2 min read · By Alec Williams
Why your small business website is costing you customers
You put your address on it, a phone number, a few photos. So why aren’t the calls coming in? These are the problems we see most often, and how to check for them yourself.
Most small business websites aren’t broken. They load, they have the right phone number, and they look fine on the owner’s laptop. The trouble is usually quieter than that. Small problems add up until a visitor gives up and calls the next business on the list. You never hear about those people, which is what makes this so easy to miss.
Here are the issues we run into most often.
It’s slow on a phone
Most local searches happen on phones, often on a cellular connection. A site that feels quick on office Wi-Fi can take several seconds to load in a parking lot. People don’t wait long. Large images that were never resized are the most common culprit, followed by plugins and widgets that nobody uses anymore.
The phone number is hard to find or can’t be tapped
If someone has to scroll, hunt, or copy your number into their dialer, some of them won’t bother. Your number should be visible near the top of every page on mobile, and tapping it should start a call.
It doesn’t say clearly what you do and where
Visitors decide in a few seconds whether they’re in the right place. A headline like “Quality you can trust” doesn’t tell them anything. “Roof repair and replacement in Spokane and Spokane Valley” does. Say what you do and the area you serve, in plain words, at the top of the home page.
The information is out of date
Old hours, a service you no longer offer, photos from ten years ago, a copyright date from 2019. Each one is small, but together they make people wonder whether you’re still in business.
There’s no proof you’re good at this
People trust other customers more than they trust you. Reviews, photos of real jobs, and short examples of work you’ve done carry a lot of weight. Stock photos of smiling models do the opposite.
The contact form goes nowhere
This one is more common than you’d think. A form gets set up years ago, the email address it sends to changes, and messages quietly disappear. Fill out your own form today and make sure it arrives.
A ten-minute check you can do now
- Open your site on your phone using cellular data, not Wi-Fi. Time how long it takes.
- Try to call yourself from the home page with one tap.
- Read your headline and ask whether a stranger would know what you do and where.
- Check your hours, services and photos for anything out of date.
- Submit your contact form and confirm the message arrives.
If any of those turned up a problem, fixing it will probably do more for you than a redesign. If several did, it might be time to talk about a new site. Either way, we’re happy to take a look and give you an honest read. Get in touch.