5 signs your website is quietly costing you customers.

Most websites don't fail loudly. They fail quietly. People land on them, get a little confused or a little impatient, and go back to Google to try the next business. You never hear about it. You just get fewer calls than you should.

Here are five signs your website is costing you customers, and what to do about each one.

1. It's slow on a phone

Most local searches happen on mobile, often in a car park or on a lunch break. If your site takes more than a few seconds to show something useful, many visitors won't wait. Test it yourself on your own phone, on mobile data, not office Wi-Fi.

Fix: compress images, remove plugins you don't use, and check your hosting. Google's free PageSpeed Insights tool will show you what's slowing it down.

2. Visitors can't tell what you do in five seconds

A homepage that opens with "Welcome to our website" or a vague slogan makes people work too hard. Within a glance, visitors should know what you do, where you do it, and how to get in touch.

Fix: rewrite your top section as a plain sentence. For example: "Licensed electricians for homes and businesses in Fremantle and Perth's southern suburbs."

3. Your phone number is hard to find

If people have to hunt for your contact details, many won't. On a phone, your number should be tappable and visible without scrolling far.

Fix: put your phone number and a clear "Get a quote" or "Book now" button in the header of every page.

4. It looks out of date

A 2019 copyright year, an old promotion or a "News" page last updated three years ago all send the same message: this business might not be active. Customers notice, even if they don't say so.

Fix: remove anything time-sensitive you won't keep updated, refresh your photos, and check your hours and prices.

5. Your contact form doesn't work

This one is more common than you'd think. Forms break after updates, emails go to spam, or they're sent to an address nobody checks any more. Every lost form is a lost customer who thinks you ignored them.

Fix: send yourself a test enquiry today, and then once a month.

A quick self-check

Ask a friend who doesn't know your business to find your website on their phone, tell you what you do, and find a way to contact you. Watch without helping. If they hesitate, your customers do too.

If you'd like a second set of eyes, send me your website and I'll tell you honestly what I'd fix first. Often it's a few small changes, not a full rebuild.