Open your website on your phone and imagine you have never heard of the business. Can you answer these questions without having to work at it?
1. Is it clear what you do and where?
“Quality service you can trust” could describe almost anyone. “Boiler repairs and servicing in Malton and the surrounding villages” gives someone something useful straight away.
Put the essentials near the top: what you do, who you help and the area you cover. You can tell the longer story further down.
2. Can I tell whether you are right for me?
A customer may be wondering whether you do small jobs, work at weekends or handle their particular problem. Answer the questions you hear repeatedly on the phone.
Use photographs of your actual work when you have them, explain your process and publish customer feedback only when it is real and you have permission. Label concepts so people understand what they are looking at.
3. Is the next step obvious?
Choose a useful action for each page. An urgent repair might need a phone call. A bespoke project might need a short enquiry. A regular appointment might be ready for a booking link.
Test it with your thumb. Is the button easy to tap? Does it go to the right place? Does a form ask only for information you need at this stage?
4. Does the enquiry reach someone?
A working button is not enough. Check that messages arrive in the right inbox, that replies go back to the customer and that failures are clearly explained. Use an authorised test address when you check.
Tell people when to expect a reply. Then make sure that expectation matches the way you run the business.
5. Will you know what brought in the work?
A simple record can be enough: where the enquiry came from, what the customer wanted and whether it turned into a job. Look for useful patterns over time.
Ten suitable enquiries can be worth more than hundreds of casual visits. Before adding advertising costs, check that your website helps the right people get far enough to contact you.
A small check you can do today.
Ask someone unfamiliar with your business to open the homepage on their phone. Give them thirty seconds, then ask what you do, where you work and how they would enquire. Anything they struggle with is a good place to start.
Ask Tom to review your website