You do not need to be a data expert to know whether your website is working. Five simple numbers, checked once a month, will tell you most of what you need. Free tools like Google Search Console and Google Analytics can show them.

1. Visitors

How many people visit your site each month? Look at the trend, not a single month. A steady rise is good; a sudden drop is a sign to investigate.

2. Where visitors come from

Traffic usually comes from search engines, social media, direct visits, referrals from other sites and email. Knowing which source brings the best visitors tells you where to invest your time.

3. Enquiries

This is the number that matters most: how many calls, messages and form submissions did the website produce? Track them with a simple tally, and add a thank-you page or event tracking to your contact form so you can count submissions.

4. Your top pages

See which pages people visit most. If a page is popular but never leads to enquiries, improve its message and call to action. If a service you want to sell has few visits, link to it from your home page.

5. Search queries

Google Search Console shows what people typed into Google before they saw your site, and where you appeared. This is a goldmine for ideas: if you appear for a question but get few clicks, improve the page title and description. If you appear for something you do not cover well, write a page about it.

Set up the tools

1. Add your site to Google Search Console and verify ownership.
2. Set up Google Analytics and connect it to your site.
3. Submit your sitemap in Search Console so Google finds your pages.
4. Define what counts as an enquiry, such as a form submission or a click on your phone number.

A 15-minute monthly review

1. Write down visitors, top source, top three pages and enquiries.
2. Compare with last month.
3. Pick one improvement: fix a slow page, rewrite a headline, add a call to action or write a new article.
4. Do it, and check the effect next month.

Do not obsess over rankings

Rankings move around, and what matters is whether the right people find you and contact you. Focus on enquiries and sales, and treat the other numbers as clues.

Check your speed

Slow pages lose visitors. Test your site on mobile and read our guide on making a website faster. Good hosting makes a difference too, and you can compare options on our hosting page.