The website conversion scorecard: good or high-converting?

Key takeaways

The GBL Conversion Gap Scorecard scores a website on five tests (Clarity, Proof, Friction, Action and Follow-up) from 0 to 2 each, giving a total out of 10. It takes about 30 minutes and shows whether a site is high-converting, good but leaking, or a brochure, and which test to fix first.

• 8 to 10: high-converting. Protect it and improve the weakest test.
• 5 to 7: a good website that leaks enquiries. Most sites land here.
• 4 or below: a brochure. Fix clarity and follow-up before anything else.
• 30 minutes on a phone is enough to score a site honestly.

What is the GBL Conversion Gap Scorecard?

The GBL Conversion Gap Scorecard is a 10-point assessment that measures the gap between a good website and a high-converting one. It uses five tests, each scored 0 (missing), 1 (partly there) or 2 (done well), and it is designed to be completed by a business owner on a phone, without analytics expertise.

We built it because owners were asking 'is my website any good?' and getting design opinions in return. The scorecard replaces taste with questions a buyer would ask.

• The difference between a good website and a high-converting website

How do you score Clarity?

Show your homepage and top service page to someone who does not know the business for five seconds, then ask what you do, for whom and where. Score 2 if they get all three, 1 if they get one or two, 0 if they cannot say.

• Write a website value proposition visitors understand in five seconds

How do you score Proof?

Look at each main claim on your top three pages. Score 2 if specific proof (a number, named project, detailed review) sits beside most claims, 1 if proof exists but lives on a separate page, 0 if there is no specific proof at all.

• Where to place social proof so it lifts enquiries

How do you score Friction?

On a phone, over mobile data, time yourself from landing on a service page to sending an enquiry. Score 2 if it takes under a minute with no problems, 1 if it takes longer or something is awkward, 0 if you hit an error, a slow page or a dead end.

• Website friction: the small obstacles that stop enquiries

How do you score Action?

Check each key page for one obvious next step. Score 2 if every key page has one dominant action suited to the visitor, 1 if actions exist but compete or only appear at the bottom, 0 if the only route is a contact page in the menu.

• Website call to action examples that get clicked

How do you score Follow-up?

Answer two questions: can you say how many enquiries the website produced last month and from which source, and is every enquiry answered within one working hour? Score 2 for yes to both, 1 for yes to one, 0 for neither.

• Track every website enquiry to its source
• Slow response to enquiries: what it costs and the fix

What do the scores usually look like?

Most UK small business sites we score for the first time land between 4 and 6. Clarity and Friction are often 1s, Proof is often a 1 because testimonials live on their own page, and Follow-up is the most common 0 because calls and WhatsApp are not tracked. Sites that recently had an expensive redesign score no higher on average, which is the whole point of the gap.

• Most common weakest test: Follow-up (tracking and reply speed).
• Most common quick win: Proof moved beside claims.
• Most improved after one quarter of work: Clarity.

What are the limits of a scorecard?

A scorecard shows where a site is weak. It does not replace real data. A site can score 9 and still get few enquiries if nobody visits it, or if it attracts the wrong visitors. Use the scorecard alongside enquiries by source, and re-score after each change to see whether the gap is closing.

• Run a website conversion audit in one afternoon

What does this look like in practice?

A UK garden design firm scored 4: Clarity 1, Proof 1, Friction 1, Action 1, Follow-up 0. The owner had planned a £9,000 redesign. We started with Follow-up (tracking and a reply rule), then Clarity and Proof on the top pages. Three months later the site scored 8, the redesign was postponed, and the owner could see enquiries by source for the first time.

• See client work
• Website Design & Development for UK businesses

Scorecard summary

• Clarity: offer, audience and area understood in five seconds.
• Proof: specific evidence beside the main claims.
• Friction: enquiry sent on a phone in under a minute.
• Action: one dominant next step on every key page.
• Follow-up: enquiries tracked by source and answered within one working hour.
• Re-score every quarter and fix the lowest test first.

Next step

Score your site this week. If it lands below 8, you have found the gap between a good website and a high-converting one, and you know where to start closing it.