7 signs your website is costing you customers

Most small business websites do not fail loudly. They fail quietly: a visitor arrives, gets confused or waits too long, and goes back to Google to pick someone else. You never hear about it. Here are seven signs that your website is doing this to you, and what to do about each one.

1. It is slow on a phone

Most people will find you on their phone, often on mobile data. If your page takes several seconds to show anything useful, many of them will not wait. Google measures this too: in its Core Web Vitals, a page counts as “good” when its main content appears within 2.5 seconds.

Check it: open your site on your own phone with Wi-Fi switched off, or run it through Google’s free PageSpeed Insights tool. Large images, too many plugins and cheap hosting are the usual causes.

2. Visitors cannot tell what you do in five seconds

The top of your homepage should answer three questions straight away: what you do, where you do it, and how to get in touch. “Welcome to our website” answers none of them. “Emergency electrician in Leeds, available 24/7” answers all three.

Check it: show your homepage to a friend for five seconds, then ask them what your business does and where. If they hesitate, rewrite your headline.

3. Your phone number and booking are hard to find

Every page should make the next step obvious. On a phone that means a tap-to-call number or a clear “Book now” button that stays easy to reach, not a contact page hidden in the menu.

Check it: count how many taps it takes to call you or book from your homepage on a phone. One is ideal. More than two is costing you enquiries.

4. It looks out of date

People judge a business by its website in seconds. Old photos, tiny text, a © 2016 in the footer or a “latest news” section from three years ago all suggest a business that might not be around anymore. Fair or not, visitors move on.

Check it: compare your site side by side with the top three competitors in your area. If yours looks the oldest, it probably feels the least trustworthy too.

5. The browser warns visitors it is not secure

If your site does not use HTTPS, browsers show a “Not secure” warning, especially on pages with forms. Few things put people off faster. Google also treats HTTPS as a signal when ranking pages.

Check it: look for the padlock or “Not secure” label next to your address in Chrome. A security certificate is often free with good hosting.

6. Nobody finds it on Google

A beautiful website that nobody visits is a very expensive business card. If you do not appear when people search for your service and your town, you are invisible to most new customers.

Check it: search for your main service plus your town in a private browser window. Then set up Google Search Console (it is free) to see which searches you actually appear for, and how often people click.

7. You cannot update it yourself

If changing your opening hours or adding a new service means emailing a developer and waiting a week, your site will drift out of date. Customers notice wrong prices and old information, and so does Google.

Check it: when did your website last change? If you cannot remember, it is time for a site you can update easily, or a partner who keeps it fresh for you.

What to do next

You do not need to fix everything at once. Start with speed and your call to action, because they affect every visitor. Then work on how you look and how easily people can find you.

If you would like a second opinion, our free SEO audit checks your speed, your Google visibility and the basics above in about a minute, and shows you where you are losing customers.