The short answer. When people visit but don’t get in touch, it’s usually one of three things: they can’t tell quickly what you offer, getting in touch is harder than it should be, or the enquiries are arriving and getting lost. All three can be checked in about 20 minutes.
Owners often tell us “the website isn’t working” when what they mean is “the phone doesn’t ring”. Traffic is only half of it. Below are the seven causes we see most often on small business sites, then a quick check you can run yourself.
The seven usual causes
1. The first screen doesn’t say what you do
Visitors decide in a few seconds whether they’re in the right place. A slogan like “Excellence in every detail” tells them nothing. The first screen should say what you offer, who it’s for and where, in plain words, with one clear button.
2. There’s no obvious next step
If the contact page is the only way to get in touch, many visitors never find it. Put the same call to action in the header, after each section and at the end of every page. Pick one main action, like “Request a free call” or “Order takeout”, and use it everywhere.
3. The form is broken, or goes nowhere
This one is more common than anyone likes to admit. Forms stop sending after a plugin update, messages land in a spam folder, or they go to an old employee’s inbox. Some “forms” only open the visitor’s email app, and many people give up at that point.
4. The form asks for too much
Every extra required field loses people. Name, email, what you need and a short message is enough to start a conversation. Budget, company size and phone number can be optional, or asked on the call.
5. It’s slow or awkward on phones
Most small business traffic now comes from phones. Large images, pop-ups that cover the page, tiny buttons and text you have to zoom to read all push people away before they reach your contact details.
6. Nothing proves you’re real
Visitors look for signs that other people trusted you: real projects, client names, reviews, a founder’s face and name, an address. Stock photos and anonymous claims don’t do that job.
7. The visitors aren’t the right people
Sometimes the site is fine and the traffic is wrong. Ads aimed too broadly, or pages that rank for searches unrelated to what you sell, bring visitors who were never going to buy. You only see this if you look at where visitors come from.
The 20-minute check
- Send yourself an enquiry from your phone (5 minutes). Use your own website’s form, then check the inbox it should reach, including spam. If nothing arrives within a few minutes, you’ve found your biggest problem.
- Show your homepage to someone for five seconds (2 minutes). Then ask what you do and what they’d click. If they can’t answer, rewrite the first screen.
- Count the clicks to contact you (2 minutes). From the homepage and from your most visited page, it should take one click.
- Run Google PageSpeed Insights on your homepage (3 minutes). Look at the mobile result. Slow scores usually come from oversized images, which are an easy fix.
- Open Google Search Console, Performance report (5 minutes). Check which searches bring people to your site. If they don’t match what you sell, your content needs to change, not your design.
- Check where enquiries come from (3 minutes). If your form doesn’t record the source of each enquiry, add tracking so you know which channels are worth your time and money.
What to fix first
Fix them in this order: a broken form, then the first screen and the call to action, then phone speed, then proof. Only after those are working is it worth spending more on ads or content to bring in more visitors.
On every site we build, the enquiry form is tested before launch, sends straight to your inbox, and records where each enquiry came from. On our Website Care Plan we test it again every month and send a one-page report on visits and enquiries, so a broken form is caught in weeks, not months.
Questions owners ask
How many enquiries should my website get?
It depends heavily on your industry, prices and traffic, so be wary of anyone quoting a universal number. The useful comparison is your own site, month by month, once tracking is in place.
Should I redesign the whole site?
Usually not first. Most of the causes above can be fixed on the site you have. A redesign makes sense when the platform itself is holding you back, or when the site can’t be edited easily.
Want a second pair of eyes? Send us your website link and we’ll walk through these checks with you on a free call.