You paid for a website. Now you wonder if it brings in a single call.
Here is one fact worth knowing. Google Search Central says it reads the phone version of your site to decide what it is about and where it shows up. Your site was likely built on a computer, but Google reads the phone version.
This post gives you seven checks. Each has a fact behind it, the limit of that fact, and what it can do for you.
What it is: Look at your site the way a customer does.
Why it pays: Google Search Central says it uses the phone version to work out what your site is about. If that version is broken, people leave and you never hear about it. A Google Australia guide says 67% of smartphone users had used a phone to find a home service. That survey is from 2015, so it is old. A number you cannot tap can cost you a call.
What to do: Turn off the wifi. Open your site and read the home page. Tap your number. Fill in your own quote form and check it reached you.
What it is: A number at the top that starts a call when tapped.
Why it pays: Most people ring. Google Australia found two in three people book a tradie by phone. The figure is from a 2015 survey of 258 people. They had just bought a trade service. It is small and old. If a customer has to hunt for your number, some can give up.
What to do: Put the number at the top of the page. Make it a button that rings. Make it big enough for a thumb.
What it is: One plain sentence on your home page that says where you work, plus a page for each main suburb.
Why it pays: A customer wants to know if you come to their suburb. Whitespark surveyed local search experts for 2026. They put location in your content second for Google's normal results, and 18th for the map. It is a survey of opinion, not a test.
What to do: Pick the suburbs you most want work in. Make a page for each, with real jobs, photos and a local review. Do not copy one page and swap the suburb name. Google's spam policies warn against one trick. Do not fill a page with lists of suburbs just to get found.
What it is: One page for each main job, instead of one page called Services.
Why it pays: Someone with a blocked drain wants the blocked drain page. Whitespark's 2026 experts put a page for each service first. That is for Google's normal results. For the map it came 24th. That is opinion, not a test.
What to do: Write down your main jobs. Make one page for each. Put the job name at the top. Add photos and a review for that job. Google's John Mueller put it this way. "If you're starting out, probably having fewer pages is a good idea". A few strong pages beat a pile of thin ones.
What it is: Photos of work you did, not models in clean hard hats.
Why it pays: Jakob Nielsen of Nielsen Norman Group wrote this. "Users ignore stock photos of generic people". It comes from an eye tracking study. It looked at where people look on a web page. It is from 2010 and not about tradies.
What to do: Take one photo before the job. Take one when you finish, from the same spot. If a photo is bad, leave it off. One good photo is worth more than ten poor ones.
What it is: Your customers' own words, on your home page.
Why it pays: BrightLocal surveyed 1,002 adults in the USA in 2026. 97% said they read reviews for local businesses. That is what people say they do, not a test. It covers all local businesses, not only tradies. BrightLocal sells review software.
What to do: After a job, ask the customer if you can use their words. Keep every word as they wrote it. Add their first name and suburb, if they agree. Never make one up or use a friend's or a worker's words. If you show a star score, it must be the real one.
What it is: A short form that tells people what happens next.
Why it pays: The Google Australia guide has a line on this. People "will consider three service providers on average, and contact two". So a fast call back matters. Imaginary Landscape tested an 11 box form against a 4 box one in 2008. Zuko says "the length of a form makes almost no difference". Tests are mixed, so cut confusing boxes first. The UK government design standard asks for "details of what happens next and when".
What to do: Cut the form to four boxes: name, number, suburb and the job. After they send it, show a message that says what happens next. Send a text to say you got it. Ring back the same day.
You now know seven checks for your site, and the facts behind each one. Most of the evidence is old, small or opinion. It is a place to start, not a promise. Knowing them is the easy part. The hard part is doing one a day. The free guide has all seven, a short list to tick under each, and a sheet to stick in your ute so you can tick off one a day.
Sources: Google Search Central. Google Australia. Whitespark. Google's spam policies. Search Engine Journal. Nielsen Norman Group. BrightLocal. Imaginary Landscape. Zuko. The UK government design standard.
