Websites
A company website: what it needs to actually work, not just exist
A company website is judged on five things: who you are in one screen, what you offer, why to trust you, how to reach you and whether it holds on mobile.
A company website has one narrow job: make it clear within seconds what the company does, who it does it for, and how to get in touch. A showcase site has the same job with fewer pages: show products, work or services and drive a request. Neither should be a catalogue of everything the company can do, because that is the site's function, not its structure.
In Italy the Italian queries sito web aziendale, sito vetrina and creare sito web professionale each get hundreds of searches a month, with dozens of variants: they come from people about to commission a site who want to know what to ask for. This checklist is the answer, in order of importance.
The first screen has to answer three questions
The pages you really need, and the ones you do not
A complete, honest company site fits in five pages: home, about, services or products, work or case studies, contact. Add one page per main service when you have real content for it, because that page is what ranks for a specific search, plus the mandatory legal pages (privacy, cookies, terms if you sell online).
What you do not need: a «news» page updated twice a year, a «certifications» section with three unexplained logos, a blog with three generic posts, a «team» page with stock photos. Every empty section signals neglect, and that costs more than the value you thought you were adding.
Responsive site: what it really means
A responsive site is not a site that «shows up» on mobile: it is designed starting from the small screen. In practice that means text readable without zooming, buttons big enough to tap, a menu that opens without covering the content, tables that do not overflow, a contact form you can fill in with the phone keyboard. The test is simple: open the site on your phone with one hand and try to do what you ask the client to do. If it takes more than ten seconds, it needs rebuilding.
Contact: where most people are lost
Accessibility: an obligation, not a courtesy
Alt text on images, enough contrast between text and background, a correct heading hierarchy (one h1 per page), form labels tied to their fields, a site you can navigate with a keyboard. This is not an aesthetic issue: for a company selling to public administration, accessibility is a contractual requirement, and for everyone else it is the difference between a site someone can use and one someone abandons. Search engines read the same structure, so an accessible site is almost always a more indexable one.
Security: the checks you can run in ten minutes
For a quick check of a site that is not yours, a supplier, a client or a competitor, three things are enough: look at the address (valid HTTPS), find the company details and VAT number in the footer or on the contact page, and check that the content is current. There is no official «secure site certificate»: anyone selling it as a badge is selling a service, not a public attestation.
Basic SEO for a company site
A different title and description for each page, one h1 per page that says what it is about, readable URLs, one page per service, LocalBusiness structured data with address and hours, a sitemap submitted to Search Console. These are the rules for any site: the difference, for a local company, is that consistency between the site, the Google Business Profile listing and the physical address matters more than ten blog posts.
What it should cost
A five-page showcase site with copy supplied by the client and a curated template sits in the low thousands of euro; with copy, photos and structure built from scratch the price rises. A component-based site, where every section is a reusable piece, costs a little more at the start and much less for each page you add. The absolute number matters less than what is included: updates, support, training to edit the copy, ownership of domain and code. Ask for it in writing before you sign.
Frequently asked questions
How many pages should a company site have?
Five are enough to start: home, about, services or products, work, contact. Add the legal pages and one page per main service, because that is the page that ranks for a specific search.
What is the difference between a showcase site and a company site?
A showcase site shows products, work or services and drives a contact, with few pages and no online sales. A company site is the same thing plus structure: more services, cases, company history, content that supports positioning. In practice the line is how much real content you have.
What does a company website cost?
A five-page showcase site with a curated template and copy supplied by the client costs a few thousand euro. With copy, photos and structure built from scratch the price rises. What matters most is what is included: updates, support, training and ownership of domain and code.
How long does it take to build?
Two to six weeks for a showcase site, if copy and photos arrive on time. The most common delay is not technical, it is the client not delivering content. With a component template the timeline shortens because the sections are already tested.
Does the site have to be responsive?
Yes. In Italy most visits come from a phone and Google indexes the mobile version. Responsive means designed from the small screen: readable text, tappable buttons, usable forms, no table that overflows.
Does a company site need a blog?
Only if you have real content to publish consistently. A blog with three generic posts, untouched for a year, is worse than no blog. One well-written page per service beats ten posts without substance.
How can I tell whether a site is secure?
Check that the address is HTTPS with a valid certificate, that company details and VAT number are there, that forms do not ask for sensitive data in the clear, and that the content is current. There is no official «secure site» badge: distrust anyone selling it as a public certification.
What must the site contain by law?
For a company: name, registered office, contacts, VAT or tax code, privacy notice and cookie notice. If you sell online you also need terms and conditions plus information on withdrawal and shipping.
Agency or do it yourself?
Do it yourself if you have time, ready content and a template that needs no code. Use an agency if you need strategy, copy, photos and someone to call when something breaks. Either way, ask in writing who owns the domain and the code.
Do I need a Google Business Profile listing?
For a local company yes, and it is often more effective than the site for «near me» searches. It must show the same name, address and phone as the site: mismatches between the two confuse both people and search engines.
How often should a company site be updated?
The content when it really changes, such as services, prices or references, and the technical side regularly: security updates, form checks, link checks, backups. A site untouched for years is a technical risk before it is an image problem.
Can a showcase site sell?
It can generate quote requests, appointments and contacts, which is its job. Selling online needs an e-commerce with catalogue, payments and order management: two different projects, even if they can share one domain.