Small Business Website Toolkit

    Plan your website, compare providers, choose the right platform and make sure your business stays in control of what it pays for.

    Free · No email required · 9 practical resources

    Plan Your Website

    Define what the website needs to accomplish before you start asking for quotes.

    Guide

    Before You Hire a Web Designer

    The complete starting point for planning, comparing and buying a small-business website.

    Read the Buyer Guide

    What Pages Does a Small Business Website Need?

    There's no universal page count. A practical way to decide your sitemap based on your business model, services and customer questions.

    Small Business Website Planning Checklist

    Everything to sort out before you contact a web designer: goals, content, features, brand assets, technical access and more.

    What to Give Your Web Designer

    The materials that keep a website project on schedule: business information, brand assets, copy, photos, proof and technical access.

    Choose the Right Approach

    Work out what to ask a provider and which platform actually fits your requirements.

    Buyer Tools

    20 Questions to Ask a Web Designer

    The questions that reveal whether a provider actually understands your business, your scope and your ownership rights, before you sign anything.

    See the QuestionsPrintable version included

    WordPress vs Wix vs Squarespace vs Shopify vs Custom

    Provider choice and technology choice are two separate decisions. A requirements-based comparison of the major platforms, not a popularity contest.

    Compare What You're Actually Buying

    Website proposals can use the same labels for very different scopes. Compare the work before comparing the price.

    Worksheet

    How to Compare Website Design Quotes

    Website proposals can use the same labels for very different scopes. Compare the work before comparing the price.

    Compare QuotesPrintable version included

    Small Business Website Budget Planner

    Stop asking what a website costs and start calculating what it will cost you to own for three years.

    Protect What You Pay For

    Know who controls the domain, the code, the accounts, and what a clean handover looks like.

    Checklist

    Website Ownership & Handover

    "Do I own my website?" is too broad a question. Find out who actually controls each part of it, and what a clean handover requires.

    See the ChecklistPrintable version included

    Choosing or managing your domain? Read the Small Business Domain Guide.

    Planning a website for your business?

    Vortio helps Canadian businesses plan, design and build websites around real business goals.

    Start the Conversation