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What a local business homepage needs

Seven things, in the order a customer holding a phone needs them. You can check each one on your own site in about a minute.

Updated November 14, 2026. By Ringwild.

In November 2026 we tested 212 Twin Cities roofing homepages on a phone-size screen. Only 22 of the 191 we could time had a form, a tap-to-call link and showed within 2.5 seconds. Roofing is one trade. The list below is what we check on any local site, a salon or a garage as much as a roofer, because it follows what a person with a phone in one hand is trying to do.

1. A phone number that dials

On a phone, your number should be a link that opens the dialer when it is tapped. 22 of the 212 roofing homepages had no such link: the number was plain text or missing.

Size counts too. The accessibility standard asks that anything meant to be tapped be "at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels". A Call button should be a good deal bigger than that, and it should stay on screen as the visitor scrolls.

2. A short form on the first screen

79 of the 212 had no quote form on the homepage. A form is for the person looking at 9 at night who is not going to call. Ask for a name, a phone number and what they need, and stop there.

3. What you do and where, in words

Your services and your towns, typed as text near the top, not inside a picture. Google's starter guide says a good page title "is unique to the page, clear and concise, and accurately describes the contents of the page", and suggests it include "the physical location of the business". The first heading a visitor reads deserves the same care.

4. A page that shows fast

Google's own mark: "A good LCP value is 2.5 seconds or less." That is the time until the main content of the page shows. 158 of the 191 roofing homepages we could time were slower, and the middle one took 7.4 seconds. Large pictures are the first thing we look at. More in how fast a small business website should be.

5. Your reviews, where people decide

54 of the homepages showed no reviews in their text, and 46 of those companies had 4.5 stars or better on Google from 10 or more reviews. The rating was earned. It was not on the page. Show your real rating and link it to the reviews. How to ask for reviews the way Google allows is in the Google Business Profile checklist.

6. Hours and prices you can keep to

Opening hours as text, closed days included. A starting price for your most common job, if you can hold to it. Both answer a question before it becomes a phone call you take while working.

7. One thing to do

One main button, in the same words every time it appears: Call, Book a time, or Get an estimate. Pick the one action that matters most to your business and give it the button. The order we would fix things in is in getting more calls from your website.

Check your own homepage in five minutes

Seven checks for a local business homepage
CheckHow
The number dialsOpen your site on your phone and tap the number.
A form on the first screenDo not scroll. Can you leave your details?
Services and towns as textPress and hold a word. If you cannot select it, it is a picture.
SpeedTurn off wifi, open the page, and count the seconds until you can read it.
ReviewsIs your Google rating on the page, with a link?
Hours and a priceFind today's closing time and one price without calling.
One main buttonCount the different things the page asks you to do.

If you would rather we ran it, the free site check is this list on your site, with your own numbers. To see the list built into a page, look at the designs.

Sources

  1. Our own test of 212 Twin Cities roofing homepages, November 2026: what we found and how we tested.
  2. web.dev, Largest Contentful Paint.
  3. Google Search Central, SEO Starter Guide.
  4. W3C, Understanding Target Size (Minimum).

Talk it through with us.

Call, or ask for a free site check. No sales team. You talk to an owner.