Lately I haven’t been able to sleep. My to-do list runs through my mind on repeat, keeping me up at night. Sometimes I grab the pen and paper I keep next to my bed and jot down things like “Respond to the email from Joe” at 2am.

But this doesn’t sound ridiculous to you, does it?

I know, because you’ve done it too.

When you’re running your own small business, there’s always something on your mind. Always a million things to do. And those of us who refuse to drop the ball on anything? We lie awake running through mental checklists.

But designing, building, and launching a new website shouldn’t be one of those things keeping you up at night—especially not when you have a clear small business website planning guide to follow.

So here’s the plan. Ten steps that will take this massive, overwhelming project and break it down into manageable pieces.

By the end of this, you’ll know exactly what to do, in what order, and how to use AI to help you get it done faster without losing your voice.

Let’s get started.

Step 1: Get Crystal Clear on Who Your Audience Actually Is

Before you write a single word of website copy or pick a single color for your brand, you need to know who you’re talking to.

Not “small business owners” or “people who need my services.” That’s too broad.

I’m talking about the actual person who needs what you offer. The one lying awake at night with problems you can solve.

Here’s what you need to know about them:

• What do they do for a living?
• What’s their business stage? (Just starting? Established but stuck? Ready to scale?)
• What keeps them up at night?
• How do they make decisions about hiring someone like you?
• What do they value most when choosing who to work with?

This isn’t just about demographics (age, location, income). It’s about understanding their situation, their stress, and their goals.

Why this matters for your website: If you don’t know who you’re talking to, your website will sound generic. Like it could be for anyone, which means it resonates with no one. When you’re crystal clear on your audience, your website copy practically writes itself because you know exactly what they need to hear.

Step 2: Identify Your Audience’s Main Pain Point—and How You Solve It

Now that you know who they are, what’s the ONE thing that brought them to you?

Not all the things you can help with. The primary pain point that makes them say “I need help NOW.”

For example:

• A life coach might think their audience needs “clarity and purpose.” But the real pain point? “I’m burned out in my corporate job and have no idea how to transition to work I actually care about.”
• A landscape architect might think clients want “beautiful outdoor spaces.” But the real pain point? “I have a $75K budget and I’m terrified of hiring the wrong person and wasting my money on something that doesn’t work.”

See the difference? One is vague and aspirational. The other is specific and urgent.

Here’s how to figure out your audience’s real pain point:

• Look at what people actually say when they first contact you
• Think about the questions they ask before hiring you
• Remember what your best clients were struggling with when you met them
• Ask yourself: What would happen if they DIDN’T solve this problem?

Once you nail this, you can position your entire website around the transformation from their pain point to the outcome you provide.

Why this matters for your website: Your homepage needs to immediately show people you understand their problem and can solve it. If your pain point is wrong or too vague, visitors will bounce because they don’t see themselves in your message.

Step 3: Get Clear on Your WHY

Why did you start your business in the first place?

Not “to make money” (though obviously that matters). What drew you to this work? What impact do you want to have? What gets you fired up even on the hard days?

Your why is the foundation of your About page and the emotional connection point in all your copy.

Answer these questions:

• What problem or gap did you see that made you think “I need to do something about this”?
• What do you hope to achieve through your business beyond revenue?
• What would success look like in 5 years? Not just financially, but impact-wise?
• What makes you different from others who do similar work?

Why this matters for your website: People don’t just hire skills—they hire people they trust and connect with. Your why gives them a reason to choose YOU over someone else with similar credentials. It’s what turns your About page from a boring resume into a compelling story.

Step 4: Identify the Goal of Your Website

This sounds obvious, but most people skip this step and end up with a website that looks nice but doesn’t actually accomplish anything.

What do you want your website to DO?

Choose your primary goal:

• Generate leads (get people to book calls, request quotes, download resources)
• Position you as the leader in your industry (build authority and credibility)
• Sell products or services directly (ecommerce or online booking)
• Create trust (especially important if you’re new or in a trust-heavy industry)
• Educate your audience (before they’re ready to buy)

You might have secondary goals, but pick ONE primary goal. Everything on your website should support that goal.

Why this matters for your website: Your goal determines your structure, your calls-to-action, what pages you need, and how you measure success. A lead-generation site looks different from an ecommerce site. A credibility-building portfolio site has different priorities than a direct-sales site.

Step 5: Build Your Ideal Client Profile (Using AI as Your Assistant)

Now let’s take everything from Steps 1-2 and turn it into a detailed profile of your ideal client—the specific person you’re writing all your website content for.

This is where AI becomes incredibly helpful. You’ve got the raw information. AI can help you refine it and fill in the gaps.

Here’s the prompt I recommend:

“I’m creating an ideal client profile for my business. Here’s how I see my audience: [Insert your answer from Step 1]. Their main pain point is: [Insert your answer from Step 2].

Can you help me create a detailed profile of a single ideal client? I want to know their:

• Clear pain points (expand on what I’ve given you)
• Success indicators (how they’ll know working with me was worth it)
• Buying behaviors (how they make decisions)
• What they value when choosing someone to work with
• A typical day in their life
• Their fears and aspirations

Make this specific enough that I can write directly to this one person.”

Try this in Claude.ai, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity. See which response resonates most. Or pull the best parts from each and combine them.

Give your ideal client a name. It sounds silly, but when you’re writing your website copy and you’re writing to “Sarah” or “Michael” instead of “potential clients,” your writing becomes infinitely more personal and compelling.

Why this matters for your website: This profile becomes your north star for every piece of content you write. When you’re stuck on how to phrase something, ask yourself: “What would [ideal client name] need to hear right now?”

Step 6: Write Your Homepage and About Page Copy (With AI’s Help)

Now that you know WHO you’re talking to and WHAT they need, it’s time to tell your story in a way that connects with them.

Your homepage needs to immediately answer three questions:

1. What do you do?
2. Who do you help?
3. What should I do next?

Your About page needs to answer one big question: “Why should I trust you?”

Here’s the prompt I recommend for your homepage:

“I need to write compelling homepage copy for my [type of business]. My ideal client is [name from Step 5] who struggles with [pain point from Step 2]. Here’s my why: [answer from Step 3].

Can you write a short, compelling homepage opening (2-3 paragraphs) that:

• Immediately addresses my ideal client’s pain point
• Shows I understand where they are right now
• Hints at the transformation I can provide
• Feels conversational and authentic, not salesy

Keep it under 150 words.”

Then for your About page:

“Now take the same information and write my About page. I want it to feel personal—like they really know me after reading it. Include my why, my background (briefly), and why I’m uniquely positioned to help them. Make it about THEM and how I can help, not just about me.“

Important: Don’t just copy and paste what AI gives you. Use it as a draft. Then edit it to ensure its in your voice. Read it out loud. Does it sound like you talking to a friend? If not, adjust it.

Why this matters for your website: These are often the first two pages people read. If your homepage doesn’t immediately speak to their situation, they’ll leave. If your About page is just a boring resume, they won’t trust you. These pages set the tone for everything else.

Step 7: Write Your Service Pages (Connecting Pain Points to Solutions)

Now it’s time to explain what you actually DO and how it solves your ideal client’s problems.

For each service you offer, you need to answer:

• What is this service?
• Who is it for? (Be specific—reference your ideal client’s situation)
• What problem does it solve?
• How does it work? (Your process, briefly)
• What will they get/feel when it’s done?
• What’s the next step? (Clear call-to-action)

Here’s how to approach this:

1. Draft it yourself first. Write out each service in your own words. Don’t worry about it being perfect.
2. Use AI to refine it. Feed your draft to AI with this prompt:

“I’ve drafted copy for my [service name] service page. My ideal client is [name] who struggles with [pain point]. Can you refine this copy to:

• Clearly connect their pain point to how this service solves it
• Emphasize the outcome and how they’ll feel when it’s complete
• Keep my voice and tone (conversational, empathetic, not overly salesy)
• Make sure it’s clear and jargon-free

Here’s my draft: [paste your draft]“

3. Decide on structure. Do you need a separate page for each service, or one Services page with sections for each?

The deciding factors:

• Separate pages if: You’ll drive traffic directly to specific services (like from ads), services are complex and need detailed explanations, or you want to rank for different keywords for each service
• One page with sections if: Services are related and clients often want more than one, you’re just starting and don’t have tons of content yet, or you want to keep your site simple

Why this matters for your website: Vague service descriptions lose clients. If they can’t clearly understand what you do, how it helps them, and what happens next, they’ll leave and find someone whose services are clearer.

Step 8: Figure Out Your Target Keywords (And Let AI Help You Find Them)

Okay, this is where most small business owners panic. SEO feels overwhelming, technical, and like you need a marketing degree to understand it.

Here’s the truth: You don’t need to be an SEO expert. You just need to know what phrases your ideal clients are searching for when they need help.

That’s it. That’s SEO demystified.

Here’s how to find your target keywords/keyphrases using AI:

Take everything you’ve written so far—your ideal client profile, your services, your pain points and solutions—and feed it to AI with this prompt:

“Based on my business and ideal client, what are the top 10 key phrases I should target for my website? I need at least 5 of them to be transactional phrases (meaning the person is ready to hire someone or make a purchase) rather than informational phrases (just doing research).

My business: [brief description] My ideal client: [from Step 5] My location: [if you’re local/regional] My services: [list them]”

AI will give you a list of phrases people actually search for.

Here’s what those categories mean:

• Transactional: “hire landscape architect Portland Maine” or “life coach for career transition Portsmouth NH” (ready to buy)
• Informational: “what does a landscape architect do” or “how to change careers” (just researching)
• Commercial: “best landscape architects in Maine” or “top career coaches near me” (comparing options)

You want mostly transactional phrases because those are the people ready to hire you.

Now assign one target phrase to each page of your website:

• Homepage: Your primary service + location (if local)
• About page: Often less keyword-focused, more about connection
• Each service page: That specific service + location or modifier
• Blog posts: Long-tail informational phrases that lead people to transactional pages

Then optimize your existing content:

Take each page’s content and the target phrase you’ve assigned to it, and use this prompt:

“I’ve written content for my [page name] and I want to rank for the phrase ‘[your target phrase]’. Can you help me naturally incorporate this phrase into my content without it sounding forced or repetitive? I don’t want you to rewrite everything—just suggest where and how to add the phrase so it flows naturally.

Here’s my current content: [paste it]”

IMPORTANT: Watch what AI gives you back. Sometimes it completely rewrites your page and it stops sounding like you. Your job is to take the suggestions and incorporate them in YOUR voice. The goal is to rank for the phrase while still sounding human and authentic.

Why this matters for your website: If you don’t optimize for the phrases people actually search for, they’ll never find you. But if you stuff keywords in awkwardly, visitors will leave because it reads like spam. The sweet spot is natural integration of the phrases your ideal clients actually use when they need help.

Step 9: Create Your FAQ Page (Using AI to Anticipate Questions)

An FAQ page is one of the most underrated pages on a website. It builds trust, answers objections before they become deal-breakers, and helps with SEO because people literally search these questions.

Here’s how to create a comprehensive FAQ page using AI:

“My ideal client is [name from Step 5] who needs [your services]. What questions would they be asking when researching [what you do]? Give me at least 15 questions they’d have before hiring someone like me.

Include questions about:

• How the process works
• Pricing and investment
• Timeline and expectations
• What makes me different from competitors
• What happens if things don’t go as planned
• How to get started”

AI will give you a solid list of questions.

Now write brief, honest answers to each one. Don’t overthink it. Write like you’re answering a friend who asked the question.

Then send it back to AI:

“I’ve written answers to common questions for my FAQ page. Can you refine and expand on these to make sure they’re:

• Complete and helpful
• Speak directly to my ideal client’s concerns
• Sound like me (conversational, not corporate)
• Address potential objections or hesitations

Here are my answers: [paste them]”

Pro tip: Your FAQ page should also appear throughout your site. Add relevant FAQs to your service pages, homepage, and anywhere else people might have questions. This improves user experience and SEO – but remember do your best not to repeat them, you don’t want duplicate content.

Why this matters for your website: People have questions before they hire you. If they can’t find answers on your site, they’ll leave and find someone else who makes it easier. A good FAQ page removes friction and builds trust.

Step 10: Plan Your Website Marketing Strategy (So It Actually Gets Seen)

You’ve built an amazing website. Now what? If you just launch it and hope people find it, you’ll be disappointed.

You need a plan to consistently drive people to your website.

Remember Step 4—your website goal? Now it’s time to map out how you’ll achieve that goal through ongoing marketing.

Here’s the reality: You need to show up consistently.

Not every day. Not even every week on every platform. But regularly enough that your ideal clients see you, remember you, and think of you when they need help.

I recommend the 1-2-3 approach for small business owners who are overwhelmed:

• 1 email per month to your list
• 2 blog posts per month on your website
• 3 social media posts per week on the platforms where your ideal clients actually are

This keeps you visible without requiring full-time effort.

Here’s how to make this manageable:

1. Plan your entire year upfront. Decide on a theme or topic for each month. This makes it easier to stay consistent because you’re not scrambling for ideas every week.
2. Batch your content creation. Dedicate one day per month to create everything for the following month. Write both blogs, draft your email, and schedule all your social posts. Front-load the work so you can coast the rest of the month.
3. Repurpose everything. Your email announces your recent blog posts. Your social posts link back to those blogs. Everything points back to your website. One piece of core content (a blog post) becomes 5-10 pieces of content across platforms.
4. Use scheduling tools. Tools like MeetEdgar, Buffer, or Later let you schedule all your social posts in advance. Batch it, schedule it, forget about it.
5. Focus on the right platforms. Don’t be everywhere. Be where your ideal clients are. If you serve professional service providers, LinkedIn matters more than TikTok. If you serve local clients, Facebook groups and local networking matter more than Twitter.

Why this matters for your website: A beautiful website that no one visits is worthless. Consistent marketing drives traffic, builds relationships, and turns your website into the lead-generation or credibility-building machine you need it to be.

Before You Hire Anyone: Do Steps 1-4 at a Minimum

If you take nothing else from this small business website planning guide, take this:

Before you hire any website designer, complete at least the first four steps yourself.

Know who your audience is. Know their pain point. Know your why. Know your website goal.

When you come to a designer with that clarity, everything goes faster, costs less, and turns out better. You’ll be able to make decisions quickly because you know what you’re trying to accomplish. And your designer can make smart recommendations because they understand your goals.

Without that clarity? You’ll spend months going back and forth, questioning every decision, and ending up with a website that looks nice but doesn’t actually serve your business.

We’d Love to Help You Build a Website That Actually Works

If you’re ready to build a website that talks directly to your ideal clients about how you solve their problems—and you don’t want to do it alone—that’s exactly what we do.

We work with small business owners in York County Maine, the NH Seacoast and beyond who are ready to invest in a website that works as hard as they do.

Book a discovery call and let’s talk about your business, your goals, and how we can help you create a website you’re genuinely proud to share.

No pressure. No sales pitch. Just honest conversation about what you need and whether we’re the right fit to help you get there.

Small Business Website Planning Guide Frequently Asked Questions

Ready to stop lying awake worrying about your website and actually get it done? This small business website planning guide gives you the roadmap. We provide the partnership, expertise, and execution to make it happen. Let’s talk about your 2026 website launch.