Website optimisation for small businesses: 10 tips that bring more customers

1. Make it fast on a phone

Most of your visitors are on a phone, often on mobile data. If your site takes more than a few seconds to load, many of them leave before they see anything. Test your site with Google's free PageSpeed Insights tool. The usual fixes are compressing large images (WebP or AVIF instead of huge JPEGs), removing plugins you don't use, and choosing decent hosting.

2. Design for the thumb first

Open your site on your own phone and try to do what a customer would do: find your prices, book, call. Buttons should be big enough to tap, text readable without zooming, and nothing should spill off the side of the screen.

3. One clear action on every page

Every page should make the next step obvious: Book now, Get a quote, Call us or Shop the collection. If there are five buttons that all look the same, people pick none. Put the main action at the top and repeat it at the bottom.

4. Let people book or buy at any time

If the only way to reach you is a phone call during opening hours, you lose everyone who's browsing at 10pm. Online booking or a simple quote form works for you around the clock.

5. Set up your Google Business Profile properly

For local businesses, the map results often matter more than the website itself. Claim your free Google Business Profile, choose the right category, add real photos and your opening hours, and link it to your website. Then ask happy customers for reviews: it's one of the strongest local signals there is.

6. Write titles that match what people search

Each page needs a clear title and description, because that's what shows up on Google. "Home" tells Google nothing. "Barber in Manchester · Skin fades & beard trims · Book online" tells it exactly who you are. Use the words your customers actually type, including your town or area.

7. Give each service its own page

One page listing everything you do rarely ranks for anything. A dedicated page for each main service ("teeth whitening", "kitchen fitting", "bridal makeup") gives Google a clear answer to each search, and gives visitors exactly what they came for.

8. Show you're real and trustworthy

Real photos of you, your team and your work beat stock photos every time. Add reviews, a few results, clear prices or price ranges, and your contact details. People buy from people, so a short "about the owner" section works surprisingly well.

9. Keep forms short

Every extra field loses you enquiries. For a first contact, name, email or phone and one question are usually enough. You can ask for the rest later.

10. Measure, then improve

Connect Google Search Console (free) to see which searches show your site and which pages Google has indexed, and use simple analytics to see where visitors leave. Change one thing at a time and check the numbers a few weeks later.

Quick checklist

If you tick fewer than five of these, your website is probably losing you customers every week. That's exactly what we fix: see how much a website costs, or browse our results.