The most important 'component' of a business website is simple - Call To Action.

It is an important and popular fact that a person is smart, but people are stupid. They need to be led. So, a website has to lead the customer to the sale, whatever the 'sale' is. Calls to action can be things like 'Call Now', 'Buy Now', or 'Visit our Location', among other things.

Besides calls to action, there has to be a reason for them to take action. We call this 'The Offer', which is part of the M.O.T. method of marketing. 'M' is for your Market, or your customer base. 'T' is for Traffic, which is either online or in-store. If your business is not making money while your competitors are, one of these things is off.

This is not to diminish other elements of web design or overall marketing - each component is vital to a well-oiled marketing machine, so don't go thinking that with MOT you've got this down. Great web design is a combination of style, layout, navigation and 'flow'. It requires SEO to get ranked in Google, where 90% of your traffic will come from. Highlight your main products or services, keep up with your competitors and make sure your Offer is better in one way or another - then capitalize on that Offer.

Here is a great example: when I lived in Florida years ago, there were 2 major Wine/Liquor outlets competing hard against each other. When their competitor bought a Billboard right outside one of their main outlets, they got mad - then they got creative.

They bought a billboard right above theirs and advertised the phrase "high prices are totally beneath us". They had double business in a month.

Food for thought.