What we check — and why it matters

The main heading on your page — the largest piece of text visitors read first — is also the strongest signal you send Google about what your business does. If it just says your business name, or something generic like 'Welcome', Google can't tell whether you're a plumber, a solicitor, or a florist — and it won't show you to the right people.

Most business websites open with "Welcome to ABC Builders" or "Quality You Can Trust." These tell a visitor nothing useful. The first thing someone reads on your page has about three seconds to answer the question they're silently asking: "Can these people help me?"

Anyone can say they're experienced or professional — those words are free. Numbers are harder to fake and immediately more convincing. "200 bathrooms fitted" or "12 years trading" tells a visitor something real about you.

If someone lands on your page and sees three different buttons — Call Us, Get a Quote, Learn More — they'll often click none of them. Give people one obvious next step and more of them will take it. If your page has only one button anywhere, that's fine — this rule is about competing options, not button count.

"Contact Us" tells someone nothing about what they're signing up for. Will someone call them? Do they have to fill in a long form? Will they wait three weeks for a response? A specific button removes that uncertainty and makes clicking feel safe.

Visitors arrive with a problem, not a shopping list. If your page goes straight into listing what you offer, you've skipped the part where they feel understood. A sentence or two that names their frustration before you describe your solution makes everything else land harder.

You saying you're good means very little. A customer saying it means everything. People trust other people's experiences more than any amount of marketing — especially for a business they've never used before.

"Great service, highly recommend" is so generic it washes over people. A quote that names a specific job, result, or experience is far more believable — because it sounds like a real person talking about a real job. We only check this if Rule 7 passes — if there are no customer quotes on your page at all, this rule is skipped.

If someone searches for a roofer in Chichester and lands on your site but can't immediately see that you cover Chichester, they'll leave. Stating your area clearly also helps Google show you to the right people. If you serve customers nationally or online rather than locally, clearly stating who you serve ('for UK tradespeople', 'serving businesses across the UK') also passes this rule.

If you offer five services at equal prominence, visitors have to work out what you actually do. A page that leads with one clear main offer is easier to understand — and easier to act on.

Stock photos of smiling tradespeople or generic tools look fake and signal low effort. Photos of your actual work — even taken on a phone — are more convincing because they're real proof of what you deliver. Note: we can't always tell from a scan whether photos are real or stock — if we can't confirm either way, we'll flag it as something to check manually.

Most people want to know if you're roughly in their budget before they bother getting in touch. Even a "from £X" figure filters out bad fits and reassures good ones — and stops you wasting time on enquiries that were never going to go anywhere.

How people expect to contact you depends on what you do. If you're a plumber or electrician, someone in a crisis needs to call you immediately — a phone number at the top of the page is non-negotiable. If you're a solicitor or therapist, an email address is enough. If you have a shop, your address and opening hours matter more than a phone number. If you're an online tool or app, a support link or contact page is sufficient. Whatever category you're in, visitors should never have to hunt to find how to reach you.

If every sentence on your page could have been written for any business in your industry, it's doing very little work. Specific details — your name, your process, your town, your team — build trust and make you memorable.

Every local business claims quality, reliability, and professionalism. If that's all your page says, you look identical to every competitor. What do you actually do differently? Say it plainly — don't make people guess.

Every extra field on an enquiry form reduces the number of people who complete it. Name, email or phone, and a brief message is enough to start a conversation. Save the detailed questions for when you speak to them. We only check this if you have an enquiry form on your homepage — if there's no form, this rule is skipped.

Most visitors don't scroll very far. If your most impressive customer quote, your strongest number, or your best credential is halfway down the page, most people will never reach it. Note: listing your features at the top doesn't count — this rule is specifically about proof from outside your business: customer quotes, verified ratings, user numbers, or named case studies. Note: we assess this from the order content appears on your page — if we can't determine what's visible without scrolling, we'll flag it as unable to check rather than guess.

Words like "wide range," "various," "bespoke," "solutions," and "high quality" have been used so often they've stopped meaning anything. Visitors skip straight past them. Every one of them is a missed opportunity to say something real.

An old date at the bottom of your page, a news section with posts from three years ago, or obviously outdated photos sends a quiet signal that you might not still be trading. It's a small thing that has a real impact on whether people trust you enough to get in touch. If we can't find a date in the scanned content, we'll flag this as unable to check rather than mark it as a fail.

"Quality you can trust" and "your vision, our passion" cannot be disputed — which also means they cannot be believed. If your opening line is so vague that nobody could argue with it, it's also so vague that nobody will remember it.

"We'll be in touch" tells a customer nothing. Will someone call in an hour or a week? Will they get a visit or just an email? If the process feels uncertain, people hesitate. Tell them exactly what to expect and when.

When your business appears in Google search results, two things show up: a title (the blue clickable heading) and a description (the short summary underneath). Most businesses never set these deliberately, so Google picks random text from the page — which is rarely your best line. If these are missing or messy, it's free advertising in the search results that most local businesses ignore completely.