How to get web design clients: businesses with no website
Auspector ·
In the 30 days to October 24, 2026, 148,618 of the 308,281 new business records in the United States carried no web address at all, 5,550 only a social media profile and 15,862 only a booking or platform page; in the United Kingdom the figures were 25,099, 1,827 and 574 of 56,553. Those are three different pools, and each needs a different offer.
Three pools, not one
“No website of its own” covers three different situations in our records, and each needs its own pitch:
- No web address at all. The record has a name, a category, an address and often a phone number, but no web address of any kind.
- A social media profile only. A social profile does not count as a website in our records, so these records count as having no website.
- A booking or platform page only. A booking, appointment or ordering page, or a directory or marketplace listing. It counts as website information, but it is not the business’s own site.
| Country | New records | No web address | Social profile only | Booking or platform page only |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 308,281 | 148,618 (48.2%) | 5,550 (1.8%) | 15,862 (5.1%) |
| United Kingdom | 56,553 | 25,099 (44.4%) | 1,827 (3.2%) | 574 (1.0%) |
| Canada | 46,812 | 20,624 (44.1%) | 1,309 (2.8%) | 383 (0.8%) |
| Australia | 26,622 | 10,613 (39.9%) | 857 (3.2%) | 761 (2.9%) |
In every market in the table, the first pool is by far the largest. The second and third pools are a small share of new records, but the established database holds far more of them: across all US records, 385,638 carry only a social profile and 1,100,018 only a booking or platform page, most of them lodging. One credit opens one newly opened business or 5 established ones (pricing), so the older pool costs less per record.
Which sectors?
| Sector | United States | United Kingdom |
|---|---|---|
| Auto repair shops | 185,297 (48.1%) | 29,906 (48.2%) |
| Hair and beauty salons | 273,332 (44.8%) | 87,775 (52.4%) |
| Construction companies | 213,981 (40.0%) | 40,520 (37.5%) |
| Real estate agencies | 190,866 (26.1%) | 4,754 (16.3%) |
| Restaurants | 141,715 (20.4%) | 19,169 (19.4%) |
| Cafés | 20,592 (18.4%) | 15,065 (30.7%) |
Relative to their size, records with a phone but no website information are most common among auto repair shops and hair and beauty salons in the United States, and among hair and beauty salons and auto repair shops in the United Kingdom. Market totals are in businesses without a website; how often new records carry their own website, across 30 countries, in how many new businesses have a website; and the picture for all businesses in the share of businesses with a website.
What to offer each pool
No web address: a first site. One page that answers what customers ask in the first week — what the business does, where it is, opening hours, a phone number that dials on tap, prices or a menu, a few photos — plus the domain and an email address on it. Sell it as a package with a fixed scope and a launch date.
Social profile only: a home of their own. They already post and have followers. Pitch what the profile cannot do: their own domain, a page that comes up when someone searches for their service and town, hours and prices in one place, and a contact or booking route that does not depend on one platform’s rules. Build the mock-up from photos and wording they already publish.
Booking or platform page only: a site in front of it. They take bookings or orders through a platform and may be happy with it. Don’t pitch a replacement. Offer a site that keeps the booking or ordering link and adds what a listing cannot hold: their story, their photos, their own address on the web, a direct line for regular customers.
How to approach them
- Check first. An empty website field means no website is on the record, not proof that the business has none. Search the name and town before you call; if a site turns up, the pitch becomes a redesign — or the lead drops out.
- Bring a mock-up. One phone-sized screen with their name, hours and a photo, made in under an hour, says more than a portfolio. Don’t build the whole site on spec.
- Call or visit. Show the mock-up on your phone. Restaurants and salons are easiest to visit outside their busy hours.
- Timing. Around an opening, signage, price lists and menus get made; a website belongs on the same list. Save the search and new matches arrive by email every day.
Rules for unsolicited calls and messages differ sharply between countries, and the obligation sits with you as the sender; check your own jurisdiction before you start. For the call itself, see our cold call script for new businesses.
The search
“Phone number on record” plus “no website on record”, narrowed by category and city, arrived in the last 30 days. That returns the first two pools together, because a record whose only web address is a social profile shows an empty website field. The third pool sits among records with website information: the website field holds the platform page’s address.