CRO checklist: 40 checks for a small-business site

CRO just means getting more of the people who already visit your site to buy, book or call. You don't need to buy any conversion rate optimization tools to run this list, and you don't need a lot of visitors. It works for a shop, a clinic, a plumber or a coach. Where a check only applies to some of you, it says so.

How to use this list

Run it on one page at a time. Start with the page that gets the most visits and matters most to your income. Answer each question with a plain yes or no. "Sort of" is a no.

The order matters. The early checks catch things that stop people dead. The later ones help people who were already close to saying yes. That's why speed sits below the words, and why button colors didn't make the list.

"A broken headline with perfect page speed is still a broken page." Rob Palmer, copywriter, on what to fix first

Only have an hour? Do checks 5, 6, 7, 11, 16, 35 and 38. They take a few minutes each, and any one of them could be costing you customers today.

Already know where people stop? Jump to the group that matches:

A website not converting at all usually fails the "does it actually work" group, so don't skip it because it looks too simple.

Can you see what's happening?

• 1. Have you picked one action? Choose the one thing that pays your bills: a sale, a booking, a call or a form sent. You'll judge everything below against it.
• 2. Can you count it? On Shopify, go to Analytics, then Reports, and open Conversion rate breakdown. In Google Analytics, go to Admin, then Data display, then Events, and click the star next to your action. If your form isn't listed, ask whoever built your site to add it. Calls won't show up in either, so keep a tally by the phone.
• 3. Have you written your number down? Divide actions by visitors. Twenty bookings from 1,000 visits is 2 out of every 100. Write that down with today's date. That's the number you have to beat.
• 4. Have you watched real visits? Microsoft Clarity is free and records what people do on your site. Watch ten visits from people who left. You will wince. You'll also know what to fix. Mention the tool in your privacy policy.

Does it actually work?

• 5. Can you finish the job on your own phone? Turn off Wi-Fi and buy, book or send the form yourself, from start to finish. If you run a shop, use a real card on your cheapest product.
• 6. Does your form reach you? Send a test message and see where it lands. Check spam too. A form can send to an old inbox for years without anyone noticing.
• 7. Does your phone number ring when you tap it? Tap it. If nothing happens, ask whoever built your site to make it a tap-to-call link. If calls bring you work, put it at the top of every page.
• 8. Can you read and tap everything on a phone? You shouldn't have to pinch to zoom. Buttons should fit a thumb. Menus should open and close.
• 9. Do all your links go somewhere? Click every link in your menu and footer. Look for missing pages, "coming soon" pages and buttons that do nothing.
• 10. Are your facts current? Check your opening hours, prices, staff, service area and that offer that ended last spring. Old facts make people wonder if you're still open.

Can a stranger get it in five seconds?

• 11. Do you pass the five-second test? Show a friend the first screen on your phone for five seconds, then take it away. Ask what you sell, who it's for and what to do next. If they can't answer all three, fix that first.
• 12. Does the headline say what you do? "Welcome to our website" tells people where they are, and they knew that. Use plain words, like "Family dentist in Dallas. New patients seen this week." Only promise what's true.
• 13. Is it clear who it's for and where? If you serve one town or one kind of customer, say so near the top. "For busy parents in Austin" beats "for everyone."
• 14. Does the page match what brought them? Click your own ads, your Google listing and your social links. If the ad says "$49 tune-up," the page it opens should say "$49 tune-up" in big letters.
• 15. Is there one main button on the first phone screen? Just one. Everything else can be smaller.
• 16. Does the button say what happens next? "Submit" and "Learn more" say very little. "Book a free 15-minute call" and "See today's open times" tell people what they'll get.
• 17. Is the text easy to read? Pale gray on white is hard to read, and worse outside in the sun. Paste your colors into WebAIM's contrast checker. Normal text should score at least 4.5 to 1.
• 18. Is anything in the way? Load the page on your phone. A popup in the first second, a chat bubble sitting on your button or a slider of moving pictures all get between people and the thing you want them to do. Delay them or remove them.
• 19. Does the page show up fast? Paste your address into PageSpeed Insights and read the mobile result. Look for "Largest Contentful Paint," which is the time until the main thing on the screen appears. Google calls 2.5 seconds or less good. Smaller images are the usual first fix. Speed is only one part of website optimization, so if you're close, move on.

Will they believe you?

• 20. Can they see a real person? Show a name, a face and a line about who you are. People are about to trust you with their money, and possibly their teeth.
• 21. Are your photos real? Show your shop, your team, your work and your product. Phone photos in good light beat a stock picture of two people shaking hands.
• 22. Do you have at least five reviews for what you sell? Northwestern University's Spiegel Research Center found shoppers were far more likely to buy a product with five reviews than one with none. After five, each extra review helped less. Ask your last ten happy customers today.
• 23. Are your best reviews near the button? Put two or three right beside it, with a first name and what you did for them. "Fixed the leak the same afternoon" beats "Great service!"
• 24. Are your reviews honest? Buying reviews you know are fake is banned in the US, and the Federal Trade Commission can seek fines. Don't panic about a few four-star reviews either. The same Spiegel research found people are usually most likely to buy at 4.0 to 4.7 stars, and less likely as ratings get close to 5.0.
• 25. Can they find you? Put your phone, email and address or service area in the footer of every page.

Did you answer what's holding them back?

• 26. Have you answered the five questions everyone asks? Write them down. You already know them. You've answered them so many times you could do it in your sleep, and your family suspects you have. Answer each one on the page, close to the button, in the words you use on the phone.
• 27. Can they see a price? If the job varies, give a starting price or a typical range, like "Most bathroom repairs cost $150 to $400." When you say nothing, people assume the worst.
• 28. Do they know what happens after they click? Say it right by the button: "We'll call you within one business day. There's no obligation." Plenty of people hold back because they're afraid of a sales call.
• 29. Do they know when? Shops should show a delivery date. Services should show the next open slot or how soon you can start.
• 30. Do they know what happens if it goes wrong? Explain returns, refunds or your guarantee in plain words, near the button. Only promise what you'd happily honor.
• 31. Can they tell if it's right for them? Say who it suits and who it doesn't, like "Best for homes up to three bedrooms." Turning a few people away helps the rest believe you.
• 32. Have you asked? Email your last ten customers one question: "What nearly stopped you from choosing us?" Then put their words on your page.

When each visitor is stuck on something different

A page can only answer the questions you thought of, and it gives everyone the same answers. One visitor is worried about price. The next wants to know if you treat kids. Possible is our own product, so keep that in mind. It's an AI built on real sales psychology that asks each visitor the right question at the right moment, remembers the answers and guides them to a sale, sign-up or booking. It's free to start. Here's how it works as an AI sales assistant for clinics and local services. Do the checks first, because no assistant can rescue a form that never reaches you.

Is the last step short?

• 33. Have you cut every box you can? For each box on your form, ask what you'd do with the answer before your first call. If you can't say, delete it. Shops have the same problem at checkout. Researchers at Baymard found a checkout can work with 7 or 8 boxes, and the average US one shows about 15.
• 34. Do your error messages help? Type a wrong email on purpose. The page should say what's wrong in plain words and keep everything else you typed.
• 35. Do they see the full cost early? In Baymard's survey of US shoppers, extra costs like shipping, tax and fees were the top reason for leaving a cart. About 4 in 10 of the shoppers who weren't just browsing named them. Show shipping on the product page, or build it into the price. If you're a service with a call-out fee, say so before they book.
• 36. Shops: can they check out without an account? Keep guest checkout on. Offer a quick way to pay, like Apple Pay or PayPal, so nobody has to go and find their wallet.
• 37. Services: can they book without calling? Plenty of people deal with this stuff at 10 at night, when you're closed. Show open times and let them pick one, or offer a two-box form. Keep the phone number for everyone else.

What happens after they say yes?

Your site can do everything right and still lose the customer here. These three checks take almost no money.

• 38. Do you reply within an hour? Send an inquiry from a second email address and time how long the answer takes. During working hours, aim for under an hour, since they may have contacted two other businesses too. Set an automatic reply that says when they'll hear from you.
• 39. What happens to missed calls? Call your own number after hours. The message should say who you are and when you'll call back. Better still, it should tell them they can book online.
• 40. Does the thank-you page say what happens next? Tell them when they'll hear from you and what to have ready. Shops should confirm the order and the delivery date, and turn on a reminder email for carts left behind.

What to leave off the list for now

• A/B testing. That means showing two versions of a page to see which one wins, and it takes more visitors than most small sites get. If 2 out of 100 visitors act and you want to spot a 20% improvement, from 2 to 2.4, this calculator says you need about 20,000 visitors on each version. That's 40,000 in all. At 1,000 visits a month, that takes more than three years. Instead, change one thing, note the date, and compare the same number of weeks before and after. It's rough, but you can act on it.
• Big surveys and panels. Watch a few people try to use your site while you stay quiet. Jakob Nielsen, who studies how people use websites, says to test with no more than five people at a time. Then fix what you saw and test again.
• Button colors. If you can spot the button right away, the color is done.
• Fake countdown timers and "only 2 left" lines. Real deadlines are fine. Once someone catches a fake one, they stop believing the rest of your page.
• A redesign. A new look won't fix a form that goes to the wrong inbox. Run this list first.

Your first week

1. Today: Do the one-hour checks: 5, 6, 7, 11, 16, 35 and 38.
2. Tomorrow: Write down your number, and turn on Clarity.
3. Day 3: Email your last ten customers the question from check 32.
4. Days 4 and 5: Fix the first "no" on your best page, and note the date.
5. Days 6 and 7: Ask for reviews, and rewrite your headline and button in your customers' words.

Once these checks pass, the next question is how to increase website conversion rate from the traffic you already have. Run the list again every three months, and any time you change your prices, your ads or your site.

Questions about CRO checklists