Corporate website design in Japan – a trusted company site, seen first as a free demo

Start corporate website design with who needs to trust you

The first question in corporate website design is who will actually visit. A company site is read by several audiences at once, and each of them is checking something different. Write those needs down and the pages and priorities fall into place.

• Prospective customers: what you do, whether it fits their problem, how to get in touch
• Partners and suppliers: address, representative, business scope and solid company details
• Job candidates: the work itself, the people, where the company is heading
• Banks, authorities and media: history, licenses and a clear contact point
• Overseas customers and partners: an English overview of the business and a way to reach you

You do not need to serve every audience equally. Choose the one result you want most – new inquiries, applications or partner confidence – and the home page almost designs itself.

What makes a corporate site feel trustworthy

After a meeting or a sales email, the other side will almost certainly open your website. These points shape their first impression:

• Company details (registered name, address, representative, founding year, business) are easy to find
• The first screen of the home page says in one sentence what the company does
• It reads well on a phone, and the contact button is easy to reach
• News and examples carry recent dates, so the company clearly is active
• Photos show your real office, products and people alongside any stock images
• The site runs on HTTPS with no browser warnings

A site that has not been updated for years, breaks on mobile or lists only a phone number quietly loses opportunities. If that describes your current site, see corporate website renewal.

The pages a company website needs

It works best to launch with the essential pages done well and grow the site from there. A typical corporate site includes:

• Home: key message, strengths, entry points to services and a clear path to contact
• Business and services: who you serve, what you provide, how it works, FAQs
• Company profile and message from the CEO: basic facts, history, access, values
• News or articles: announcements and insights that also bring visitors from search
• Careers: open roles, the work and how to apply
• Contact: a form with topics to choose from and an expected reply time
• Privacy policy: required once a form collects personal information

If hiring is a priority, a dedicated recruiting website can do more than a single careers page. If you sell to other companies, the approach in B2B website design – clear process pages and download offers – helps turn visits into inquiries. And if you work with overseas partners, plan the English version from the start; adding it later takes more effort.

How the project runs and what to prepare

A company site of around ten pages typically launches in one to two months. The steps:

• Goals and audiences: decide who the site is for and what they should do
• Structure: agree on the page list and what goes on each page
• Design: set the direction on the home page using your logo and colors, then roll it out
• Copy and photos: business overview, CEO message, company profile and real photos
• Build and checks: mobile view, form delivery, speed, typos
• Launch and tracking: Search Console and GA4, so you can see where inquiries come from

Things that speed it up: logo files, your company brochure or sales deck, photos of the office and products, domain details and two or three sites you like. Register the domain and GA4 in your company's name so you stay in control later. The most common delay is copy, so start drafting the CEO message and business overview early.

Typical corporate website costs in Japan

Cost depends on page count, how custom the design is, whether you need a CMS and how many languages you publish in. As a general guide in the Japanese market:

• Small template-based site: from a few hundred thousand yen
• Custom design, about 10–20 pages: roughly 500,000 to 1,500,000 yen
• Large sites with several languages, member areas or many pages: 2,000,000 yen and up
• After launch: hosting and domain, plus a monthly fee if you outsource updates and maintenance

When comparing quotes, check whether copywriting and photography are included, whether your team can update the site itself and whether the English version includes translation. Some companies can use subsidies such as the Small Business Sustainability Subsidy. Some programs exclude a website build on its own, and eligible costs, limits and rates change with each round, so always check the latest official guidelines.

How UNANOBO builds corporate sites: Japanese and English, free demo first

Before you commit to anything, UNANOBO builds a free demo of your corporate site based on your logo, colors and business. You open it on a computer and a phone and decide whether to go ahead once it feels right as the face of your company.

The process is free demo, feedback, launch, growth. The founder handles every project personally, so you keep one contact from the first demo to improvements after launch. Everything runs by message in Japanese or English, which makes it simple to prepare an English version for overseas partners in the same project. If you plan more languages, see multilingual website design.