A business website is not a brochure. It is the first conversation a customer has with your business, and it usually happens without you in the room. Most SME websites I review are not broken — they are simply not answering the questions a customer is actually asking.
1. A clear statement of what you do
A visitor should understand what you sell, who you serve and where you operate within a few seconds. Replace slogans with plain language. "We deliver bespoke solutions" tells a customer nothing; "Commercial cleaning for offices in Accra" tells them everything.
2. An obvious way to make contact
Phone number, WhatsApp link and an enquiry form should be reachable from every page, not buried on a contact page. If a customer has to search for how to reach you, some of them simply will not.
3. Proof that the business is real
Photographs of actual work, a physical location, team names, service areas, business registration details. Credibility signals matter far more than design flourishes, especially for a business a customer has never heard of.
4. Services described as outcomes
List what the customer gets, not what you do internally. Include what is and is not included, and give a sense of price range where you can. Ambiguity about price is one of the most common reasons enquiries never happen.
5. A site that works on a phone
Most of your visitors are on a smartphone, often on mobile data. If the site is slow, if the text is small, if the buttons are hard to press, the quality of the design is irrelevant. Speed and legibility are business features.
The test
Open your website on your phone and ask a person who does not know your business to find your prices and contact you. Whatever slows them down is the work.