Free, Practical Tips

free website advice

Easy, step-by-step guidance to improve design, SEO, and digital marketing — tailored for busy small businesses in 2025.

No jargon, no expensive tools — just practical actions you can implement today to get more visitors, better leads, and more calls from your website.

Quick Wins You Can Do Today Get a Faster Free Plan

60%+

Traffic from mobile (2025)

2.5s

Target mobile load time

Local

Focus on near-me searches

Cost to start with these tips

What you'll find in this guide

Quick wins (do in 10–60 minutes) Site design & conversion SEO checklist (on-page & local) Technical SEO & speed Content & messaging Digital marketing channels Tracking & analytics 7-step plan to launch

Quick wins: fixes you can do in 10–60 minutes

Update your main phone number: Put it in the top-right and make it clickable (tel:). Test from your phone.
Fix the headline: Make your H1 say exactly who you help + what you do (e.g., Electrician Melbourne — Fast, Trusted Repairs).
Add a contact block above the fold: 1–2 sentence offer, phone, and clear CTA button.
Compress images: Use free tools (Squoosh, TinyPNG) to reduce file sizes and re-upload.
Claim your Google Business Profile: If not done, claim it now and add accurate hours, photos, and services.

Site design: make visitors trust you and act

Visual hierarchy

Use clear headings, short paragraphs, and bold CTAs. Your primary CTA (call or book) should stand out in color and appear within the first screen on mobile.

H1 then H2 then short bullets
Limit fonts to 2 and keep button colors consistent
Whitespace improves clarity — don’t cram

Trust signals

Quickly show credibility: logo strip, 2–3 testimonials (name + suburb), licence numbers, and at least one “before & after” photo if relevant.

Tip: Use short, specific testimonials like “Replaced our hot water system in 2 hours — Sam, Brighton”.

Avoid generic praise; location and outcome convert better.

Mobile-first design

Since most visitors are on phones, prioritize tap targets, readable text (16px+), and a persistent click-to-call button or sticky contact strip.

One-page clarity

For many small services, a well-structured single page converts best: headline, services, pricing/typical jobs, testimonials, contact form, footer with address + map.

SEO: on-page and local checklist

On-page essentials

Title tag: 50–60 characters — include primary service + location. (e.g., Plumber Melbourne — Emergency Repairs)
Meta description: 140–160 chars — clear benefit + CTA (call or book).
H1: Unique to page and matches search intent.
Image ALT: Describe image + service + suburb (e.g., hot-water-repair-melbourne).
Internal links: Link service pages to each other and to a clear contact page.

Local SEO

Google Business Profile: Complete profile, add 5 images, update services and business hours, set correct service area.
Citations: Make sure your business name, address, phone (NAP) are identical across directories (Yellow Pages, TrueLocal, Facebook).
Schema: Add LocalBusiness schema on your homepage (name, address, phone, openingHours).
Local landing pages: If you serve multiple suburbs, create short pages for each suburb (unique content, 300+ words).

Technical SEO & site speed

Speed checklist

Enable gzip/Brotli compression on your server.
Serve images in WebP where possible and lazy-load below-the-fold images.
Use a CDN to reduce latency for regional visitors.
Minify CSS and JS; defer non-critical scripts.
Reduce third-party widgets (only keep essential widgets like booking or chat).

Tools: Google PageSpeed Insights, Lighthouse, GTmetrix, WebPageTest.

Technical SEO

XML sitemap: Create and submit to Google Search Console.
Robots.txt: Ensure it doesn't block important pages.
HTTPS: Ensure SSL is valid and all resources load over HTTPS.
Mobile rendering: Check Search Console for mobile usability issues.
Canonical tags: Prevent duplicate content problems (especially with multiple landing pages).

Content & messaging that converts

Use the Problem → Solution → Proof formula

For each service page, follow this structure:

Problem: Start with the customer's pain (e.g., "Burst pipe? Leaking hot water?").
Solution: Explain your service and how you fix it fast.
Proof: Add one short case study or testimonial and a before/after photo.

Headline + CTA formula

Headline = [Service] + [Location] + [Benefit]. CTA = Action + Benefit (Call now — get same-day service).

Use simple language — your site should be readable by a broad audience. Aim for 6th–8th grade reading level for service pages.

Where to promote your site (and how)

Google Business Profile

Post weekly updates (photos, offers).
Collect reviews — ask customers and reply to them.
Use services list and attributes.

Local Ads (Smartly)

Start with small Google Local Service or Search ads for high-intent queries.
Target suburbs, not whole cities, to reduce waste.
Measure cost-per-lead; pause underperforming keywords quickly.

Email & SMS

Collect emails on your site and send monthly specials.
Use SMS for urgent offers (bookings/confirmations) — keep messages concise.
Track opens and clicks; A/B subject lines.

Social proof

Short video clips of jobs (30–60s) perform well on Facebook and Instagram.
Pin a portfolio or highlight to your profile so prospects can see work instantly.

Measure & iterate

Check which channels deliver the most booked jobs and reallocate budget monthly.
Duplicate what works — scale the winning ads, posts, or keywords.

Budget tips

Start with $5–10/day for search ads in a single suburb for 2 weeks and review results.
Use remarketing to recapture visitors who didn’t call.

Tracking, analytics & A/B testing

You can't improve what you don't measure. Start with these three things:

Google Analytics / GA4: Track visitors, sources, pages, and conversions (phone clicks, contact submits).
Google Search Console: Monitor search queries, index status, and mobile usability issues.
Call tracking: Use a simple call-tracking number for ads so you know which campaigns generate calls.

Experiment: change a button colour or headline for 2 weeks and compare calls. Keep the variant that performs better.

7-step action plan: from zero to results

Fix contact visibility: Click-to-call top-right and sticky call button.
Headline & offer: Update H1 to target primary local keyword.
Speed: Compress images, enable caching, and aim for 2.5s.
Local listing: Claim/optimise Google Business Profile and add photos.
SEO basics: Update title tags, meta descriptions, and ALT text.
Social proof: Add 3 short testimonials and one case photo.
Track: Install GA4 and Search Console; set simple conversion goals.

Timeline & expected results

Do steps 1–3 in the first 48 hours — expect an immediate uplift in calls and lower bounce rate. Complete steps 4–7 over 2–4 weeks to improve local search visibility and booked jobs.

If you need help: Congero builds and optimises sites for trades and service businesses with fast delivery and ongoing updates — see the final CTA below to get started via WhatsApp demo.

FAQ — quick answers

How long until I see results?

Local listing and quick design fixes can increase calls within days. SEO improvements typically take 4–12 weeks to show steady ranking gains.

Do I need to hire someone?

Many quick wins are free and easy. For sustained growth (ads, technical speed work, consistent content), a partner can save you time and usually pays for itself.

What tools should I use?

Free: Google Search Console, PageSpeed Insights, Squoosh, TinyPNG. Low-cost: SEMrush/Ahrefs for deeper keyword research, or Congero's managed service to handle everything for $49/month.

Ready to stop guessing and get results?

Use these free tips to improve your site today. If you prefer a done-for-you option, Congero builds professional, SEO-ready websites for trades and local services — fast and affordable.

See a Free Demo on WhatsApp Learn About Congero Services

All tips above are free to implement — start with the 7-step plan and track improvements in GA4.