<p>A website that looks impressive and does not convert is an expensive brochure. Before anyone shows you a design, make sure the build covers these.</p>
<h3>1. It loads on a phone, on mobile data</h3>
<p>Most of your visitors arrive on a phone, often on a weak connection. If the first screen takes more than about three seconds, a large share of them leave before seeing anything. Test it on your own phone with wifi switched off.</p>
<h3>2. Contacting you takes one tap</h3>
<p>A phone number that dials, a WhatsApp button that opens a chat, and a form short enough to finish in under a minute. Every extra field costs you enquiries.</p>
<h3>3. Prices, or an honest reason there are none</h3>
<p>Buyers filter on price. If you cannot publish fixed prices, publish ranges or a starting figure. Saying nothing sends people to whoever did say something.</p>
<h3>4. Google can find it</h3>
<p>Real page titles, a description per page, a sitemap, and the business listed on Google Business Profile with the same name, address and phone number as the site.</p>
<h3>5. You can edit it yourself</h3>
<p>If changing a price means emailing your developer, the site goes stale within months. Insist on an admin panel and ask to see it before you pay.</p>
<h3>6. It is backed up and on HTTPS</h3>
<p>A padlock in the address bar and a backup you have actually seen restored. Both are cheap; both are painful to add after something goes wrong.</p>
<p>Design matters — it is what makes people trust you in the first five seconds. It just should not be the first thing on the list.</p>