Grade your own website against this list. Honestly. Each item exists because its absence costs real enquiries. None of them require anything exotic; they require someone caring about the details.
1. A phone number you can tap. At the top
Most local searches happen on phones, often mid-problem. If calling you takes more than one tap from the first screen, you're losing the people most ready to buy.
2. Plain words about what you do and where
'Comprehensive solutions for all your property needs' tells Google and humans nothing. 'Emergency plumber serving St Albans and Watford' wins twice: customers relax, and search engines finally know what to rank you for.
3. A page per service
One 'Services' page listing everything is a ranking dead end. Separate pages. Boiler repairs, rewires, roof repair. Each match the specific searches people make. This is where most of local SEO actually lives.
4. Your real photos
Everyone recognizes stock photos, and recognition reads as fakery. Phone photos of your actual team, van and work, even imperfect ones. Outperform glossy stock because they prove you exist.
5. Reviews, visible
Don't make visitors go hunting on Google for proof. Put real reviews on the site. And have a system that keeps new ones coming, with our clients, automated review requests are part of the package, so the proof stays fresh without anyone remembering to ask.
6. Mobile-first, genuinely
Not 'shrinks to fit a phone'. Designed for a phone: thumb-sized buttons, readable text without zooming, forms you can complete one-handed in a car park.
7. Speed
Slow sites bleed visitors before they load. People hit back and tap the next result. Oversized images and bloated themes are the usual culprits. If your site feels slow on your own phone, it's slower on your customers'.
8. A form for the quiet hours
Plenty of people research at night and won't call. A short form. Name, contact, what do you need. Catches them. Short is the keyword: every extra field loses people.
9. Trust signals where decisions happen
License numbers, insurance, guarantees, years in business, areas served. Near the buttons, not buried on an About page. People check these right before they commit.
10. Someone maintaining it
A website with last year's prices and a dead contact form is worse than none. It actively tells customers you don't notice details. If nobody owns the upkeep, that's the first thing to fix; it's the entire reason fully managed plans exist.
Scored 7 or less? Get a free concept of what your site should look like, no obligation, no obligation: buzz-connect.com/contact
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