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Does your website
make sense to someone new?

You know your business inside out. Your visitor is meeting it for the first time. Use these five checks to see where they might need a clearer answer.

Start with a fresh pair of eyes.

Open your homepage on a phone. If you can, ask someone who could realistically be a customer to look with you. Avoid explaining the page before they see it. If you are working alone, mark anything you cannot honestly judge as “Not sure yet.”

This is a clarity exercise, not a conversion score or a full accessibility audit. A short first impression can reveal a question worth investigating; it cannot prove how all your customers behave.

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CHECK 1 OF 5

Can a new visitor name what you sell?

Show someone your first screen for five seconds, then hide it. Ask: “What do you think you can get here?” Let them answer without hints.

Write their actual answer beside the phrase on your page. If they can only say “solutions” or “something digital,” the offer needs a more concrete noun.

“Helping you thrive” → “Bookkeeping for independent cafés.” The second tells the right person what they can buy.

If it needs work: Name the service or product before describing how good it is. Keep a broad headline if the nearby explanation makes the offer clear.

What did you find?

CHECK 2 OF 5

Can the right customer recognize themselves?

Ask that same person: “Who would this be useful for?” Check whether the answer matches the customers you want to serve.

Look for a recognizable need, location or situation. You do not need to squeeze every possible customer into your headline.

“Repairs you can rely on” becomes more useful with “Same-day appliance repairs in Quezon City,” if that is a promise you can keep.

If it needs work: Add the one detail that most helps a customer decide whether you serve them. Leave out restrictions your business does not actually have.

What did you find?

CHECK 3 OF 5

Is the benefit connected to something real?

Pick your strongest claim and ask: “What would be easier, different or possible for the customer?” Then find the page detail that explains how.

A benefit needs a mechanism or a specific deliverable. “Save time” is more useful when people can see which task disappears.

“Seamless booking” → “Choose an available appointment online, without waiting for a callback.” Only use this if your booking flow does it.

If it needs work: Connect one feature to one customer task. Remove promises you cannot support; clarity does not require a bigger claim.

What did you find?

CHECK 4 OF 5

Can someone take the next step without guessing?

On your phone, start at the homepage and follow the main action. Stop before sending a real inquiry or payment. Is it clear what will happen next?

Note confusing labels, broken links, unexpected accounts, tiny controls or questions you cannot answer yet. A visible button is not enough if the next screen is a dead end.

If a button opens an estimate form, “Request an estimate” sets a clearer expectation than “Get started.” A shop may need “Shop the collection” instead.

If it needs work: Match the label to the destination. Explain any important next step, such as a personal reply or booking confirmation. Keep legitimate secondary actions when visitors need them.

What did you find?

CHECK 5 OF 5

Is there a reason to believe the promise?

Choose one important claim and look for evidence near it. Ask: “What can I inspect to decide whether this is credible?”

Useful evidence might be a real example, an explained process, a relevant qualification, clear terms or a customer quote used with permission. A logo strip is not automatically proof.

For a new service, an honestly labeled sample with a clear explanation is more useful than an invented testimonial. For repair work, a real before-and-after can explain the craft.

If it needs work: Show the strongest relevant evidence you actually have. Describe its limits. If you have no evidence for a claim, narrow the claim rather than inventing support.

What did you find?

Choose one useful next edit.

Start with a broken next step, if you found one. Otherwise, fix an unclear offer before polishing its benefits. If the answers are already clear, keep what works.

  1. Write the exact confusion you observed, not “the page feels off.”
  2. Change the smallest piece of content or interaction that could resolve it.
  3. Ask a different relevant person the same question. Compare their answer before making more changes.

One person’s reaction is a clue, not a verdict. Check important decisions with more customers and actual inquiries. You do not need a redesign because one phrase needs work.

Made by Cyrus Alcala · September 2026

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