7 Signs Your Business Website Is Costing You Customers
Seven common problems that send visitors to a competitor, how to check your own site for each in a few minutes, and what fixes them.
Most websites don’t lose customers in a dramatic way. Someone taps your link, waits a second too long, can’t find the phone number, and goes back to the search results. You never hear about it.
Each of the seven signs below takes a few minutes to check, and most of the checks only need your phone.
1. It’s hard to use on a phone
Most people who look you up will do it on a phone, often while they’re out. If they have to pinch and zoom to read the text, or the menu covers half the screen, many of them will give up.
Check it: open your site on your phone and try to do the three things customers most often want: find your hours, find your address, and contact you.
The fix: a layout designed for small screens first, with text you can read without zooming and buttons big enough to tap.
2. It’s slow to load
People are impatient on phones, especially on a weak signal. A page that shows a blank screen for several seconds loses visitors before they see anything.
Check it: open your site on your phone using mobile data, not Wi-Fi. Google’s free PageSpeed Insights tool will also score any page and point to what’s slowing it down.
The fix: smaller images, less code, and fewer add-ons and plugins. Sites built on builders with many apps attached are often the slowest.
3. Your details are out of date
Old hours, last year’s prices, a menu that no longer matches the counter, a phone number that rings nowhere. Each one costs you trust, and some cost you the visit itself, when someone turns up to a closed door.
Check it: read your site as if you were a customer. Compare your hours, address and phone number with your Google listing. They should match exactly.
The fix: update what’s wrong, and decide who will keep it current, whether that’s you, a staff member, or someone you pay to look after the site.
4. People can’t tell what you do
Visitors decide very quickly whether they’re in the right place. A home page that opens with a vague slogan or a large photo and no words makes them work to find out what you sell and where.
Check it: show your home page to someone who doesn’t know your business for five seconds, then ask them what you do and where you are.
The fix: say it plainly at the top of the page: what you do, who it’s for and where you are. Clever lines can come after the clear one.
5. Contacting you takes too many steps
If someone has to copy your phone number by hand, fill in a long form, or search a contact page for an email address, fewer of them will get in touch.
Check it: on your phone, tap your phone number. Does it start a call? Send yourself a message through your contact form. Does it arrive?
The fix: tap-to-call numbers, a short form that’s been tested, and your phone number and address visible on every page, not only on the contact page.
6. People can’t find you when they search
If someone searches your business name and finds a directory listing, an old address or a competitor before they find you, your website isn’t doing its job.
Check it: search your business name, then search what you do plus your area, as a customer would. Note where your site appears, and whether the details shown are right.
The fix: clear page titles and descriptions, your services and service area written out in plain words, and business details that match your Google listing everywhere they appear.
7. It looks like nobody’s touched it in years
An old copyright year in the footer, links that go nowhere, a blog whose last post is from years ago, photos of a shop that has since changed. Visitors notice, and some will wonder if you’re still open.
Check it: click every link on your site. Look at the footer. Look at the newest date anywhere on it.
The fix: remove what’s out of date rather than leaving it up. A small site that’s accurate beats a large one that isn’t.
What to do next
If you found one or two of these, they’re usually quick to fix. If you found four or more, it may cost less to start fresh than to patch the old site.
We build small business websites that are fast, easy to use on a phone and written in plain words: $2,000 for every page you need, ready in 1 week. See our pricing, or tell us about your business and we’ll tell you honestly whether you need a new site or just a few fixes.