15 questions your small business website should answer

Most visitors come to a small business website with one or two simple questions. Can I afford this? Are you open? Can you help me? How do I get started? If the website answers those quickly, they get in touch or buy. If it does not, they go back to the search results and try the next business.

The good news is that the questions are predictable. Below are the 15 that come up again and again, with examples from five kinds of business: a café, a clinic, a salon, a shop and an agency. Use it as a checklist for your own site.

Why answering these questions matters

Every unanswered question costs you something. Either the visitor leaves, or they phone or email you to ask, which takes your time. Clear answers on your website help in three ways:

• Visitors decide faster. They get what they need without waiting.
• You get fewer repeat calls and emails. The basics are already covered.
• Everything else works better. Search engines and website chatbots can only use what you have written down.

The 15 questions

1. How much does it cost?

This is the question people most want answered and businesses most often avoid. Even if every job is different, give a starting price, a range or a few typical examples.

• Café: a menu with prices, including extras like plant milk.
• Clinic: the price of a first appointment and follow-ups.
• Salon: a price list by service and stylist level.
• Shop: prices on every product, plus any delivery charge.
• Agency: typical project ranges or starting packages.

2. When are you open?

List hours for every day, including weekends. Say how you handle public holidays. If hours change by season, say so.

3. Where are you, and how do I get there?

Give your full address, a map link, and a sentence about parking and public transport. For online-only businesses, say which areas or countries you serve.

4. How do I book, order or get started?

Explain the first step clearly. Link straight to your booking page, order form or contact page.

• Café: do you take table bookings, or is it walk-in only?
• Clinic: book online, by phone, or do you need a referral?
• Agency: what happens on the first call, and what should people prepare?

5. What exactly do you offer?

A clear list of services or products, in plain words, with a sentence on each. Avoid jargon your customers would not use.

6. Who is it for (and who is it not for)?

Say who you serve best. It saves time for both sides. A salon might say it specialises in curly hair. An agency might say it works mainly with local trades businesses.

7. How long does it take?

Appointment lengths, delivery times, turnaround times, project timelines. People plan around these.

• Salon: how long a colour appointment usually lasts.
• Shop: how many days delivery takes, by region.
• Agency: typical time from first call to finished project.

8. What payment methods do you accept?

Cards, contactless, bank transfer, cash, payment plans, deposits. If you need a deposit to book, say how much and whether it is refundable.

9. What is your cancellation or rescheduling policy?

Especially important for appointments. Say how much notice you need and what happens if someone misses an appointment.

10. What is your returns or refund policy?

For shops, this is essential. State the time limit, the condition items must be in, who pays for return postage, and how long refunds take. Service businesses should explain what happens if a customer is not happy.

11. Do you deliver, and where?

Delivery areas, costs, free delivery thresholds and international shipping. A café might mention whether it is on delivery apps. A clinic might mention home visits or online appointments.

12. Is it accessible?

Step-free access, accessible toilets, quiet times, large-print menus, options for people with hearing or vision needs. Many people check this before visiting, and few websites mention it.

13. Do you cater for special requirements?

Allergies and diets for a café. Sensitive skin or patch tests for a salon. Children or nervous patients for a clinic. Custom sizes for a shop. If you can help, say so. If you cannot, say that too.

14. Why should I trust you?

Qualifications, how long you have been running, memberships of trade bodies, guarantees, examples of past work. Keep it factual.

15. How can I contact a person?

Phone, email, a contact form, and how quickly you usually reply. Even the best website leaves some questions unanswered, so make reaching you easy.

Quick reference by industry

Where to put the answers

You do not need one giant FAQ page. Put each answer where people will look for it:

• Prices on service or product pages.
• Hours, address and parking in your footer and on the contact page.
• Policies on their own short pages, linked from checkout or booking.
• A short FAQ page for everything else.

Keep the wording simple and specific. "Free parking for two hours behind the building" is better than "parking available nearby".

How a chatbot answers these questions from your content

Once these answers are written down, a website chatbot can use them. A chatbot that learns from your site reads your pages and documents, and when a visitor asks something like "can I park near you?", it finds the parking sentence and replies in a line or two, with a link to the page.

This is why the checklist above matters even if you add a chatbot. The chatbot is only as good as the content behind it. Patchwhistle, for example, answers only from your own website, documents and questions and answers. If a visitor asks something your content does not cover, it says so honestly, offers a way to reach you, and puts the question in an Unanswered inbox so you can add the answer.

Over a few weeks, the questions your chatbot could not answer become a very practical to-do list for your website. Read how to train a chatbot on your own website for the full process.

Check your own website in 15 minutes

1. 1Open your website on your phone, as a new customer would.
2. 2Go through the 15 questions above and try to find each answer in under 30 seconds.
3. 3Note any you could not find, or found only after digging.
4. 4Fix the top three this week.
5. 5Ask a friend to try the same test. They will spot things you cannot.

While you are at it, check that search engines and chatbots can find all your pages. Our free sitemap checker shows whether your page list is working.

Turn questions into enquiries

Answering questions well is the first half. The second half is making it easy for interested visitors to get in touch. Our guide to capturing more leads from your website with a chatbot covers when and how to ask for contact details without being pushy.

Try it with your own content

Once your answers are written down, Patchwhistle can turn them into a chatbot that answers visitors at any hour, in their own language, using only your content. You review everything before it goes live.

Start a 14-day free trial with no card. Plans start at $19 a month; see Pricing. For a broader overview, read our practical guide to AI chatbots for small business or the Patchwhistle walkthrough.