The five numbers every small business should watch
Open any analytics tool and you are handed dozens of charts, almost none of which change a decision. Here are the five worth a monthly look, and what each one is actually telling you.
1. Enquiries, by source
The only number that pays wages. Not visits — enquiries: form submissions, calls, WhatsApp messages, whatever counts as someone raising a hand.
Split by where they came from: search, paid, social, direct, referral. This single breakdown answers “where should I put next month's money?” better than any other report. If you cannot see it, that is the first thing to fix.
2. Conversion rate
Enquiries divided by visitors. If 1,000 people visit and 20 enquire, that is 2%.
The value is in the trend, not the absolute figure — rates vary enormously by industry and traffic type. A falling rate with steady traffic usually means you are attracting the wrong people, or something on the site broke. Check the form actually still works; you would not be the first.
3. Traffic to your key pages
Ignore total sessions and look at the handful of pages that do the selling: your main service pages, pricing, and contact. Total traffic can rise while the pages that matter flatline, which feels like growth and isn't.
4. Mobile versus desktop, separately
Look at conversion rate split by device. A large gap — mobile converting far below desktop — is one of the most reliable signals of a fixable problem, and it is usually a form that is painful on a small screen or a page that loads too slowly on mobile data.
Most small business traffic is mobile. A site that converts well only on desktop is failing most of its visitors.
5. Which search terms bring people in
Search Console, not your analytics tool, shows the actual queries people typed before clicking. It is free and consistently under-used.
Two things to look for: terms where you rank around positions five to fifteen, which are the cheapest wins available, and terms you didn't expect at all, which tell you how customers describe their problem in their own words. That language belongs in your copy.
What to stop looking at
- Bounce rate, in isolation. Someone reading your opening hours and leaving satisfied looks identical to someone leaving in disgust.
- Average time on page. Heavily distorted by how it is measured, and rarely actionable.
- Total pageviews. Satisfying, but it does not distinguish a buyer from a bot.
- Social followers, unless they demonstrably become customers.
How often to look
Monthly is right for most small businesses. Weekly checking invites over-reaction to noise, and daily checking will drive you mad. Write the five numbers in a spreadsheet each month; the trend across six months will tell you more than any single dashboard ever will.
Measure without spying
You do not need invasive tracking for any of this. Privacy-respecting analytics tools report all five without cookies or personal data, which also spares you a consent banner. Collecting less is both kinder and simpler.