Build a small business website

Create a few useful pages with words, images, and a contact form. This course is in development.

Original course title & technical overview

Simple Websites for Local Businesses. A 3–5 page site for a local business that has none: copy that says what and for whom in six words, real photos, a contact form and a phone button, Google Business Profile connected, built in Durable, Wix or Squarespace AI in a week and handed over so the owner can edit it.

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Illustration of a woman learning with a laptop at a kitchen table

2026 EDITION

What you can offer

Create a few useful pages with words, images, and a contact form. This course is in development.

Detailed deliverables

A complete 3–5 page website for a local service business: domain connected, home, services, about, contact (and reviews or gallery), copy written in the owner’s voice from a 20-minute call, their photos optimized, a contact form that emails them and a tap-to-call button, basic local SEO (titles, descriptions, Google Business Profile link, LocalBusiness schema where the builder allows), and a 10-minute hand-off video.

Example service prices

$200 for a 3-page site on a builder the client pays for ($15–$30/month), $400 for 5 pages with a gallery and reviews section, $600 with a booking or estimate form workflow and a month of changes. Care plans $40–$75/month.

Planning estimate, not a promise

Finding clients takes time. There is no guaranteed timeline or income.

Tools (free plans have limits): Durable (AI builder, fastest), Wix ADI/Studio or Squarespace with AI (more control); WordPress via A3 for larger sites, Claude or ChatGPT for copy, Canva for a simple logo tidy-up and image crops, TinyPNG or the builder’s compression, Google Business Profile and Search Console

You will make

A 20-minute intake turned into a sitemap and a copy deck in the owner’s voice
A photo set: the owner’s real photos selected, cropped and compressed, with alt text
The site built on Durable, Wix or Squarespace with the copy and photos, form and phone button working
Local SEO basics: titles, descriptions, Google Business Profile link and consistent NAP, schema where possible
A launch checklist, a 10-minute hand-off video and a care plan offer

Inside this course

4 lessons · 4 AI instruction templates · 4 worked examples · 3 exam versions · final practice project

Lesson 1 is open as a free preview, ready-to-use AI instructions included. Sign up free to unlock the rest and try AI instructions in the practice area.

1
What you will learn · 2 min
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2
Set up your tools · 10 min
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3
Intake, sitemap and the one action · 30 min
Twenty minutes with the owner produces the services, the area, the proof and the one thing visitors should do; the sitemap follows from that, three to five pages, no more.
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4
The copy deck in the owner’s voice · 45 min
Headlines that say what, for whom and where in six words, service sections that say what is included, proof with numbers, an FAQ from real questions, and every page ending in the one action.
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5
Build it on Durable, Wix or Squarespace · 60 min
Generate the first draft from the builder’s AI, then replace everything generic with the deck and the photos; set up the form, phone button, map, hours and domain; make it fast and mobile-first.
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6
Local SEO basics, launch and hand-off · 40 min
Titles and descriptions, Google Business Profile link and consistency, Search Console, a launch checklist, the 10-minute hand-off video, and the care plan.
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7
Certification exam · 20 min
10 questions · 80% to pass · three versions, a retake is never the same test.
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8
Final project: A website for Bright Nest Cleaning · 75 min
A website for Bright Nest Cleaning: graded on 5 criteria, pass at 15/20.
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9
Check your work · 15 min
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10
Feedback and certificate · 5 min
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11
Publish your service · 20 min
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Final practice project: A website for Bright Nest Cleaning

A practice assignment from a sample client. You will see the scoring guide (rubric) before you start.

What we check	What earns the full 4 points
Brief followed	Four pages with the gallery, Luz’s services and area, estimate as the one action; all deliverables present
Copy	Six-word headline rule, inclusions/exclusions, proof with numbers, real FAQs, her voice, no banned phrases, approved before build
Build quality	No generic sections, real photos, form proven, phone button, NAP consistency, mobile-first, acceptable speed
Findability	Titles and descriptions with town, alt text, service-area text, profile linked, Search Console set, schema handled honestly
Hand-off	Owner can change hours, prices and photos from the video; launch checklist complete; care plan offered

Honest expectations. AI site builders make a decent-looking site in minutes and a wrong one just as fast: generic stock photos, invented services, and copy that could be any business. The paid work is the copy deck from the owner’s own words, their real photos, the form that actually emails them, and the hand-off that lets them change hours without calling you. Big sites, e-commerce and anything needing custom code go to A3 or A4.