How to make a website for a small business in India: 12 steps (free to start)

By Hykvra · Updated 20 October 2026 · 10 min read

To make a website for a small business, decide what it must do, list the pages, buy a domain, start from a free template made for your type of business, replace the sample content, host it free and connect your domain. Then link it to Google Business Profile and WhatsApp. Most owners can do this in a weekend for the price of a domain.

The short version

Step 1 and 2: decide the goal, then the pages

1. Write down the one thing the website must do

Most small business websites have one job: get the right people to call, WhatsApp or walk in. A clinic wants appointments, a caterer wants event enquiries, a shop wants orders. Write that goal down. Every page and button should push towards it.

2. List your pages

For a website for a small business, this set works almost everywhere:

• Home: what you do, where, and a WhatsApp or call button on the first screen.
• Services or products: with “starting from” prices.
• One decision page: a price calculator, booking form, menu or gallery of past work.
• About: your story, team, years in business and real photos.
• Contact: phone, WhatsApp, address, map, hours and the areas you serve.
• FAQ: the questions you answer on the phone every day.

Gather what you need now: your logo, 10 to 20 good phone photos, prices, timings and three or four customer reviews.

Step 3: buy a domain (.in or .com)

Your domain is your address, like yourbusiness.in. Keep it short, easy to spell when said aloud, and close to your business name. Adding your city helps if the name is taken, for example sharmadentaljaipur.in.

• First-year offers can be as low as ₹1. Check the renewal price, because that is what you will pay every year after.
• Register the domain in your own name and email, not your developer's. Moving it later is painful otherwise.
• Turn on auto-renew. An expired domain takes your website and email down with it.

Step 4 and 5: choose a template and edit the content

4. Choose a template made for your business

A template built for your kind of business already has the right pages and tools, so you edit instead of design. Hyklates has free templates for 16 kinds of business, from clinics and salons to contractors and online stores. Each is a nine-page site in plain HTML, CSS and JavaScript, mobile-first, with forms that open WhatsApp. Our guide to business website templates maps every category to what it includes.

Preview on your phone before you download. Most of your customers will see it there.

5. Replace the sample content

1. Open the folder in a free text editor such as VS Code. Read the README first; it says where everything lives.
2. Set your WhatsApp number and email in the one settings file the README names, inside assets/js. Every form and tool reads them from there.
3. Search the HTML files for the sample business name and replace it, along with the address, phone, GSTIN and prices.
4. Replace the sample photos and drawings with your own, and the sample reviews with real ones.
5. Change colours and fonts, if you want, in the variables at the top of the main CSS file.
6. Open index.html in your browser and click every page and button to check it.

Write like you talk to customers at the counter. Short sentences, real prices, no “world-class solutions”.

Step 6 and 7: host it free and connect your domain

6. Put it online with free hosting

A template like this is a static site: plain files, no database. Static hosts serve it free, fast and with HTTPS included.

• Netlify: drag the folder onto Netlify Drop and the site is live on a temporary address in under a minute.
• Cloudflare Pages: create a project, choose direct upload and upload the folder.

You don't need paid shared hosting for a site like this. If you already pay for some, upload the files to public_html instead.

7. Connect your domain

1. In your host's dashboard, add your custom domain. It shows you the DNS records to add.
2. Log in to your domain registrar, open DNS settings and add those records, or switch the nameservers if the host asks.
3. Wait. Changes usually work within an hour, but can take up to a day.
4. Check that https:// works and that both yourbusiness.in and www.yourbusiness.in open the site.

Step 8 to 11: get found and get messages

8. Set up Google Business Profile

For a local business, this matters as much as the website. It is free and puts you on Google Maps and in “near me” searches. Create or claim your profile, verify it (Google tells you how, often with a short video), add your website, hours, photos and services, and ask happy customers for reviews. Use exactly the same name, address and phone on the profile and the website.

9. Connect WhatsApp

Indian customers would rather message than fill a form. Use the free WhatsApp Business app for a business profile, quick replies and a catalogue. Every Hyklates form already opens WhatsApp with the customer's details filled in, so enquiries arrive as ready messages. Put the same click-to-chat link (wa.me followed by 91 and your number) on Instagram and your Google profile.

10. Do the basic SEO

• Give every page its own title and meta description with your service and city, for example “Dental clinic in Indiranagar, Bengaluru”.
• Use the words customers search for in headings: “AC repair in Pune”, not just “Our services”.
• Add your address and phone in text on every page, not only inside an image.
• Name photo files sensibly and add alt text.
• Add the site to Google Search Console (free), so you can see which searches find you and spot problems.

11. Add analytics

Google Analytics is free. Create a property, paste the tag into the head of each page, and you will see how many people visit, from where and on which pages. Check it once a month alongside your WhatsApp enquiries, so you know what is working.

Step 12: when to pay someone

Doing it yourself makes sense when you are comfortable editing text files. Pay someone when:

• You would rather spend the weekend running your business than learning DNS settings.
• You need online payments, logins, a booking system with staff calendars or hundreds of products.
• You want professional photos, copywriting or a logo, not only a website.
• Nobody on your team will keep the site updated.

A middle path is to start from a free template and have someone put it live for you. Hykvra does this with your logo, photos, text and domain from ₹4,999, including the domain and first-year hosting. For full price ranges from freelancers and agencies, read what a website costs in India.

More templates

Start with your category, such as restaurants, schools and coaching or gyms, or browse every template.