Do You Really Need a Website?

A reality-check for cafés, barbers, bakeries & every other “Google-Maps-first” business.

Part of the series: • Overview • Do You Really Need a Website? (you are here) • Taming the Google Maps Wild West • Where Bad Sites Come From • PDF Menus → Microsites • Time-Slot Deals for Any Business • AI-Generated Instant Sites • Curating Google Maps Listings • The Microsite Flywheel • A Freemium Model Owners Trust • Roadmap & Next Steps

1. The “Full-Website Fallacy”

Local owners keep hearing:

“You must have a complete website and an app—otherwise you’ll lose customers!”

Reality:

70 – 80 % of first-time discovery now happens inside Google Maps or social feeds (Meta, TikTok).
Only ~20 % of those users ever click out to a stand-alone website.
Of that 20 %, half drop off in < 5 seconds if the site is slow or not mobile-ready.

Take-away: a massive build is overkill, but zero presence hurts conversion.

2. What Gaps Does Google Maps Leave?

Need	Maps Support	Conversion Risk
Live menus / service lists	❌ Only static photos or user-added text	Guests see outdated prices
Time-slot booking	❌ (unless 3rd-party integrated)	No-shows & lost revenue
The owner’s “story”	❌ Buried in crowdsourced reviews	Brand dilution

For a deep dive into that chaos, read Taming the Google Maps Wild West.

3. Common “Quick Fixes” (and Their Traps)

3.1. PDF & Google-Doc Menus

Pros: fast, printable, free.
Cons: non-indexed by search, zero analytics, awkward on phones.
See how restaurants evolved in PDF Menus → Microsites.

3.2. DIY Builders (Wix, Jimdo)

Pros: cheap starter templates.
Cons: generic, slow, and owners rarely update them.

3.3. No Site at All

Pros: none to build.
Cons: Maps link looks broken; trust plummets.

4. When Do You Need More Than a Microsite?

Question	If “Yes,” Consider Full Site
Do you sell > 20 SKUs online?	e-commerce checkout, inventory sync
Do you run frequent long-form blogs or events?	content CMS
Do you need multi-language deep content?	custom architecture

Otherwise, a fast, mobile-first microsite is enough.

5. The Microsite Sweet Spot

A one-page site that:

Extends Maps data (hours, address) with dynamic sections (menus, booking, coupons).
Loads in < 1 second on 3G.
Can be added to the home screen like an app.
Costs almost nothing to maintain.

See how we auto-generate one in AI-Generated Instant Sites.

6. Decision Checklist

Has my Maps listing converted < 2 % of profile views into visits last month?
Do I rely on time-slot utilization (e.g., off-peak barber seats)? => Pair with Time-Slot Deals for Any Business.
Is my “website” currently a PDF?
Am I paying $$ for a site I never update?

If you tick one or more boxes, start with a microsite and grow only when the data proves you need more.

7. Next Reads in the Series

Taming the Google Maps Wild West – Clean up crowdsourced chaos.
AI-Generated Instant Sites – See the no-code build flow.
A Freemium Model Owners Trust – How we keep the base tier free & ad-free.