If you're reading this blog post, I can already tell you that you're a step (or ten) ahead of your competition. We're living in a world where only half of small businesses have websites. Yes, you read that right!

The other half? They have websites, but they're struggling to make them great. You want to take your SMB website to the next level.

How do you get there? Every great small business website needs the following:

1.) A phone number on every page

You'd be surprised if I told you how many small business websites don't display their phone number on the home page of their website. Hint: It's over 60%!

You've worked hard to bring potential customers to your website, and now you need to make sure it's simple for them to turn into paying customers. Find some free real estate at the top of every page on your website and insert your phone number. Make it easy to read, bold it if you have to.

If you want customers to call you, you'll need to make it simple. Go ahead and add that phone number!

2.) Basic search engine optimization

It's not possible to ignore SEO these days. Nearly half of all website traffic comes from search engines. If you're not optimizing for search, you might as well not have a website.

SEO can be complicated. So we created a blog post that simplifies SEO for small businesses. Read the blog post to find out exactly what you need:

• Optimized headers and title tags

• Great content

• Internal links to content

• A simple way to measure your results

• And of course, lots of call to actions

3.) Customer testimonials

Approximately 90% of consumers say that online reviews influence their buying decisions. Now there's another statistic you can't ignore!

If you have a great business with happy customers, why not prominently display those on your website? You'll want to create a testimonials page that has the following:

• Names of those who have left their review

• Dates of testimonials received

• Description of product or services that were performed

• Proper schema.org review markup

4.) A clear map with accompanying directions

If you're a local business, you'll want to make sure it's easy for customers to find your address and get clear directions. Google makes it easy to embed maps on websites, just follow their simple instructions.

Underneath your map embed, you should include simple instructions for getting to your business. You can include driving directions from multiple locations, or if you're in a city with public transportation, include bus/train directions as well.

If you're in a complicated complex or office building, put together some clear instructions for finding your specific location.

5.) A blog with content that helps your customers

Last, but certainly not least is a blog with great content. Your small businesses website has to stand out somehow. If you want to step your game up, past the generic "home, about us, services, contact us" sections, you'll need to add a blog.

Content marketing is rapidly growing because traditional advertising, or "shouting" at your customers is slowly dying.

Identify 10 problems that keep your potential customers up at night. It could be rodents getting into the house, wondering if a fallen tree will be covered by insurance, or wanting to know if their small business website is good enough.

After you've written out your 10 problems, commit to "solving" one problem per week through a blog post. Promote your content on your social networks and to your email list. If you aren't collecting emails, find out how to easily start here for only $5.97.

Any business can create great content. If you're struggling to come up with epic content ideas, tweet at us for some free tips and ideas. We think small business content marketing is so important, we've put together a great presentation on it. Download it today for free!

Do you think we missed anything that a great small business website needs? Let us know in the comments!

The post The 5 Things Every (Great) Small Business Website Needs appeared first on LocalVox.