How to get more enquiries from your website

To get more enquiries from your website, first work out whether people aren’t finding it or aren’t acting on it. Then fix the page in this order: say who you help, give one clear way to get in touch, put proof beside it, show a starting price and check it works quickly on a phone. Most of this costs time rather than money.

This is lead generation for a business that can count its enquiries on two hands. Many guides on the subject assume a sales team, a CRM and thousands of visitors a month. This one is for UK independents, mostly in wellness and lifestyle, whose website brings in a handful of enquiries a month, or none.

Do you have a visitors problem or an enquiries problem?

Check this before you change anything, because rewriting a page nobody sees won’t help. Google Search Console is free and shows which searches your site appears for, and your website analytics shows how many people arrive. If you have neither, ask your last ten clients how they found you.

Your website often isn’t the first place people hear about you. It’s where they go to check. In BrightLocal’s 2026 survey of 1,002 US consumers, 54% said they check a business’s website after reading positive reviews (BrightLocal, February 2026). It’s American data, but it fits how a recommendation usually works: someone hears your name, looks you up and decides in a few moments whether to get in touch. If nobody has heard of you yet, my guide to going solo covers finding those first clients.

What to fix first, in order

Work down this list and stop when you run out of time. The order is my own judgement, not the result of a study: the early fixes are cheap and affect every visitor, and the later ones take more effort.

1. Say who you help, what you do and where

Someone landing on your site should know within seconds whether it’s for them. Show the top of your home page on your phone to a friend for five seconds, take it away, and ask what you do, who for and where. If they can’t say, that’s your first job.

Here’s an invented example:

• Before: "Find your balance. Holistic wellbeing for mind, body and soul."
• After: "Sports and deep tissue massage in Didsbury. Evenings and weekends. Book online from £55."

The first could belong to anyone. The second tells the right person they’re in the right place, and it gives Google a service and a location to work with.

This matters because most visitors scan rather than read. In Nielsen Norman Group’s eye-tracking research, people scanning text-heavy pages often follow a rough F-shape: across the top, then down the left-hand side (NN/g, 2017). An earlier NN/g analysis estimated that people read only about 20% of the words on an average page (NN/g, 2008). So put the words that matter where eyes land first, at the top of the page and the start of each heading, and cut what nobody will miss.

2. Give people one clear way to get in touch

Choose one main action, such as "Book a session" or "Ask a question", and use the same words every time. Put it at the top of the page, after your services and at the bottom. Three different buttons leave people deciding between them.

Make the button easy to hit with a thumb. Accessibility guidelines set a minimum of 24 by 24 pixels for anything you tap, and suggest at least 44 by 44 for important controls (W3C). Keep the label to a few words that say what happens next, such as "Book a session" rather than "Submit". Its colour matters less than whether it stands out from everything around it.

Keep the form short. Ask only for what you need to reply, and save the rest for the conversation. Then send yourself a test enquiry from your phone, and check that it arrives and doesn’t land in spam. It takes two minutes, and a form that quietly fails would explain a lot.

You don’t have to publish a personal phone number or your home address to look open for business. A working form or booking link is a clear route. If you visit clients rather than having them come to you, Google tells service-area businesses to remove their address from their Business Profile and list the area they serve instead (Google Business Profile Help).

3. Put proof next to the button

People hesitate just before they get in touch, so that’s where reassurance belongs. Put a short review beside your main button, not on a separate page they may never open.

Reviews carry real weight. In the same BrightLocal survey, 68% said they’d only use a business with four stars or more, and 74% looked for reviews written in the last three months (BrightLocal, February 2026). So ask regularly, and show recent ones with a first name and what the person came to you for.

Use only real testimonials. CAP, which writes the UK’s advertising rules, says you need permission to feature one, and you need to keep documentary evidence that it’s genuine, along with the person’s contact details (CAP advice, September 2026). A saved copy of the client’s email and their OK is a good habit.

Show yourself as well. People booking a one-to-one service are choosing a person, which is why we put founder Ann-Maree Shaw front and centre on the Knotty & Nice website.

4. Show a price, or at least a starting price

If you can’t publish a full price list, publish a starting point, such as "one-to-one sessions from £55". Nielsen Norman Group reports that business customers rank pricing as the information they most need online, and that in its usability studies people got frustrated and left sites that didn’t show prices (NN/g). That research is about business buyers, but I’d expect someone choosing a therapist to feel the same way.

A starting price also saves you time, because people who can’t afford you won’t need to ask. We publish our package prices on our pricing page for that reason.

5. Make it quick on a phone

Smartphones account for 77% of the time UK adults spend online on an average day, according to Ofcom’s Online Nation 2025 report, which uses May 2025 data (Ofcom, December 2025). So test your site on a phone first.

Speed does affect what people do, though the best evidence comes from big brands rather than small businesses. A Google-commissioned study by 55 and Deloitte looked at 37 brand sites and more than 30 million sessions in late 2019. When mobile pages got 0.1 seconds faster, lead generation sites saw 21.6% more people move from the first form step to submitting it. It wasn’t a controlled test, and the sites aren’t a representative sample (web.dev).

Speed won’t save a page that doesn’t make its case, though. As I see it, a fast page gets you read, and the words and proof do the persuading. Even on search rankings, Google says it aims to show the most relevant content "even if the page experience is sub-par" (Google Search Central).

To check yours, run it through Google’s free PageSpeed Insights. Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) is the time your main content takes to appear, and it’s the number to look at. Google counts 2.5 seconds or less as good and over 4 seconds as poor (web.dev). If yours is slow, the usual first steps are shrinking large images and removing plugins and widgets you don’t use.

Don’t chase the speed score

Between 28 and 30 October 2026, the average mobile score across 15 pages of our own site jumped from 89 to 99. The measured time for main content fell from 3.5 seconds to 1.2. We measured both with Google’s PageSpeed Insights, testing the same 15 pages almost every day. We hadn’t changed anything on those pages. The jump lines up with a new version of Lighthouse, the engine behind the test, which changed how it estimates loading (Lighthouse release notes). Use the test to find problems, and judge the result by whether the site feels quick on a real phone.

What you can ignore for now

Plenty of lead generation advice is written for sites with far more traffic than yours. At a handful of enquiries a month, you can safely skip:

• A/B testing is showing two versions of a page to different visitors to see which brings more enquiries. Five enquiries split across two versions can’t tell you which is better. One extra enquiry would swing the result.
• Heatmaps and session recordings, for now. They show where people tap and where they stop scrolling, but a handful of visits a day won’t show a pattern. Once you reach a few hundred visits a month, Microsoft’s Clarity, which is free, is worth a look. It relies on cookies, so you’ll need visitors' consent and a mention in your privacy notice. Microsoft has required consent signals for UK visitors since 31 October 2025 (Microsoft), and the ICO’s rules on cookies apply too (ICO). Until then, watching a friend try to book will teach you more.
• Lead magnets and funnels. A free guide can work when people take months to decide. If someone wants a massage this week, it’s a detour.
• A full redesign. If the words are unclear, a new design gives you the same problem in nicer colours. Fix the five things above first, then see what’s left.

How to tell if it’s working at five enquiries a month

Keep a simple log and look for patterns over months. Percentages don’t mean much at this size: going from two enquiries to three looks like a big jump, but it could easily be chance.

Make one row per enquiry in a spreadsheet, with these columns:

• Date
• How they found you (ask everyone)
• What they asked for
• Whether they booked

Change one thing at a time, note the date and give it about eight weeks. Compare with the same weeks last year if you can, because January in a yoga studio tells you little about August.

Numbers aren’t the only sign. If people start arriving already knowing your prices, or you get fewer "do you do...?" messages, the site is doing its job even if the total hasn’t moved.

What to do after the enquiry

Reply the same working day if you can, because someone contacting you may well be contacting two or three others. The evidence here is old and from a different world, but it points the same way. A 2011 Harvard Business Review study of online sales leads found that most companies were "not responding nearly fast enough" (HBR).

If you’re with clients all day, set up an automatic reply so people know where they stand:

Thanks for getting in touch. I’m with clients during the day, so I’ll reply by [time] tomorrow at the latest. If you’d like to book now, you can see my availability here: [booking link].

[Your name]

If you don’t hear back, one friendly follow-up a few days later is fine. People get busy, and many are glad of the reminder. After that, leave it with them.

Two rules to check on a wellness website

We’re a branding studio, not solicitors, so check anything you’re unsure of with a professional or at the source.

Health claims

Don’t promise what you can’t prove. The ASA’s guidance says a claim that a therapy will "help" with a named medical condition can be read as saying it relieves symptoms. Without significant clinical trials, claims should be "restricted to the sensorial/subjective benefits" (CAP advice, March 2025). "A slow class for people who find most yoga too fast" says plenty, whereas "yoga that helps with anxiety" could land you in trouble. I go into more detail in the going solo guide.

Email consent

An enquiry isn’t permission to send your newsletter. The ICO says pre-ticked boxes don’t count as consent, and consent must be opt-in (ICO). There is a "soft opt-in" that lets you email your own existing customers about similar services. It applies only if they bought or discussed buying from you, you offered an opt-out when you took their details and you offer it again in every message. It doesn’t cover prospective customers (ICO). The ICO notes this guidance is under review, so check it again if you’re setting up a list.

The simple version: put an unticked "send me the newsletter" box on your form, and only add people who tick it.

What it costs to fix

Most of the fixes above cost nothing but an afternoon. Rewriting your headline, adding a price and moving a review don’t need a developer on most website builders.

These are our fixed prices, with no VAT to add. Other studios will charge differently, and for a wider view of the market see how much branding costs for a UK small business.

Frequently asked questions

What does lead generation mean for a small business?

Lead generation is getting people who might buy to raise their hand, by booking, filling in a form or sending a message. For a one-person business, a "lead" is simply an enquiry, so a good lead generation website is one that makes getting in touch feel easy and worthwhile.

Why does my website get visits but no enquiries?

Usually because visitors can’t quickly tell whether it’s for them, what it costs or what to do next. It’s also worth checking that the form works, that the visits are real people in your area and that they aren’t coming from searches that have nothing to do with what you sell.

How many enquiries should my website get?

There’s no useful single number for a small business. Published conversion benchmarks mostly come from larger companies, and a local therapist’s site won’t behave like theirs. Compare your site with its own last few months instead.

Do I need a contact form if I have online booking?

Keep both if you can, with booking as the main button. Some people are ready to book, and others have a question first, especially for a higher-priced or more personal service. A short form catches the second group.

Should I add an AI chatbot to my website?

Only if it can answer your common questions accurately and book a real appointment, rather than just collecting details for you to chase later. For most one-person businesses, clear prices, a short FAQ and online booking answer the late-night questions just as well, for less money and set-up time. If you do add one, test what it says about health conditions, because it could make claims you never would. Make sure your privacy notice covers what people type into it.

Do I need to show my phone number on my website?

Not if you offer another clear way to reach you. A phone number suits people who prefer to call and urgent services, so show one if you have a line you’re happy to publish. If your only number is your personal mobile, a form or booking link works.

Does website speed affect enquiries?

It can, especially on phones, though the strongest evidence comes from large companies. Fix pages that are clearly slow, but look at your words, proof and prices too, because a fast page that doesn’t make its case still won’t bring enquiries.

How long until I see more enquiries?

Changes to your words, prices and buttons go live straight away, but you may need a couple of months to see whether they’ve helped, because enquiries come in slowly at this size. Anything that depends on Google finding your site can take longer.

The short version

Find out whether the problem is visitors or enquiries. If it’s enquiries, make it obvious who you help, give one way to get in touch, put proof beside it, show a starting price and check it works on a phone. Then keep a simple log, reply quickly and give each change time.

Sources

All retrieved 6 November 2026. Last fact-checked: 7 November 2026.

• BrightLocal: Local Consumer Review Survey 2026, 11 February 2026 (1,002 US adults)
• CAP: Testimonials and endorsements, 21 September 2026
• CAP: Advice for National Complementary Therapy Week 2025, 27 March 2025
• Google Business Profile Help: Service-area businesses
• Google Search Central: Understanding page experience
• Google Lighthouse: v13.6.0 release notes, 27 October 2026
• Harvard Business Review: The Short Life of Online Sales Leads, March 2011
• ICO: What is valid consent? and Electronic mail marketing
• Nielsen Norman Group: Show price, F-shaped pattern of reading, 12 November 2017, and How little do users read?, 2008
• W3C: Understanding WCAG 2.2, target size (minimum)
• Microsoft: Clarity FAQ, updated 20 October 2026, and Clarity consent mode
• ICO: Cookies and similar technologies
• Ofcom: Online Nation 2025 report (PDF), 10 December 2025
• web.dev: Largest Contentful Paint and Milliseconds make millions
• Rekognition: PageSpeed Insights mobile tests of 15 pages, 28 and 30 October 2026
• Market photo: Vibrant fruit market with tropical selection by Amoria Made on Pexels
• Hero photo: Thrilling rope adventure over Jakarta waters by Imam Efendi on Pexels