Yes, for almost every business, the answer is now yes. A website has quietly become the baseline, not the upgrade, and the gap between having one and going without has grown wider than it used to be. Here is what the numbers actually say, and the honest exception at the end for the few who can still wait.
Start with how normal it has become. As of 2025, 83% of US small businesses have a website, and the share with none has fallen from 36% in 2020 to 17% today (Clutch, 2025). Having a site is the norm now, so not having one is the thing that stands out.
The reason owners keep building is simple: people check you online before they ever contact you. In a 2021 survey, 76% of consumers said they look at a company’s online presence before visiting it in person (Visual Objects, 2021). They are deciding whether you are worth the trip while you have no idea they are looking.
When there is nothing of yours to find
When you have no site of your own, other people fill the space. 98% of consumers read online reviews when choosing a local business (BrightLocal, 2024), and without a site of your own, a stray review, an old directory listing, or a competitor’s page becomes the first thing they see. You do not make the first impression. Someone else makes it for you.
Here is the difference, side by side:
| When someone looks you up | With your own site | With no site of your own |
|---|---|---|
| The first thing they see | Your pages, your words, your photos | A stray review, an old listing, or a competitor |
| Who controls the impression | You do | Whoever posted about you |
| Where new leads come from | Mostly search | Mostly word of mouth |
| What an AI can say about you | It answers from a site it can read | It answers from whatever else it finds, or skips you |
The newer reason: people ask AI now
Search is changing on top of all this. About 1 in 5 Google searches now shows an AI summary, and when that summary appears, people click through to a result only 8% of the time, against 15% when it does not (both figures from Pew Research, July 2025). More people are also starting at an AI tool instead of a search box: 39% of US consumers said they had used generative AI to shop and 53% planned to this year (Adobe, March 2025), and traffic to US retail sites from AI tools grew about 12 times over from mid-2024 to early 2025, though off a small base, so it is growing fast rather than large yet.
Here is the plain version of what that means for you. An assistant can only answer a question about your business from a site it can read. If there is nothing of yours to read, it answers from whatever else it finds, or it leaves you out, and you never learn you were left out. I wrote the deeper version of this in The Art of Being Found.
Who can honestly still wait
One honest note, because the pushback is real. Among businesses with no website, referrals are the top source of new leads: 40% name word of mouth first (Clutch, 2025). For businesses that do have a site, search engines take that top spot instead. Some trades genuinely run on referral, the specialist a few people send everyone to, the subcontractor booked solid by reputation. If that is you, a site is less urgent.
But even a referred customer looks you up before they call. A one-page site that loads fast and says clearly who you are will catch them at that moment. Without one, the referral hands them off to a blank.
What a minimum credible site looks like
You do not need a big site to clear the bar. A credible minimum is:
- One clear line on who you help and what you do for them.
- How to reach you, and where you work, in plain text a person and a search engine can both read.
- A few real photos of your actual work or space, not stock.
- A page that loads fast on a phone and does not make anyone wait.
- The basics of SEO done properly, so you show up when people search for what you offer.
That is enough to stop being invisible. From there you grow it as the business grows.
If you want to see your version before you spend anything, I will build you a free preview of your new site first. Tell me about your business and I will put one together.
Frequently asked questions
Do I still need a website if I already have a Facebook or Instagram page? Social pages help, but you do not control them, and a search engine or an AI cannot always read them the way it reads a site you own. A small site you control is the anchor; social can point to it.
What if all my customers come from word of mouth? Then a site is less urgent, but not skippable. Referred customers still look you up before they call, and if there is nothing of yours to find, that warm lead lands on a competitor or a blank page.
Is a cheap website builder good enough to start? It can clear the minimum bar. A slow rented template can also cost you visitors who leave before it loads, so if you go that route, keep it light and fast and make sure the basics are readable.
How do I know if people can actually find me online? Search your business name, and your main service plus your town, the way a customer would. If a competitor or a stray listing shows up before anything of yours, that is the gap a site closes.
Sources
- Clutch, State of Small Business Websites (2025).
- Visual Objects, 76% of consumers look at online presence before visiting a business (2021).
- BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey (2024).
- Pew Research Center, Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears (2025).
- Adobe, Traffic to US retail websites from generative AI sources jumps (2025).
