A business website should have a job.

For most local businesses, that job is to help the right visitor understand what you do, trust you and take the next step.

If people are visiting your website but not calling, enquiring or booking, start with these three areas.

1. Make the first screen clear

The first part of the page should quickly answer three questions:

• What do you do?
• Who do you help?
• What should the visitor do next?

A visitor should not have to scroll through a long company history before understanding whether they are in the right place.

Use a clear headline, a short supporting message and one obvious primary call to action.

For example:

Local electrician for homes and small businesses in Sydney’s Inner West.

Then give the visitor a clear next step such as Request a Quote or Call Now.

2. Give people reasons to trust you

Once somebody understands the offer, the next question is usually: Why should I choose this business?

Useful trust signals can include:

• customer reviews
• testimonials
• before-and-after examples
• photos of real work
• years of experience
• licences or qualifications where relevant
• clear guarantees or promises you can genuinely stand behind

Do not make people search for proof. Put the strongest evidence close to the parts of the page where they are deciding whether to contact you.

3. Make taking action easy

A good website should remove friction from the enquiry process.

For a local business, that may mean:

• a tap-to-call phone number on mobile
• a short enquiry form
• a clear quote button
• a booking link
• contact details that are easy to find

Avoid giving the visitor too many competing actions at once. One strong primary action is usually easier to follow.

The simple conversion test

Open your website on your phone and pretend you know nothing about the business.

Within a few seconds, can you tell:

• what the business does?
• why you might choose it?
• what to do next?

If any of those answers are unclear, the website is probably losing potential enquiries.

This is the idea behind a Local Lead Website

At Bizi Media, we call this approach a Local Lead Website.

The goal is not to add more pages or more effects. It is to make the customer journey clearer and make it easier for the right person to take action.

You can also read What Does a Good Local Business Website Need? for the wider checklist.

By Michael Harwood
Bizi Media