Owners usually blame the economy, the season or the competition when enquiries slow down. Often the site lost the visitor before any of that came into play. Here are five problems that come up again and again, in the order a visitor meets them.
1. It is slow to show anything
A visitor on a phone sees a blank screen or a spinner while a large photo downloads. Every second of nothing is a second in which the back button looks attractive. The fix is rarely dramatic: images resized for phones and saved in modern formats, fonts that do not block the page, and fewer scripts loading before the headline.
2. Something is in the way
A newsletter popup before the visitor knows what you sell. A cookie banner covering half the screen. A chat bubble, a promotion bar and an animated banner, all at once. Each one asks for attention the visitor has not given you yet. Keep what you legally need, make it small, and let the page speak first.
3. The headline says nothing
“Welcome to our website” tells a visitor nothing. Neither does “Quality you can trust”. A useful first line says what you do, for whom, and where: “Custom kitchens for Austin homes.” It is less clever and much more effective, because the visitor can decide in one glance that they are in the right place.
4. There is no obvious next step
When a page offers six links of equal weight, or one small “click here” at the bottom, visitors leave without deciding. Pick the one action that matters most on each page, book a measure, call now, request a quote, and make it the most visible thing after the headline. Everything else is secondary.
5. The details say “cheap”
Three different fonts, a crowded menu, a copyright year from a decade ago and “Not secure” in the address bar. None of these stops a visitor on its own. Together they suggest a business that does not pay attention, and visitors assume the work will be the same. One type system, a short menu, HTTPS and a current footer cost little and change the impression completely.
How to check your own site
- Open your homepage on your own phone, on mobile data, not Wi-Fi.
- Count the seconds until you can read the headline.
- Note everything that appears before you can read it.
- Ask someone who does not know the business what you do, after five seconds.
- Ask them what they would tap next.
If any of those answers surprises you, that is where to start.
The scroll demo on our home page fixes a typical small business site one of these problems at a time.