Which Pages Does a Small Business Website Need?

A typical small business website in Germany is built around six pages: a home page, a services page (or one per service), an about page, a contact page, an Impressum and a privacy policy. The first four are about winning customers. The last two are about German law, and they are the ones international founders most often haven't met before.

The Impressum is a legal notice identifying who runs the site. § 5 DDG requires it for commercial websites. The privacy policy explains how you handle personal data, which you need as soon as you collect any, for example through a contact form. Neither is optional decoration.

Everything beyond that, such as case studies, FAQs, careers or a blog, is worth adding only if you have real content for it and someone keeps it current. Below you will find a page planner, a check for whether a one-page site is enough, and two example structures.

The page planner

Use the table as a worksheet. Cross out what doesn't fit and note in the last column whether the content is ready.

The US Small Business Administration's well-known list of "essential pages" (2018) has Home, About, Products/Services, Contact and Testimonials. That is a sensible content core. For a site run from Germany, add the two legal pages.

The Impressum, explained for newcomers

Under § 5 DDG, the details must be easy to recognise, directly reachable and permanently available. They include your name and address, for companies the legal form and authorised representatives, an email address and other means of quick contact, any commercial register entry and number, and your VAT ID if you have one. Regulated professions add their chamber, professional title and the applicable professional rules.

In practice, most sites use a separate page labelled "Impressum" (often also "Legal notice") linked from the footer of every page. Keeping the German word helps German visitors find it.

The privacy policy

Art. 13 GDPR requires you to inform people when you collect their data: who is responsible, for what purposes and on what legal basis the data is processed, and who receives it. A contact form alone is enough to trigger this. The text is your responsibility as the operator, so have it checked if you are unsure.

One page or several?

A one-page site puts all content on a single long page divided into sections. It is quick to build and easy to maintain. A multi-page site gives each service its own place.

The main difference is search. Each separate page has its own title and its own address (URL). Google recommends titles that describe the specific page clearly and concisely, and URLs containing words that are useful to people. A one-page site has a single title for everything.

One page is usually enough if …

• you essentially offer one service or product
• customers mainly want your contact details and a first impression
• you don't need to be found for different services separately
• you have little time to write content

Several pages pay off if …

• customers search for your services separately (for example "relocation support" and "visa appointments")
• each service has its own questions, process or prices
• you address different audiences, say private clients and companies
• you plan case studies, job ads or a second language

Even a one-page site needs the Impressum and privacy policy as separate, always reachable pages or clearly recognisable sections.

Two example structures

Planning with a fixed page budget

Many packages are limited by page count. Three questions help:

1. What has to be live on day one? Everything else can follow.
2. What can be combined? FAQs often fit as a section on the relevant service page, and a team as part of About.
3. Do the Impressum and privacy policy count? Providers handle this differently. Ask before you cut your list.

A second language can quickly double the page count, as the language-school example shows. Whether it pays off and how to set it up properly is covered in bilingual websites in German and English.

A note on terms: "sitemap" in conversation often means the page plan. Technically it also refers to an XML file for search engines. Google says that small sites of about 500 pages or fewer, which are well linked internally, may not need one, though it does no harm.

Pages you can skip

• News, unless you have something to report at least every few months
• A separate team page if you work alone; it fits on About
• A "philosophy" page with no concrete statements
• A downloads page for a single PDF

How this works at Ichii

Our business website package covers up to 10 pages on a proven design system, optimised for mobile, in one language and with a contact option, for a one-time EUR 790 net plus VAT. We work with your final text and images; more than 10 pages, additional languages and copywriting are quoted separately.

Your next step

Go through the planner and write down your page list. Then add it to our website brief template together with the status of your text. If your list comes to ten pages or fewer in one language, our business website offer fits. For the contact page, see which fields a business contact form needs; for budgeting, see how much a small business website costs in Germany.