What a small business website in Peru should have: the complete checklist

1. What you sell and where, on the first screen

Someone searches Google for a repair shop, opens your page on their phone and looks at the top. If it doesn't say what you do and in which area, they go back and open the next result. That first screen, the part visible without scrolling, needs one concrete sentence and the button to contact you.

«Mechanical and bodywork shop in Los Olivos» or «Accounting for corner shops and small firms in Arequipa» work. «Quality and commitment at your service» could be anyone's, and it doesn't tell the customer whether you're near their home.

2. Prices, or at least a «from» price in soles

Price is the first thing people look for and the last thing many businesses dare to show. If it varies by job, give a «from S/ …» or a range and one line on what it depends on. Whoever writes after seeing it already has a budget in mind.

The fear we always hear is that competitors will see your price. They might. But a competitor can ask you on WhatsApp anyway, and the customer who can't find a price goes to whoever shows one. Also say whether delivery or installation is included: an amount that grows at the end feels like a trick.

3. WhatsApp with the message pre-written, and your phone number

In Peru sales happen in conversation, almost always on WhatsApp. So your main button shouldn't lead to a long form; it should open your chat with text ready to send: which service they want and, if you deliver, their district. You get an enquiry you can answer in one go.

Keep your phone number visible too, tappable to call. Some people don't type. Someone with an urgent problem, for instance, would rather call.

4. Where you are and when you're open

• Address with the district, the way the customer would search for it. «Half a block from the market» helps, but doesn't replace the address.
• Opening hours, with Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays if you work them.
• A Google Maps map that opens directions on the phone.
• If you have no premises, say so and explain how you work: home visits, by appointment or online only. Hiding it raises more doubts than saying it.

5. Payment methods in plain sight

A customer who only has Plin won't write to ask whether you take Plin. They buy where they see it written. Put everything you accept on one line: Yape, Plin, bank transfer, card, cash. If you issue boletas or facturas, say so right there, because for a business customer that decides the purchase.

6. Delivery and shipping, if you offer them

A corner shop that delivers within a few blocks needs one sentence: how far it goes and whether there's a charge. If you cover several districts, list them. If you ship to the provinces, say which company, roughly how long it takes and how payment works. A bare «we deliver» brings the same question in every chat.

7. Real photos

Stock photos are spotted instantly. Five photos of your own in good light, of the premises, the team or finished work, are worth more. A recent phone, daylight and a clean lens are enough. One caveat: a dark, blurry photo hurts. If you have nothing decent yet, take them calmly on a sunny day before publishing.

8. Proof that you're a real business

Paying someone you don't know feels risky, more so when it's upfront. Your page has to answer that doubt before the customer raises it.

• Google reviews, with a link to your profile so people can see they're genuine. Reviews retyped on the page convince less.
• Your RUC and registered business name in the footer.
• How many years you've been in the district or the trade.
• Who's behind it: your name, a photo of you or the team and two lines on how you started.
• Known clients, if you work with local companies or schools and they let you name them.

9. Works on a phone, on mobile data

Most visits come from a phone, many on mobile data. If the page is slow to open, people leave before seeing what you sell. Text has to be readable without zooming, and buttons tappable without hitting the one next to them. A simple page that opens fast beats a flashy one that keeps loading.

10. Findable on Google

Each page needs a title with your service and your district or city, copy written in the customer's own words, and a link from your Google Business Profile. How long it takes to show up depends. A locksmith in a district with two competitors is not a dental clinic in Miraflores. Nobody can guarantee you first place, and anyone who does is selling smoke.

11. The legal part: Libro de Reclamaciones and privacy

If you sell products or services online, the consumer protection rules overseen by Indecopi require a virtual Libro de Reclamaciones (complaints book) accessible from your website. And if you have a form asking for a name, phone number or email, Peru's Personal Data Protection Law (Ley 29733) requires you to say what you use that data for and get the customer's consent.

On a small site, a visible link to the Libro de Reclamaciones, a short privacy notice and a consent checkbox on the form usually cover it. Your case may have its own details. For a specific question, check Indecopi's official information or ask a lawyer.

12. A domain of your own

yourbusiness.pe looks different from a page on a free subdomain. And the domain is yours: if you change provider, you take it with you and customers keep finding you. It's a yearly payment you mustn't forget to renew. Register it in your own or your business's name, never in the name of whoever builds the site.

What to leave out

Some things look nice in the meeting with the designer and only get in the way on the customer's phone.

• Auto-rotating sliders. Nobody waits for the third image, and that's usually where the important message ends up.
• Music or videos that play on load. The customer is on a bus or at work and closes the page.
• Popups asking for an email before people know what you sell.
• Intro animations and decorative loading screens, which on a phone with little data are wasted seconds.
• A blog with three posts from two years ago. It makes the business look abandoned. If you won't write regularly, don't have one.

Check your page in five minutes

1. Open it on a phone, on mobile data

   Without scrolling, is it clear what you sell, where, and roughly what it costs? Did it open fast?

2. Tap every button

   Does WhatsApp open your chat with the message written? Does the phone number call? Does the map open directions?

3. Look at it as a stranger

   Can you see how to pay, how far you deliver, reviews, your RUC and who's behind the business?

4. Scroll down to the footer

   If you sell online, is the Libro de Reclamaciones there? If there's a form, is there a privacy notice? Is the domain in your name?