Website Foundations & Best Practices for Dive Businesses
The goal is simple:
Help people find your business online
Make it easy to understand what you offer
Give customers a clear, frictionless way to book
You don’t need a complex website — just the right pages, structured well, with booking placed in the right spots.
Recommended Website Navigation
We recommend keeping your main navigation simple and clear:
Main Navigation
Home
Activities
Tours
Courses
Trips
(these can be dropdowns or a single activities page)
About
Location
Contact
This structure:
Matches how customers search
Makes it easy to explore and book
Keeps your site easy to manage
Footer Structure (Often Overlooked, Very Important)
Your footer should include:
The same links as your main navigation
Phone number
Business address or meeting location
Optional footer items:
Social media links
Policies or waivers
Secondary pages you don’t want in the top navigation
Why this matters:
Visitors often scroll to the bottom looking for contact info
Search engines use footer details as a trust signal
Recommended Page Structures
Below are best practices for structuring each core page on your site.
Homepage Structure
Your homepage should quickly answer:
Where am I? What can I book? How do I book?
Recommended Sections
Header / Hero Section
Business name
Location-based tagline
(e.g. “Scuba Diving in Destin, Florida”)Primary CTA:
View All Activities or Book Now
This button should open your Activity Gallery (recommended)
Activities Overview
Sections for Tours, Courses, and/or Trips
orFeatured activities
Location Section
Where you’re based
Harbor or meeting area
Why your location is special
About Preview
Short intro about your business
Team or mission highlights
Testimonials or Reviews
Google reviews or short quotes
Visual Content
Images or short video (optional but powerful)
Footer
Navigation links
Contact details
Activities Pages (Tours, Courses, Trips)
You can structure activities in two common ways — both work well.
Option 1: One Page per Category (Most Common)
Example pages:
Scuba Tours
Courses
Trips
Recommended Structure
Header with page title
View All button (opens Activity Gallery)
One section per activity:
Image
Activity title
Short description
Book Now button (single activity)
Key info (location, duration, experience)
This works well when you want customers to scroll, compare, and book easily.
Option 2: One Page per Activity
Best for:
Courses
Trips
Activities with lots of details or requirements
Recommended Structure
Header with activity title + Book Now
Description and imagery
Key details (duration, requirements, location)
Second Book Now button
Optional: visual booking calendar embedded lower on the page
FAQs or waivers below
About Page Structure
The About page builds trust.
Recommended Sections
Header with a short headline
Images of the team or operation
Who you are
Your approach, values, or mission
Keep it authentic and visual — it doesn’t need to be long.
Location Page Structure
Many customers look specifically for where you’re located.
Recommended Sections
Header: “Location” or “Find Us”
Address and meeting point
Map or directions
Parking or check-in notes
Harbor or boat departure info
This page reduces confusion and booking hesitation.
Contact Page Structure
Make it easy for people to reach you.
Recommended Sections
Header with “Contact Us”
Phone number (clearly visible)
Contact form (sent to your business email)
Location details (if helpful)
We recommend using Buddy Booking for:
Activity browsing
Live availability
Booking and checkout
Use:
Activity Galleries for browsing
Single Activity Book Now buttons for direct booking
For step-by-step installation and embed options, see:
Embeddable Widgets
Embeddable Widgets with Squarespace
FAQ: What Do I Need Before Building My Website?
FAQ: What Do I Need Before Building My Website?
If you’re preparing to build (or rebuild) your website with Buddy, here’s the minimum setup we recommend before you start.
You don’t need everything perfect — just these basics in place.
What’s the minimum setup you recommend?
At a minimum, we suggest having the following:
A domain name
A business email
A website account
A Google Business Profile
Social profiles (Instagram + Facebook)
A simple, versatile logo
1. Domain Name (Your Website Address)
Your domain is your website URL (for example: yourbusinessname.com).
We recommend:
Purchasing your domain directly from GoDaddy
Choosing the closest available match to your business name
You’ll use this domain for:
Your website
Your business email
Your Google Business Profile
2. Business Email (Highly Recommended)
We recommend creating a professional business email like:
How to do this:
Use Google Workspace
You’ll need your domain name first
Google Workspace is Gmail, but branded with your domain instead of
@gmail.com
This email should be used for:
Website contact forms
Customer communication
Booking confirmations
Account logins (Squarespace, Google, social profiles)
3. Website Account
Once you have:
A domain
A business email
You can create your website.
We recommend:
Squarespace (simple, reliable, easy to manage)
You can connect your domain to Squarespace and follow the page structure and best practices outlined above.
4. Google Business Profile (Very Important)
A Google Business Profile helps people find you when they search on Google or Google Maps.
This is where:
Your business location appears
Customers can leave reviews
People get directions and contact info
You’ll need:
Your business email
Your website
Your business address or service area
Once verified, this becomes one of your most powerful discovery tools.
5. Social Profiles (Basic Presence)
We recommend creating:
Instagram
Facebook
You don’t need to post constantly — just make sure your business exists and is easy to find.
Use:
Your business email
Your website link
Consistent branding
6. A Simple, Versatile Logo
You’ll use your logo everywhere:
Website
Email
Google Business Profile
Instagram & Facebook
Booking platforms
We recommend having:
A square version (for websites, Facebook)
A circular version (for Instagram, Google)
A simple, clear design that’s readable at small sizes
This doesn’t need to be fancy — clarity matters more than complexity.
In Short
Before building your website with Buddy, aim to have:
✅ Domain name
✅ Business email
✅ Website account
✅ Google Business Profile
✅ Instagram + Facebook
✅ A clear, reusable logo
Once those are in place, everything else — pages, content, booking, and embeds — becomes much easier.