5 Tips to Optimise Your Small Business Website

Transform your site into a conversion engine with these five must‑do optimisations—and don’t forget your free checklist below!

1. Boost Loading Speed

Case Study: ACME Shop reduced their Largest Contentful Paint from 4 s to 1.8 s by converting images to WebP and enabling lazy‑load, cutting bounce rate by 15 %.

  • Compress & modernise images: Convert to WebP/AVIF and lazy‑load offscreen assets. Deep dive: Do This, Not That: Optimising Your Website’s Loading Speed
  • Minify & bundle code: Remove whitespace, combine CSS/JS; leverage HTTP/2 or HTTP/3 for parallelism.
  • Use CDN & caching: Offload static assets; set long‑lived cache headers and define a performance budget.
  • Track Core Web Vitals: Aim for LCP ≤ 2.5 s, FID ≤ 100 ms, CLS ≤ 0.1 with Lighthouse or real‑user monitoring.

2. Ensure Mobile Responsiveness

Over 60 % of visits come from mobile—design for small screens and touch first:

  • Large tap targets (≥ 48 px) and hidden menus for secondary links.
  • Mobile‑first CSS & progressive enhancement to build core features first. Learn more: The Importance of UX in Web Design
  • Test under throttled network to optimise media and scripts for slow connections.

3. Optimise On‑Page SEO

Signal relevance to users and search engines alike:

  • Use target keywords in title tags, H1–H3s, meta descriptions, and human‑friendly URLs.
  • Write keyword‑rich alt text for images and captions where possible.
  • Implement JSON‑LD for Article & FAQ schema to unlock rich snippets.
  • Update cornerstone posts regularly and interlink topic clusters. See: Content is King: Tips for Content That Resonates

5. Use High‑Quality Visuals & Social Proof

Build trust with polished media and real feedback:

  • Showcase testimonials, star ratings, or mini case studies.
  • Embed branded videos with captions and transcripts.
  • Use custom illustrations and white space for clarity—see What Is White Space?

Free Optimisation Checklist

  • ☐ Images in WebP/AVIF & lazy‑loaded
  • ☐ LCP ≤ 2.5 s, FID ≤ 100 ms, CLS ≤ 0.1
  • ☐ Mobile tap‑targets ≥ 48 px; throttling tested
  • ☐ Article & FAQ schema via JSON‑LD
  • ☐ Primary CTA above the fold
  • ☐ Custom visuals & ≥ 3 social‑proof items

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a good LCP score?
LCP under 2.5 s is considered good; aim for under 1.8 s for top performance.
How often should I update my cornerstone content?
Review and refresh cornerstone posts at least quarterly to maintain relevance.
What are Core Web Vitals?
They’re Google’s metrics for page experience: LCP, FID, and CLS.
How many menu items should my site have?
Limit the primary menu to 5–7 items to reduce choice paralysis.
How do I implement JSON‑LD schema?
Insert a <script type="application/ld+json"> tag with the schema block in your <head>.
Which image formats boost speed?
Use WebP or AVIF for photos and SVG for vector graphics.