https://www.e-3design.com/articles/Practical guides for small business websites.en-ushttps://www.e-3design.com/articles/accessibility-practical-start/https://www.e-3design.com/articles/accessibility-practical-start/Sat, 31 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTDesign and buildStart with the barriers that stop the most people: low contrast, images without alt text, unlabeled form fields, controls you can't reach by keyboard, uncaptioned video and messy headings. Find them with the W3C's free Easy Checks, fix your contact and booking pages first, and aim for WCAG 2.2 Level AA. This isn't legal advice.https://www.e-3design.com/articles/business-email-spf-dkim-dmarc/https://www.e-3design.com/articles/business-email-spf-dkim-dmarc/Sat, 31 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTEmail and domainsList every service that sends email as your domain, then publish one SPF record covering them all, turn on DKIM signing in each service, and add a DMARC record set to monitor only (p=none). Read the reports for at least a week, fix any sender that fails, then tighten DMARC to quarantine and finally reject.https://www.e-3design.com/articles/google-business-profile-habits/https://www.e-3design.com/articles/google-business-profile-habits/Sat, 31 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTSearch and AISpend about 10 minutes a week replying to reviews, checking for changes Google or the public made, and adding a recent photo. Once a month, check hours, phone, link and services, set holiday hours and look at your calls and clicks. Once a year, review who has access and whether your categories still fit.https://www.e-3design.com/articles/missed-calls-follow-up-system/https://www.e-3design.com/articles/missed-calls-follow-up-system/Sat, 31 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTLeads and follow-upMeasure how many calls you miss, make your number right and tappable everywhere, and send an automatic text-back when you can't answer. Put every call, text and form in one leads list with one person responsible, reply within the hour during business hours, and follow up a few times over a week before you stop.https://www.e-3design.com/articles/reviews-asking-replying-bad-ones/https://www.e-3design.com/articles/reviews-asking-replying-bad-ones/Sat, 31 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTLeads and follow-upAsk every customer the same way, right after the job, with a one-tap link and nothing offered in return. Reply to every review briefly and personally. Answer bad ones calmly: thank them, own what's fair and take it offline. Never buy, fake or gate reviews; the FTC's rule and Google's policies forbid it.https://www.e-3design.com/articles/questions-to-ask-a-web-company/https://www.e-3design.com/articles/questions-to-ask-a-web-company/Sat, 31 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTGuidesAsk who will own the domain, site, content and accounts; exactly what's included and what costs extra later; who does the work and who checks it; how you approve changes before they go live; who handles updates, backups and security; how fast they reply; and what happens if you leave. Get the answers in writing.https://www.e-3design.com/articles/own-your-digital-assets/https://www.e-3design.com/articles/own-your-digital-assets/Sat, 31 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTEmail and domainsMake a list of every account your business depends on: domain, DNS, hosting, website, email, Google profile, analytics and social pages. For each, confirm the business is the registered owner, you can sign in yourself with two-step login, helpers have their own lower-level access, and renewal notices reach an address you check.https://www.e-3design.com/articles/show-up-in-ai-answers/https://www.e-3design.com/articles/show-up-in-ai-answers/Sat, 31 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTSearch and AIWork through it in order: make sure search and AI crawlers can reach and index your site, write pages that answer real customer questions in plain words, keep your name, address, phone and hours identical everywhere, keep your Google Business Profile complete with genuine reviews, then check monthly what AI tools say. Nobody can guarantee a mention.https://www.e-3design.com/articles/website-care-checklist/https://www.e-3design.com/articles/website-care-checklist/Sat, 31 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTWebsite careEvery week, check the site loads on a phone, send a test through each form, and confirm updates and backups ran. Every month, review users, plugins, security, speed, Search Console and your content. Every year, check renewal dates, contact details and payment cards, remove old access, and decide whether the site still fits the business.https://www.e-3design.com/articles/website-redesign-without-losing-seo/https://www.e-3design.com/articles/website-redesign-without-losing-seo/Sat, 31 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTDesign and buildBefore anything changes, list every page with its visits, search clicks, leads and links. Keep and improve the pages that earn, map each old address to its closest new page with permanent 301 redirects, build and test on a staging copy, then check redirects, forms and search settings at launch and watch Search Console for months.https://www.e-3design.com/articles/website-speed-on-phones/https://www.e-3design.com/articles/website-speed-on-phones/Sat, 31 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTDesign and buildFix the biggest, slowest thing first: on many small-business sites that's the large photo, slider or video at the top of the page. Then remove plugins and third-party scripts you don't need, make sure the server answers quickly with caching, and stop layout jumps. Measure on a phone before and after every change.https://www.e-3design.com/articles/wordpress-security-small-business/https://www.e-3design.com/articles/wordpress-security-small-business/Sat, 31 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTWebsite careKeep WordPress, plugins and themes updated, and delete what you don't use. Give each person their own login with the lowest role they need, protected by a long unique password and two-step login. Keep daily backups away from the server and test a restore. Then decide now who you'll call if the site is hacked.