Straight answers about getting your business online.
Most advice about small business websites is written by someone hoping to sell you one. These are researched, sourced, and useful whether or not you ever use Sonara.
Costs
What a small business website actually costs in 2026
Real prices for every route — builder, freelancer, agency — including the recurring costs nobody quotes and the plan tier that's higher than the one advertised.
Getting online
Do you still need a website if you're on Instagram?
An honest look, including the two things that changed in the last year which make the case for social stronger — and the one risk that outweighs all of it.
Building it
What to actually put on a small business website
Most visitors decide in under five minutes, comparing three businesses. Here's what they check, in order — and what makes them rule you out.
Getting found
How to get your business to show up on Google
What Google actually documents, what testing supports, and the popular tactics that measurably do nothing. Sourced and labelled, so you can tell the difference.
Reviews
How to get more Google reviews (without breaking the rules)
Google reviews win trust and help you rank — but incentives and review gating are now banned. What works, what’s illegal, and the numbers, sourced.
Pricing
How to price your services — and whether to show prices
How to set prices for a service business — and the honest data on whether to show them, since unclear pricing is the #2 reason customers walk.
Bookings
Online booking for a small business: how it works and what it costs
What online booking costs in 2026 — Calendly, Acuity and Square compared — plus how it works and what actually cuts no-shows.
Payments
How to accept payments as a small business, online and in person
Current 2026 card fees for Square, Stripe, PayPal and Shopify, read off each vendor’s own page — plus the surprise fees, deposits, and how to choose.
Getting started
How to choose a business name — and lock down the domain and handles
Pick a business name that lasts, then lock it down: the domain, your state registry, a USPTO trademark search and the handles — using the official tools.
How to get a professional email address for your business
A [email protected] address, minus the jargon: why it matters, real 2026 prices for Google, Microsoft and Zoho, and the setup traps to avoid.
Getting customers
Where local customers actually come from
Where local customers really come from in 2026 — backed by BrightLocal data — and a sensible order of effort for a busy one-person business.
AI search
How to show up when customers ask ChatGPT for a recommendation
Customers are asking ChatGPT and Gemini for recommendations. What actually changed, what the data really says, and the free work that helps.
A website for your business, in minutes
Describe what you do. Sonara writes it, designs it, and puts it live — with bookings and enquiries already working.
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