Small Business Website Guide for Puerto Rico

A customer messages you on Facebook at ten at night to ask if you're open Saturday. Another one tells you they searched for you on Google and couldn't find you. You know you "should have a website," but you're not sure what goes on it, how long it takes, or what happens after it's built.

This guide puts all of that in one place. If you're starting from zero, read it top to bottom. If you already have a site and something isn't working, jump to your section: the pages you need, language, domain and email, Google Maps, timing, and what it costs to keep running. At the end there's a short plan for this week, whether you hire someone or not.

The short answer: what your business website needs

A small business website needs five things: what you do, where you are, when you're open, what it costs (or your menu), and one clear button to message or call you. On top of that, it needs your own domain, a business email, and your Google Maps listing connected to it. Everything else is extra.

With that in place, someone who finds you on Google at ten at night gets their answer without having to message you. And the people who do message you already know the basics, so the conversation goes straight to the appointment, the order, or the quote.

What pages you need

A lot of owners think a website has to be big. For most businesses here in Puerto Rico, it doesn't. One well-made page that reads well on a phone can hold everything your customers are looking for.

What it can't be missing:

Your business name and, in one line, what you do and in which town.
Your hours, exactly the same as on Google Maps.
Your address, with a map that opens in Google Maps or Waze (a navigation app many drivers here use).
Prices, your menu, or your services, written as text and not as a blurry photo.
Real photos of your place, your work, or your food.
A button to call you and another to message you on WhatsApp.

When you have several services to explain, or customers looking for different things, more pages start to make sense. An auto repair shop might have one page per service. A contractor might have one with before-and-after photos and another listing the towns they cover. A restaurant almost always needs an easy-to-read menu more than it needs lots of pages.

What about a blog? You don't need one to start. Get the basics right first.

If your menu is a photo On a phone, people have to zoom in to read a menu photo, and many won't bother. Put your menu on your website as text. When a price changes, you change one line.

Spanish, English, or both?

It depends on who buys from you. If your customers are local and speak Spanish, a Spanish site works. If you get tourists, visitors from the States, or customers who prefer English, a site in both languages leaves no one out.

If you go bilingual, do it properly. Each language should have its own address: for example, Spanish at the main address and English under /en/. Google recommends using a different address for each language instead of switching the text based on the browser's language, so it can find both versions and show the right one.

And make the English sound like English. A word-for-word translation is easy to spot, the same way people here can tell when Spanish wasn't written by someone from the island.

Your domain and business email

Your domain is your website's address (yourbusiness.com). It comes with a business email: info@yourbusiness.com instead of a Gmail or Hotmail address. When you send a quote to a new customer, that address tells them you're an established business.

Pick a short name you can say out loud and spell over the phone without confusion. If the .com you want is already taken, try adding your town to the name (caguasbakery.com) before inventing an odd spelling.

More important than the name is knowing who holds the domain. It happens more than you'd think: an owner finds out the domain is in the name of whoever built the site only when that person stops answering. Before you start with anyone, ask whose name the domain is registered under, and get it in writing that the domain, site and email move to your name if you leave.

Here's how it works with Esensee: while you're on the plan, we register it all and take care of it. If you cancel and owe nothing, the domain, site, email and Google listing move to your name. A domain you already owned stays in your name.

Google Maps and your website work together

When someone searches "barbershop in Bayamón" or your business name, the first thing they often see is your Google Maps listing: hours, photos, reviews, and a button that goes to your website. Make sure that button goes to your current site.

To show up on Google Search and Maps, you need to claim your business and verify your Google Business Profile. From that same profile you can add your website, change your hours, and add up to two more phone numbers, according to Google's help pages.

What confuses customers most is when Google says one thing and your site says another. Check that your name, address, phone and hours match in both places. And when you close for a holiday, update Google too.

Keep your Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp

Your website doesn't replace your social media. Facebook and Instagram are where people see what's new, and WhatsApp is where they message you. Your website is where the things that don't change every week live: what you do, where you are, your hours and your prices.

Your site links to your social media, and your social media links back to your site. So when someone messages you asking for your address, you send the link and you're done. A WhatsApp button on your site, with a first message already written ("Hi, I saw your website and I'd like an appointment"), makes reaching you one tap.

How long it takes

Building the site itself doesn't take that long. What usually sets the pace is gathering your information: photos, prices or menu, hours, services, and how you want people to contact you.

With Esensee, a site is live in about two weeks once we have your photos and info. If you want to get ahead, start today: take ten good photos with your phone, in daylight, of your place, your work, and your people at work. Write your hours and your price list in a note. That's half the job.

What it costs to build and run

A website has two costs: building it, once, and keeping it running, every month or every year. Keeping it running covers the domain (it renews every year), the place your site lives online (hosting), your email, and the changes you'll need along the way. When you compare prices, ask what each part includes, and who makes changes later.

Here are Esensee's plans, so you have real numbers:

Starter, from $499: a one-page site, domain, 2 emails, and Google Maps.
Business, from $1,200: up to 6 pages, in Spanish and English, 5 emails, and Google email (business email that runs on Google).
Custom, by quote: online orders, bookings, or moving an old site.

On top of that, a monthly plan covers hosting, email, and small changes. We'll tell you the amount on the call, based on your plan. There's no long-term contract: it's month to month, and you can cancel anytime with 30 days' notice. See all the details in our plans and prices.

Changes later: who makes them

A website isn't something you build once and forget. You change prices, close for a holiday, add a service. If every change depends on someone who doesn't answer, the site goes stale and people stop trusting it.

Before you start, ask how changes are requested and how long they take. With Esensee, small changes like hours, prices and photos are included in the monthly plan: you send us a text and we make them. Bigger changes, like a new page, are quoted separately.

A plan for this week

Even if you don't hire anyone yet, you can do all of this in a week:

Search for your business on Google and Google Maps from your phone, like a customer would. Note what's wrong or missing.
If you haven't claimed your Google Business Profile, claim it and verify it.
Take ten photos in daylight.
Write your hours, your services, and your prices or menu in a note.
Decide whether your site will be in Spanish, English, or both, based on who buys from you.
If you already have a domain, find out whose name it's in.

Once you have that, whoever builds your site will work faster. If you'd like it to be Esensee, book a free 30-minute call, in English or Spanish, and we'll tell you what you need and what it costs. No pressure.

Questions

Is a one-page website enough for my business?

For many businesses, yes. If it has your hours, address, prices or menu, photos, and a button to message you, it covers what most people are looking for. More pages make sense when you have lots of different services to explain.

Do I need a website if I already have Facebook and Instagram?

Yes, and you keep your social media. People Google you before they visit, and what shows up is your website and your Google Maps listing. Your website puts the basics up front, on your own domain; your social media is still where you show what's new.

How long until my website is ready?

With Esensee, about two weeks once we have your photos and info. Having your photos, hours and prices ready from the start speeds things up the most.

Who owns the domain?

Always ask before you start, and get the answer in writing. With Esensee, while you're on the plan we register it; if you cancel and owe nothing, the domain, site, email and Google listing move to your name. A domain you already owned stays in your name.

The small business website guide for Puerto Rico