Turning website visitors into enquiries: making your site convert

More visitors to your website is nice, but it only turns into revenue once those visitors actually send an enquiry. Often the problem isn't your offer or your price, it's the route someone has to travel between "this looks good" and hitting send.

Below you'll find how to make that route shorter and clearer, so the same visitors turn into more enquiries.

Why visitors don't send an enquiry

Visitors who drop off rarely do so because they're not interested. Usually it's a case of just a bit too much friction.

They don't see where to click, they're not sure they're even on the right page, or they're hit with an enquiry form with ten fields at once. Every extra step costs you a share of your visitors, even if your price easily holds up against the caterer down the road.

Try it yourself on your phone, as if you were a client planning a wedding. How many times do you have to scroll or click before you reach the form?

A clear call to action

Make sure every important page has one clear action you want from the visitor, usually "request a quote" or "get in touch, no obligation". One button, not five all promising something different.

Repeat that button in several places on the page, not just at the top. Not every visitor scrolls back up the moment they're convinced.

Avoid vague button text like "more info". A concrete action gets you more enquiries than an invitation to keep reading.

Building trust before you ask for action

Before someone sends an enquiry, they want to know they're dealing with a serious business. Reviews, photos of previous work and concrete examples of past jobs do more here than a long text about your mission.

Photos of your own buffet at a real venue say more than a stock photo of a perfectly laid table that exists nowhere.

A well-filled-in Google Business Profile helps with that even before someone lands on your website, because reviews and photos there are often the first thing a visitor sees of you.

Make the enquiry itself easy

Keep the enquiry form short. In the first step, ask only for what you need to respond: date, guest count and type of event.

Details about the menu, dietary needs or styling, you ask those in the conversation afterwards. You want to have that conversation anyway, and it saves the visitor five fields that would put them off at that moment.

The less someone has to fill in upfront, the more likely they are to finish the form. See also how to get more catering enquiries through your website for the wider approach, from first visit to a completed enquiry.

Frequently asked questions

How many fields can an enquiry form have?

As little as possible in the first step: name, date, guest count and type of event are often enough. You ask the rest in the conversation that follows.

Where's the best place to put my call to action?

At the top of the page, and then again after every important piece of text or after your offer. That way a convinced visitor doesn't have to scroll back up to take action.

Do reviews actually help with conversion?

Yes. Reviews and photos of previous work build trust before someone sends an enquiry, and often carry more weight than a long text about your business.

How fast should I respond to an enquiry?

Same day, ideally within a few hours. A client usually asks several caterers for a quote at once, and whoever comes back first with a personal reply is in front.

Should I put prices on my website to get more enquiries?

Not always, but a sense of the price range helps visitors work out whether you're a fit. That saves you enquiries from people you were too expensive for anyway.

Catermonkey picks up the enquiry as it comes in and turns it into a quote using your own prices and menus, so you can reply the same day instead of that evening.

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