The Kenyan small business website checklist: 20 things your site needs

Most visitors decide within a few seconds whether your website is worth their time. In Kenya, they are usually on a phone, often on mobile data, and they want one of three things: to know what you offer, to see if you can be trusted, and to contact or pay you. This checklist covers the 20 things a small business website needs to do that well — use it to plan a new site or audit the one you have.

1. Clear message (items 1–4)

• A headline that says what you do and where. "Plumbing and borehole services in Kisumu" beats "Welcome to our website".
• Your main services listed on the home page, each linking to a page with more detail.
• Prices or "from" prices where possible. Even a range answers the question most people are too shy to ask.
• Who you serve — homes, schools, SMEs, a particular town or the whole country.

2. Easy to contact and pay (items 5–9)

• A WhatsApp button with a ready-made message, visible on every page. Many Kenyan customers will WhatsApp before they call.
• Click-to-call phone number that dials when tapped on a phone.
• A short contact or quote form — name, phone, what they need. Every extra field loses people.
• Location and directions with a Google Maps link, plus your working hours.
• M-Pesa payment details or checkout if customers pay you online. Read how to accept M-Pesa on your website.

3. Fast on phones and mobile data (items 10–12)

• Mobile-first design — readable text without zooming, buttons big enough for thumbs, nothing that scrolls sideways.
• Fast loading. Aim for the main content to appear within about 2.5 seconds on a mid-range phone. Compress photos (WebP format is ideal) and avoid heavy sliders and auto-playing video.
• Light pages — every megabyte costs your visitor data bundles. Keep pages small and test them with Google's free PageSpeed Insights tool.

4. Trust (items 13–15)

• Real photos of your team, premises and work. They build far more trust than stock images.
• Genuine reviews or testimonials with the customer's permission — never invented ones. Link to your Google reviews.
• About page and registration details — who runs the business, how long you have operated, and your registered business name.

5. Found on Google (items 16–17)

• A Google Business Profile so you appear on Google Maps and in "near me" searches. Follow our Google Maps guide.
• Search basics on every page — a unique page title and description, one clear main heading, descriptive image text (alt text), a sitemap submitted to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools, and pages for each important service and town you serve.

6. Safe, legal and yours (items 18–20)

• HTTPS (the padlock) and regular backups. Browsers warn visitors about sites without HTTPS, and backups save you when something breaks.
• A privacy policy that explains what you do with the details people send you, as required by the Data Protection Act, 2019. See our data protection checklist.
• Ownership in your name — the domain, hosting and every account belong to your business, and you have the logins. See how to register a .co.ke domain.

Quick self-test: score your current website

Open your website on your own phone, on mobile data, and answer honestly:

What pages does a small business website need?

• Home — what you do, for whom, and the main action (WhatsApp, call or quote).
• Services or Products — one section or page per service, with details and FAQs.
• About — your story, team and why customers should trust you.
• Contact — form, WhatsApp, phone, email, map and hours.
• Optional: Pricing, Portfolio or Gallery, Blog or Guides, and Privacy Policy.

How Elvinsoft can help

Every website we build ticks this checklist by default: mobile-first and fast, WhatsApp and call buttons, M-Pesa-ready, set up for Google, HTTPS, privacy policy, and all accounts in your name. See Web Design or ask for a free quote.