This is one of the most frustrating places to be. You can see people visiting your website, but the phone doesn’t ring and the inbox stays quiet. The good news is it’s usually one of five things, and most of them are fixable.
1. It’s not clear what you do or who it’s for
People decide in a few seconds whether they’re in the right place. A clever headline or a slideshow of nice photos doesn’t help them. “Gutter cleaning across Southampton and the New Forest” does. Say what you do, who it’s for and where, right at the top.
2. There’s no reason to pick you
Visitors are comparing you with two or three others. What makes you the safe choice? Real photos of you and your work, a few honest reviews, examples of jobs you’ve done and clear prices or starting prices all help. A page that could belong to any business in your trade doesn’t.
3. Getting in touch is harder than it should be
Check this on your phone. Can you tap the number to call? Is the contact form short? Does it actually work? One of my pet hates: email links that open a mail program most people haven’t set up, so nothing happens when they click. A simple form or a booking link works far better.
4. You’re getting the wrong visitors
Not all traffic is equal. If most of your visitors come from places you don’t work or are searching for something you don’t do, the numbers look good but nothing happens. Your analytics will show where people are coming from and what they searched for.
5. You can’t see what’s happening
Without proper tracking you’re guessing. You need to know how many people visit, which pages they look at, and how many actually get in touch. Every site I build goes live with that set up, because you can’t fix what you can’t see.
Quick checks you can do today
- Look at your homepage on your phone and read only what’s on screen before scrolling
- Fill in your own contact form and make sure the message arrives
- Tap your phone number and check it rings
- Ask a friend outside your industry to explain what you do after ten seconds on the site
What good looks like
When I rebuilt Jack Kempton’s golf coaching website, we focused on making lessons feel as relaxed as they are and making booking easy, with tracking and search set up before launch. It brought in 57 enquiries in its first four months, and more than half his visitors now find him on Google. You can see that project here.
If your site gets visitors but no work, this is the problem I fix. And if you’re paying for ads that aren’t working, read why ads get clicks but no calls.
