Website Conversion Audit: 25 Checks Before More Ads

Before buying more traffic, it is worth checking whether the site turns the traffic you already have into inquiries. Doubling ad spend on a page that converts poorly doubles the cost of the same result.

This is a 25-point audit of the whole path — not a judgement about whether the site looks modern. A dated site with a clear message and a working form will out-earn a beautiful one that buries the phone number.

Work through it on a phone, on mobile data, as a stranger. That is the actual conditions.

Message

1. Clear headline. Can a first-time visitor tell what you do within a few seconds? "Trusted solutions for modern business" fails. "Emergency plumbing across Sheffield, usually within the hour" passes.

2. Clear service. Is the specific work named? Visitors scanning for their exact problem will not translate "property maintenance solutions" into "you fix leaking taps".

3. Clear customer. Is it obvious who this is for — homeowners or commercial, businesses or consumers? Ambiguity makes everyone hesitate.

4. Clear location where relevant. For anything local, the area should be visible without scrolling. The first question is always "do you cover me?"

5. Strong CTA. One primary action, phrased as what happens next. "Get a quote" beats "Learn more". Repeated at sensible intervals, not once at the bottom.

Trust

6. Reviews. Visible on the site, not only on your profile. Real ones, attributed.

7. Testimonials. Specific beats glowing. "They found the leak in twenty minutes after two other firms couldn't" does more than "Excellent service, highly recommended".

8. Real business information. Company name, a real address or service area, a phone number, registration details where applicable. Anonymity reads as risk.

9. Work examples. Photos of your actual work, or brief case notes. For trades, before-and-after does more than any copy.

10. Credentials where relevant. Certifications, insurance, memberships, accreditations — where they genuinely matter to the decision.

User journey

11. Simple navigation. Can someone find your services in one click? Clever menu labels cost you visitors.

12. Service pages. A real page per service, not one combined list. People search for the specific thing.

13. Mobile CTA. A tap-to-call button or sticky contact bar on mobile, always reachable. Most local service traffic is mobile and often urgent.

14. Contact information. Phone and email visible without hunting. A contact form as the only route loses people who want to call now.

15. No unnecessary friction. No interstitials before the content, no cookie wall obscuring the phone number, no chat widget covering the CTA on a small screen.

Forms

16. Correct number of fields. Ask only what you need to respond. Every extra required field costs completions. Name, contact, and what they need is usually enough.

17. Useful confirmation state. After submitting, does the page say what happens next and when? A silent reload leaves people wondering whether it worked — and resubmitting.

18. Error handling. Are errors shown inline, next to the field, in plain language? Does the form preserve what was typed? A form that clears itself on error loses that person.

19. Mobile usability. Correct keyboard types for phone and email fields, tappable targets, no zooming required, no fixed elements covering the submit button.

Performance

20. Mobile loading. Test on a real phone on mobile data, not desktop broadband. Slow sites lose people before they see anything.

21. Layout stability. Does content jump while loading? Shifting layouts cause mis-taps and people leave.

22. Images. Properly sized and compressed, in modern formats, with dimensions set so they do not cause shifts. Oversized hero images are the most common single cause of slow mobile pages.

Tracking

23. Form tracking. Is a submission recorded as an event tied to the page and source? Without this you cannot tell which pages produce inquiries.

24. Phone click tracking. Is a tap on the phone number recorded? For most service businesses calls outnumber forms, and untracked calls make the site look like it converts far worse than it does.

25. Booking tracking. If you use a booking tool, does a completed booking register as a conversion — including when it happens on a third-party domain?

Scoring

Score each point 0, 1, or 2: 0 not present, 1 present but weak, 2 solid. Maximum 50.

Score	Reading
40–50	The site is doing its job. More traffic is a reasonable next spend
30–39	Fixable gaps. Address them before increasing budget
20–29	The site is losing a meaningful share of visitors. Fix first
Under 20	More traffic will mostly be wasted. Start here

Score the sections separately too. A site scoring well on message and trust but badly on tracking has a measurement problem, not a conversion problem — and the two need very different work.

Before spending more on ads

Three questions worth answering honestly:

Do you know your current conversion rate? If not, that is the first fix. You cannot tell whether more traffic is worth buying without knowing what the existing traffic does.

Do you know which pages produce inquiries? Often it is not the ones people expect. Service pages and area pages usually outperform the homepage for paid traffic.

Do you know what happens to an inquiry after it arrives? This is where most of the loss sits, and it is invisible in website analytics.

What happens after the form is submitted

The audit does not end at the submit button. The conversion path continues into your business, and this is where a well-optimised site still loses work:

• Does the submission create a CRM record, or only an email?
• Does it capture lead source, so you can tell which spend produced it?
• Is a named person notified, or a shared inbox?
• How long until a human responds? See speed to lead.
• What happens if the assigned person does not respond?
• Is there follow-up if the prospect goes quiet?
• Can you report inquiries through to booked work by source?

A site can convert well and the business still lose the work, because the inquiry sat in an inbox for two days. If you are auditing conversion, audit that gap too — it is usually larger than anything on the page.

Printable checklist

Message — headline · service · customer · location · CTA Trust — reviews · testimonials · business info · work examples · credentials Journey — navigation · service pages · mobile CTA · contact info · friction Forms — field count · confirmation · errors · mobile usability Performance — mobile load · layout stability · images Tracking — forms · phone clicks · bookings

After submission — CRM record · source captured · named owner notified · response time measured · escalation defined · follow-up runs · reporting to booked work

Website & Landing Page Design & DevelopmentWe look at the whole path — page, form, tracking, and what happens to the inquiry afterwards.→

Related reading: Landing Page vs Website for Paid Traffic and Call Tracking for Service Businesses.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good conversion rate?

It varies far too much by industry, traffic source, and intent for a benchmark to be useful. Your own rate over time is the number that matters — measure it, change one thing, measure again.

Should we redesign or fix specific issues?

Fix specific issues first. They are cheaper, faster, and they tell you what is actually wrong. A redesign informed by that evidence is a much better project than one driven by the feeling that the site looks dated.

How do we test on mobile properly?

On a real phone, on mobile data, not on a desktop browser resized. Emulators miss slow connections, touch targets that are too small, and keyboards covering the submit button.

Which of the 25 matters most?

For most service businesses: the mobile CTA, form field count, and phone click tracking. Those three produce disproportionate change, and the third one changes what all your other numbers mean.

Can we do this ourselves?

Yes — most of it is observation rather than technical work. The tracking checks need someone who can look at your analytics setup. Do the observational ones first; they usually find enough to work on.

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Send us your website and we will identify the first three issues worth fixing — get in touch.