What Should Your Startup's First Website Actually Include?

The Short Answer

Your startup’s first website needs five things: a clear value proposition, a way for visitors to take action, social proof (even minimal), basic credibility signals, and fast load times. Everything else is a distraction at this stage.

The uncomfortable truth: most startup websites have too many pages, too much text, and too few reasons for a visitor to care. Less really is more.

Who This Is For

• First-time founders building their startup’s web presence from scratch
• Pre-launch startups that need a site for investor conversations, hiring, or early users
• Founders who’ve been agonising over their website for weeks instead of launching

Not for you if your website IS the product (that’s an MVP, not a website — see our guide on building an MVP on a £15K budget).

The Essential Elements (Do These First)

1. A Hero Section That Answers “What Is This?”

You have about 5 seconds before a visitor decides to stay or leave. Your hero section needs to answer three questions instantly:

• What do you do? (one sentence)
• Who is it for? (one sentence)
• What should I do next? (one button)

Bad: “Revolutionising the future of synergistic workflow solutions.” Good: “Project management for construction teams. Track every job from quote to completion.”

Don’t be clever. Be clear. The most effective hero sections we’ve built at LiberateWeb are dead simple: a headline, a subheadline, and a CTA button. That’s it.

2. A Single, Clear Call-to-Action

Every page on your site should drive towards one primary action. At launch, that’s usually one of:

• “Join the waitlist” — pre-product, collecting emails
• “Book a demo” — B2B products
• “Start free trial” — if the product is live
• “Get in touch” — service-based startups

One CTA. Not three. Not a “learn more” next to a “sign up” next to a “watch the video.” Pick the one thing you want visitors to do and make it impossible to miss.

3. Social Proof (Even If You’re Brand New)

“But we don’t have customers yet.” You have something. Use it:

• Waitlist numbers: “Join 340+ teams on the waitlist”
• Pilot users: “Currently in pilot with 5 construction firms”
• Founder credentials: “Built by a team with 15 years in construction tech”
• Press mentions: Even a small blog feature counts
• Investor backing: “Backed by [Accelerator Name]” carries weight
• Testimonials from beta users: Even informal quotes work

No social proof at all? Use your founder story. “We built this because we spent 10 years dealing with the problem ourselves” is more credible than fake testimonials.

4. A Brief “How It Works” Section

Three steps. Maybe four. With icons or simple illustrations. This turns your abstract value proposition into something concrete:

1. Sign up and connect your project management tool
2. Our system analyses your job timelines automatically
3. Get real-time alerts when a project falls behind schedule

That’s it. Don’t explain every feature. Explain the journey from “I found this website” to “this is making my life better.”

5. Contact Information That Inspires Confidence

At minimum:

• A contact email (not a generic Gmail — use your domain)
• A contact form
• Your company registration number (if incorporated)
• A physical address or “Based in [City]”

This sounds basic, but you’d be amazed how many startup websites have no way to get in touch. If you’re selling to businesses, add a Calendly link for booking calls directly.

The “Should Have” List (Add Within 30 Days)

About / Story Page

People buy from people, especially at the startup stage. A short about page with:

• Who founded it and why
• A photo (real photo, not stock)
• Your mission in plain English
• Where you’re based

This page builds trust more effectively than any feature list.

Product/Service Detail Page

Once you’re past the hero section hook, some visitors want more detail. A dedicated page covering:

• Key features (3-5, not 15)
• Who it’s for (specific personas)
• Pricing or pricing indication
• Screenshots or mockups

Basic SEO Fundamentals

• Page titles and meta descriptions for every page
• Proper heading hierarchy (one H1 per page)
• Alt text on images
• A sitemap.xml
• Fast load times (under 3 seconds)
• Mobile-responsive design (essential)

You don’t need an SEO strategy on day one. You do need the basics in place so you’re not retrofitting them later.

Analytics

Install one analytics tool before launch. Just one:

• Plausible — privacy-focused, simple, GDPR-friendly (what we use)
• Fathom — similar to Plausible
• Google Analytics 4 — free but complex, privacy concerns

You need to know: how many people visit, where they come from, and what they do. Nothing more at this stage.

The “Not Yet” List (Don’t Build These at Launch)

A Blog With Two Posts

A blog with barely any content signals “we started this and abandoned it.” Either commit to regular publishing (2+ posts per month) or don’t have one at all. A blog can wait until you’ve got product-market fit and a content strategy.

A Careers Page

You’re a 1-3 person startup. You don’t need a careers page. When you’re hiring, link to your job posts on LinkedIn or a simple job board. Add a proper careers section when you have 5+ open roles.

A Detailed Pricing Page

Pre-launch? Don’t publish pricing. Use “Book a call for pricing” or “Starting from £X/month.” Locking in pricing before you’ve talked to 50 potential customers is premature. You’ll change it anyway.

A Complex Multi-Page Site

Five pages maximum at launch. If you’re spending more than 2 weeks building your website, you’re over-building.

Animations and Fancy Interactions

Smooth scroll, parallax, animated counters — they’re nice but they don’t convert. Ship a fast, clean, functional site and add polish later.

Technical Decisions: Keep It Simple

Recommended Approach for Most Startups

If the website IS the marketing site only (product is separate or coming later):

• Framer or Webflow — fast, no-code, good templates
• Or a Next.js template deployed on Vercel — free hosting, fast, professional

If the website and product will live on the same domain:

• Next.js with Tailwind CSS — marketing pages and the app in one codebase
• Supabase for auth and database when you add product features
• Vercel for deployment

Budget:

• Template/builder route: £500-£2K
• Custom-built simple site: £2K-£5K
• Website + MVP product together: £5K-£15K

Hosting Costs (Monthly)

• Vercel free tier: £0 (plenty for a startup site)
• Custom domain: £10-£20/year
• Email (Google Workspace): £5/month
• Analytics (Plausible): £7/month

Your first website should cost under £30/month to run. If someone’s quoting you more, question why.

The Launch Checklist

Before you go live, confirm:

• Hero section clearly states what you do
• Primary CTA is visible above the fold
• Site loads in under 3 seconds
• Mobile responsive (test on a real phone)
• Contact form works and sends to a monitored email
• Basic SEO (titles, descriptions, sitemap)
• Analytics installed
• HTTPS enabled (automatic on Vercel/Netlify)
• Cookie consent if using tracking (GDPR)
• Favicon and Open Graph image set

That’s 10 items. If all 10 are done, launch. Don’t wait for perfection.

Ship It

Your startup’s first website is a tool, not a masterpiece. Its job is to communicate what you do, build enough trust for visitors to take action, and hold up in investor conversations.

Build it in a week. Launch it. Then improve it based on what real visitors actually do, not what you imagine they might want.