A website can look completely fine and still not bring in any work. Most of the reasons are boring and fixable, and you can find them yourself in about ten minutes. Open your site on your phone and go through this list.
Can a stranger tell what you do in three seconds? Not your industry — the actual thing. 'Ottawa plumber, same-day service' beats 'Excellence in residential solutions' every time. Read your homepage headline out loud. If it could belong to any company in your industry, it isn't doing anything.
Is your phone number visible without scrolling? On a phone, right at the top, tappable. A surprising number of small business sites hide the one piece of information most visitors came for.
How long does it take to load on data, not wi-fi? Turn wi-fi off and load it. If you're waiting more than a few seconds, you're losing people who will never know they were about to be a customer.
Is there any evidence you're real? A photo of you or your van, the town you're in, a couple of reviews, a licence number. People are checking whether you're a real business before they call. Give them the answer.
Does anything on it lie about how old it is? A copyright date from three years ago, a promotion that ended, a team member who left. Small things, but they make a visitor wonder what else is out of date.
None of this needs a designer. If you fix these five yourself and the phone rings more, that's a good outcome and you've spent nothing.
Send me your website.
I'll come back with two or three specific things I'd change, and why. It's free, and it's useful whether you hire me or not.
