does a few important things extremely well.

Tell people who you are

When someone arrives at your website, they shouldn't have to work out what your business does.

Your homepage should make it immediately clear:

What do you do?

Where do you operate?

Who are your services for?

This sounds obvious, but many websites make visitors dig through several pages before they find the answer.

Show people what you can do

People like to see evidence.

If you provide a service, photographs of your work can often be more persuasive than paragraphs of text.

A builder can show completed projects.

A photographer can show photographs.

A web designer can show websites.

A restaurant can show its food.

Your website should give potential customers a reason to believe that you can deliver what you're promising.

Give people confidence

Before contacting a business, people often want reassurance that they're making the right choice.

That's where things such as testimonials, reviews, accreditations, experience and examples of previous work can help.

You don't necessarily need to shout about how good you are.

Sometimes showing people what you've done — and letting previous customers explain their experience — is far more effective.

Make contacting you easy

This is perhaps the most important job of all.

If someone decides they want to use your business, don't make them search for your telephone number or email address.

Make contacting you obvious.

Depending on the business, that might mean a phone number, email address, enquiry form, booking system or several of these.

The fewer obstacles between "I'd like to use this business" and "I've contacted them", the better.

Help people find you

A website can also help potential customers discover your business through search engines.

That doesn't mean filling every page with awkward keywords.

It means having useful, relevant information about your business and the services you provide.

For a local business, clearly explaining what you do and where you operate can be particularly important.

And this is one reason a blog can be useful too.

Helpful articles answering questions that your potential customers are actually asking can bring additional visitors to your website.

So what does your website really need?

For many small businesses, the answer is surprisingly simple.

It needs to:

Explain.

Reassure.

Showcase.

Make contact easy.

Help people find you.

Everything else is secondary.

A website doesn't have to be complicated to be effective.

In fact, adding features simply because they're available can sometimes make a website slower, harder to use and more confusing.

The goal shouldn't be to build the biggest website possible.

It should be to build a website that does its job properly.