Website builder for small businesses
Most small businesses need the same few things from a website: to be found, to look trustworthy, and to turn a visit into a call, a booking or a walk-in. Briks builds that from a plain description of your business, publishes it with hosting included, and changes it whenever you ask in plain words.
Below are templates you can start from, the pages most small business sites need, an honest list of what Briks covers, and a brief you can rework for your own.
The opening line of the brief behind SEO Agency, a website template by the Briks teamLantern Search is an independent SEO and search marketing agency based in Manchester, England, working with ecommerce brands, SaaS companies and local service businesses across the UK and Ireland.
The pages a small business website needs
Start with the pages that answer what customers ask before they call. Tick what fits your business and the sitemap redraws. Briks asks the same question before it builds.
An example brief for a small business website
Change the details to your own and use it as your starting point. The pages line follows what you ticked above.
Muddy Paws is a dog grooming salon in Didsbury, Manchester, run by Jess Collins since 2019. We groom all breeds: full grooms, bath and brush, puppy introductions and nail trims. A full groom for a small dog starts at £35.
We are open Tuesday to Saturday, 8:30am to 5pm, by appointment only. New customers fill in a short form with the dog's name, breed, age and any health notes, and we call back to book.
Most customers live within three miles and find us by searching for a dog groomer in Didsbury or through friends. They ask the same questions: how long a groom takes, whether we use muzzles, and what to bring.
The site should feel friendly and clean, with photographs of happy dogs after their groom, prices on the page, and our phone number easy to tap.
Pages: Home, Services, About, Contact.
Use this brief opens sign-up, then a new project with these words filled in. Change anything before you build.
Why it is written this way
- Say how people book today. 'Fill in a form and we call back' becomes the site's main action.
- List the questions you hear every week. They become a questions page, and the chat can answer from them if you switch it on.
- Give starting prices. People shortlist on price before they pick up the phone.
- Name your area the way customers search for it: the neighbourhood, not just the city.
How Briks builds a small business website
Each step is something Briks does today. Follow a link for the details of each feature, including whether it needs a plan or a switch.
Describe your business in plain words
What you do, where you work, your hours and how customers reach you. Briks asks which pages you want before it builds, and anything you left open. You can let it decide.
Questions before buildingOn every planPick a look if you want a say
Switch on Pick a look and choose between three looks drawn for your business. Or leave it off and Briks chooses a look for you.
Pick a lookSwitch it onBuilt, then checked
Words are checked for readable contrast in the code before publishing, and on the live page at desktop and phone after the first publish. Every page you chose is in the menu.
Checks before publishingOn every planEvery enquiry kept
Contact and booking forms keep every entry in the studio. Once the site is in production, each one is also emailed to you.
Forms that keep every entryOn every planA chat for the questions you hear every day
Off until you switch it on, on every plan. It answers from your published pages and emails you what it cannot answer, up to 400 chats a day per site.
A chat on your siteSwitch it onKnow who visits
Visitors, pages and sources are counted without cookies, with a live globe of who visited in the last five minutes.
Analytics without cookiesOn every planSafe from the first publish
Your site's code is read for security before every publish, keys you paste into a message are cut out and belong in Secrets, and every version is kept so any change can be undone.
Safe by defaultOn every planHosting included, your domain on paid plans
Every site gets a briks.live address. From Starter, point your own domain at it and the certificate is issued and renewed automatically.
Hosting and your domainDomains on paid plans
What Briks covers for a small business, and what it does not
An honest list, checked against what Briks does on 8 October 2026. Where Briks does not cover something, the usual way around it is in the same row.
| What you need | With Briks today | Status |
|---|---|---|
| The pages your business needs | Planned from your brief, with the pages you choose. | Included |
| Enquiry and booking request forms | Every entry kept in the studio and emailed to you in production. | Included |
| Answers to everyday questions | A chat that answers from your published pages. | Switch it on |
| Visitor numbers | Counted without cookies, on by default. | Included |
| Keeping the site secure | Code read for security before every publish. On paid plans the Security agent also checks the live site every week and asks before any fix. | Included |
| Changing words and pictures yourself | Click them on the page in the Visual Editor, on paid plans. | Paid plans |
| Email sent from your site | From a briks address under your site's name, 300 a month on Free. | Switch it on |
| Your own domain | From Starter at $16 a month. | Paid plans |
| Taking payments online | One-time payments through your own processor, with no fee from Briks. | Switch it on |
| Exporting form entries | Not today. A webhook can pass each new entry to another tool. | Not today |
Advice for a small business website that brings in work
Make the phone number impossible to miss
Plenty of visits to a local business site come from a phone, from someone who wants to call. Put the number at the top as a link, and again in the footer.
Show prices, or at least starting prices
Customers shortlist on price. Even a 'from' price stops people assuming you are too expensive to ask, and it filters out the jobs you would turn down.
Keep hours and details current
Wrong opening hours cost you a customer and often a bad review. Change the site the day anything changes. On Briks that is one sentence in the studio chat.
Ask happy customers for one sentence
A few real words from real customers, with a first name and a town, are worth more than anything you write about yourself. Only publish what customers actually said.
Questions from small businesses
Do I need any technical skills?
No. You describe the business in plain words, answer a few questions, and ask for changes the same way. If you do code, you can browse and edit the code written for your site.
What does a small business website cost on Briks?
Starting is free, with 50 credits when you sign up. Your own domain starts on Starter at $16 a month, with 175 credits a month, 1 site and 1 domain. Paid plans are bought online at checkout.
Can I see how many people visit?
Yes. Analytics counts visitors, pages and sources without cookies, and shows a globe of who visited in the last five minutes. It is on by default and you can turn it off.
Describe yours and Briks builds it
A sentence is enough to start. You get 50 free credits when you sign up, no card needed.