Here's the deal: 81% of consumers research a business online before they ever pick up the phone or walk through the door. That number isn't going down. It's been climbing for years, and in 2026, having no website — or a bad one — is costing local businesses real money.

I build websites for local service businesses. Plumbers, HVAC companies, property managers, contractors. And I hear the same thing all the time: "Do I really need a website? I get most of my business from referrals."

Here's what those referrals are doing before they call you: They're Googling your name. They're looking for your website. And if they can't find one — or if they find one that looks like it was built in 2009 — they're calling your competitor instead.

Let's talk specifics, because vague claims are easy to ignore.

73% of small businesses in the U.S. now have a website. That means if you don't, you're already behind nearly three-quarters of your competition. But here's the thing — just having a website isn't enough anymore. It has to actually work.

92% of consumers won't even consider a business with less than a 4-star rating. And where do they find those ratings? On your Google Business Profile, which links directly to your website. No website means no place to send people when they want to learn more about you.

97% of consumers search online for local businesses, and 12% do it every single day. When someone's AC goes out in July or their pipes burst in January, they're not flipping through the Yellow Pages. They're grabbing their phone and searching "HVAC repair near me" or "emergency plumber Tulsa."

If you're not showing up, you don't exist.

Think about what a good salesperson does. They answer questions. They build trust. They handle objections. They make it easy for people to take the next step.

Your website does all of that — at 2 AM on a Sunday when you're asleep. It's working while you're on a job site. It's answering the same questions you've answered a thousand times so you don't have to.

A study found that businesses with professional websites earn 50% more revenue than those without. That's not a typo. Fifty percent more. Because a good website doesn't just make you look legitimate — it actually converts visitors into customers.

Here's a stat that should make you nervous: sites that load in 1 second have conversion rates nearly 3 times higher than sites that take 5 seconds to load.

Three times higher. Just from being faster.

53% of mobile visitors will leave your site if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. They're gone. They'll never see your services page. They'll never read your reviews. They'll never fill out your contact form. They just bounce to the next result.

And here's the kicker: the average mobile page load time is still over 8 seconds. Most websites are hemorrhaging potential customers and don't even know it.

When I build a site, it loads in under 3 seconds. Usually under 2. Because I know what those extra seconds cost you.

Over 62% of all internet traffic now comes from mobile devices. For local searches — the kind where someone's looking for a business nearby — that number is even higher.

If your website doesn't work perfectly on a phone, you're invisible to more than half your potential customers. And "works on mobile" doesn't just mean "technically displays." It means:

Text is readable without zooming. Buttons are big enough to tap. Phone numbers are clickable. Forms are easy to fill out with a thumb. Pages load fast on cellular connections.

I've seen plenty of websites that look fine on a desktop and are absolutely unusable on a phone. The business owner has no idea because they only ever look at their site on their computer.

Here's something that should keep you up at night: it takes users about half a second to form an opinion about your website. Half. A. Second.

In that half-second, they're deciding whether you're legitimate. Whether you're professional. Whether they trust you enough to give you their contact information or call your number.

48% of consumers say website design is the number one factor in deciding whether a business is credible. Not your years of experience. Not your certifications. Not your reviews. Your website design.

That might seem unfair. You're great at what you do. You've been in business for 15 years. You have happy customers all over town. But none of that matters if your website makes people hit the back button before they learn any of it.

I hear this one a lot too: "I just use Facebook. That's my website."

Look, social media is great. It's important. You should be on it. But it's not a replacement for a website. Here's why:

You don't own Facebook. They can change their algorithm tomorrow and tank your visibility. They can suspend your page for reasons they never explain. They can go the way of MySpace and suddenly your entire online presence disappears.

Your website is yours. You control it. You own it. It's not subject to the whims of some tech company's quarterly earnings goals.

Plus, when someone searches for your business on Google, your Facebook page isn't going to rank as well as a proper website. And when they do find your Facebook page, it looks exactly like every other Facebook page. There's no way to stand out, no way to control the experience, no way to guide them toward contacting you.

Here's what a bad website actually costs you:

Every potential customer who bounces because your site loads slow. Every referral who Googles your name, doesn't like what they see, and calls someone else. Every search result where you don't show up because your site isn't optimized. Every phone call you don't get because there's no click-to-call button. Every quote request that never comes because your contact form is broken or buried.

One negative impression from a bad website can cost you 30 potential customers through word of mouth. One.

How much is a new customer worth to you? Now multiply that by all the customers you're losing without even knowing it.

A website that works for your business isn't complicated. It doesn't need animations and videos and chatbots and all the bells and whistles some agencies try to sell you. It needs to do a few things well:

Load fast. Under 3 seconds, ideally under 2. Look professional. Clean, modern, trustworthy. Work perfectly on phones. This is where most of your visitors are. Answer common questions. What do you do? Where do you serve? How do people contact you? Make it easy to take action. Click to call. Simple contact form. Clear next steps.

That's it. That's what separates a website that helps your business from one that hurts it.

In 2026, your website isn't just a nice-to-have. It's the foundation of your business's credibility and discoverability. It's where referrals go to verify you're legitimate. It's where search traffic lands when someone needs what you offer. It's your 24/7 salesperson that never calls in sick.

If you don't have a website, or if the one you have is slow, ugly, or broken on mobile, you're leaving money on the table every single day.

Not sure where you stand? Take a look at what I do and see if it makes sense to chat. No pressure, no pitch — just honest advice about whether your current setup is helping or hurting you.