Why your website isn't generating leads

Start with the three numbers you already have

Before changing anything, get three numbers: visitors per month, enquiries per month, and the percentage between them. Most owners have the first, guess the second, and have never calculated the third.

For a service business, a well-built site converts somewhere between two and five per cent of visitors into enquiries. Below two per cent and something is broken. Above five and your problem is traffic, not the website.

If you cannot get these numbers, that is finding number one. Analytics, a form that records its source, and a note of where phone enquiries came from will do.

The nine checks

1. The five-second test Can a stranger tell what you do, who for, and where you operate, without scrolling? If not, nothing else on this list matters.
2. One action per page Every page should have a single obvious next step. Three competing buttons is the same as none.
3. Speed on 4G Test the site on a phone on mobile data, not your office wifi. Over three seconds and you are losing people before the page paints.
4. Contact friction Phone number tappable on mobile. Form under five fields. Every extra field costs you enquiries.
5. Proof Real reviews, named clients, photographs of actual work. Stock photography of a handshake proves nothing.
6. Google Business Profile Complete, categorised correctly, linked to the site, with recent reviews. For local service businesses this often outperforms the website itself.
7. Service pages that match search One page per service, named the way customers say it, not the way you say it internally.
8. Response time An enquiry that reaches you in ten minutes converts far better than one you see the next morning. Route the form to your phone, not only an inbox.
9. Attribution Can you say where last month's enquiries came from? If not, you cannot tell which fix worked.

The one most people skip

Speed of response beats almost every design change you could make. If two firms quote the same price and one replies within the hour, the fast one usually wins.

This is not a website problem, which is exactly why website projects never fix it. Wire the enquiry form to a notification you will actually see, and decide who answers it.

What to fix first

Order matters, because each fix makes the next one measurable.

1. Measurement You cannot improve what you cannot see.
2. Mobile speed The cheapest win, and it affects every other metric on the list.
3. Clarity of the offer The five-second test.
4. A single call to action One per page, on every page.
5. Proof Reviews and real work, not stock imagery.
6. Response time The process behind the form, not the form itself.

Common questions