A website that's technically "live" isn't the same as a website that's working for you. A lot of small businesses have a site that ticks the box of existing, while quietly turning potential customers away before they ever pick up the phone. Here are the five signs I see most often, and what actually fixes them.
1. It takes more than a couple of seconds to load
Most people decide whether to stay on a page within the first few seconds, especially on mobile. If your site is slow — often because it's dragging in a bloated page builder, oversized images, or a dozen tracking scripts — a chunk of visitors leave before they've even seen what you offer. A fast, lean, purpose-built site fixes this at the root rather than patching around it.
2. It's not clear what you actually do, or where you are
It sounds basic, but it's astonishingly common: a homepage that leads with a vague slogan instead of saying plainly what the business does and who it's for. If someone has to scroll and hunt to work out "is this a plumber, and do they cover my area," you've already lost some of them.
3. There's no obvious way to get in touch
If your phone number, email, or contact form isn't visible within a couple of seconds of landing on any page, you're relying on people to go looking for it. Some will. Most won't bother — they'll just try the next search result instead.
4. It doesn't work properly on a phone
The majority of local searches happen on mobile. A site that was clearly designed for a desktop screen and then just "shrinks" awkwardly on a phone — tiny buttons, text you have to zoom in to read, menus that don't open properly — is actively pushing away most of your traffic.
5. It looks abandoned
An outdated copyright year, broken images, or content that clearly hasn't been touched since 2019 all quietly signal that a business might not be trading properly anymore, even if that's not true. Trust is fragile online, and small visual cues do a lot of work either way.
The common thread
None of these five things require a bigger budget to fix — they require a website that was actually built with the customer's first few seconds in mind, rather than one stitched together from a generic template. That's the whole approach behind how I build sites: fast, clear, mobile-first, and easy to get in touch through, every time.
A quick way to check your own site
Open your own website on your phone, away from your desk, and time yourself honestly:
- How many seconds did it take to load properly?
- Could you tell within five seconds what the business does and where it's based?
- Could you find a phone number or contact form without scrolling and hunting?
- Did every button and menu actually work properly on a touchscreen?
If any of those gave you pause, it's worth taking seriously — your customers are having the exact same experience, just without telling you about it.
Want a website that actually does this for your business?
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