These days practically everyone who starts a business also commissions a website — one that is supposed to act as their business card or deliver specific goals: sales, enquiries, brand building. Yet when we go to an agency or hand the job to a company, we often forget to tell them what the site is actually for and what tasks it should perform — and, to make life easier, the company sometimes never asks.
That is why, some time after such a website is built and handed over, disappointment sets in, along with the questions: what did I do wrong? I have a website, it looks good, it's exactly what I wanted — but nobody is getting in touch. All this time has passed and I've had barely a handful of emails and phone calls. Where is the mistake?
In short
A company website usually fails to bring in clients for a few reasons: nobody can find it (no SEO and no traffic), it was built to please the owner rather than the customer and a concrete goal, it has no clear offer or call to action, or it loads slowly and works poorly on mobile. Merely existing online is not enough — a website needs traffic (SEO or ads), a clear message and a path that leads the visitor towards contacting you or buying.
We build websites for ourselves, not for the customer and a concrete goal
What often happens is the classic case of the CEO falling in love with their own website or project vision. The client arrives with a very specific design in mind, but it frequently strays far from current standards and is overloaded with unnecessary elements, which hurts how it is received both by customers and by Google.
At that point there are two options: build the site as requested and take the money, or talk to the client, share your concerns and show concrete examples of how it can be done better. See the most common mistakes made when designing a website.
Complicated navigation and design
It may turn out that your website or online store is simply too complicated and unintuitive. As a result, visitors leave quickly without taking any meaningful action. This is easy to verify: open Google Analytics and trace how people move through the site. If you are getting 100–300 visits a day yet no sales or enquiries, check your bounce rate. If it is high — 40% or more — it may mean visitors are not finding what they expected, or that the design simply puts them off and they cannot find their way around.
An outdated website
If you want to project the image of a serious company, you certainly make sure your office, building or shop looks its best. You replace furniture and equipment, repaint, rearrange the merchandise to lift sales — so why do you neglect your website? It is your shopfront on the internet, open to everyone 24 hours a day, and if it is outdated and off-putting, it certainly does not build a positive image of your business.
The site is not RESPONSIVE (RWD)
If your website is not adapted to mobile devices, you can be sure you are losing a large share of potential customers. First of all, Google rewards websites that work well across different devices. So if your site is not mobile-friendly while your competitor's is — and assuming all other ranking factors are equal — it is all but certain that your competitor will appear higher in the search results than you.
The second very important reason to take care of a mobile-friendly website is that more and more people browse and buy through these devices. These are mostly consumers who need a specific solution fast, or who have a spare moment to browse and research products they plan to buy. It is worth capturing that traffic and giving mobile users a comfortable browsing experience.
In its official announcements, Google has stated that mobile-friendliness is one of the most important factors taken into account when evaluating a site for SEO.
Optimise your website
A well-optimised website is the foundation:
- Make sure the site loads fast. Optimise images and trim unnecessary JS and CSS.
- Write content in the language of benefits.
- Offer quick ways to get in touch through different channels, e.g. live chat.
- Use high-quality graphics.
- Place contact forms on subpages (give each form its own identifier — it will come in handy during campaigns).
- Keep the number of fields in contact forms and at checkout to a minimum.
- After every update, check that everything still works — that contact forms send and the purchase process can be completed.
I land on the page and I instantly know
The moment a visitor lands on your site, they must very quickly get a clear answer to the query they typed into Google. Even if they did not land directly on the subpage that answers their question, a well-structured site and clear content should let them move on quickly and find out whether your company can deliver the service or has the right product for them.
I have visited websites where I read about what the company does, what awards it has won and so on — and still could not work out what it actually does and how it could help me. In my view, another mistake is writing in jargon that is incomprehensible to customers, who have no obligation to know all the industry terminology.
No connection between the website and social media
Perhaps the products or services you offer require more time before a purchase decision is made, and need the reassurance of so-called social proof — confirmation of trust from other people. Social media is exactly where you can demonstrate how many people trust you or have used your services or products and confirm it in their reviews, which builds your credibility. Moreover, when a potential customer is not ready to buy yet and postpones the decision, there is a chance they will like your profile and start following you — giving you the opportunity to build a lasting relationship. I will not go into the Pixel and Facebook Ads here, or the possibilities that integrating Facebook with your website opens up, because that is a topic for a separate article.
No buttons or sections — no Call to Action (CTA)
A common problem on websites is the lack of a clear call to action — a visible prompt encouraging the visitor to take a specific step. It might be a newsletter signup, a link to your contact page or a contact form. There is nothing wrong with that; quite the opposite — you are clearly showing users what you expect from them and making it easier for them to act.
No trust-building elements
When buying or ordering online, people often worry whether the ordered service or goods will arrive at all, or live up to their expectations. That is why it is essential to include elements that allow the customer to trust you.
Elements that build trust:
- Company registration number, VAT number, company address
- Photos of your premises, office or workshop
- Customer reviews and references
- Logos of companies you work with — partners or clients
- Media mentions, coverage of company events
- A list of achievements, diplomas, certificates
- Insightful articles that build your image as an industry expert
Such elements raise users' trust in you or your company. They are worth taking care of especially when you provide or sell high-value products, or services that require proving you will deliver as expected.
No measurement, just guessing
A very common mistake — visible on clients' websites and across the internet — is a site that collects no data about its traffic at all. If we do not know who visits us, where they come from, which pages they view and at what point they leave, then we are essentially working blind and cannot plan or improve our activities, because there is nothing to base them on.
Not measuring website traffic is something I genuinely struggle to understand, because there are plenty of excellent free tools available. The most popular is of course Google Analytics — if you do not have it yet, stop reading this article and set it up right now, do not waste time. This tool will also help you measure every marketing campaign, online and offline. I have worked in marketing for many years, and proper data analysis can still reveal so much that without it we are far less effective. Install it, get familiar with it, and see who visits your site most often, where they come from — and why they do not convert.
Expectations set too high
Another common mistake is expecting too much from a website on its own. Nowadays practically every self-respecting company has a website, while the number of positions in the search results is limited. If we do not support the website with marketing activities, it may turn out that it never breaks through the competition and traffic stays low. Furthermore, if you operate in a niche industry or run a local business, it may turn out that the local community goes to companies they already know rather than searching for them online. If only a fraction of people look for these products or services on the internet, that traffic may simply be too small.
Summary
Remember to build your website around a concrete goal and hold it accountable for that goal. Make sure the site loads as fast as possible, the content answers the visitor's query and the images are properly optimised for the web. If your site is not mobile-friendly — or Google does not see it as such — forget about high rankings. You can check how Google rates your site here: https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/ and whether it sees it as mobile-friendly here: https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly. If your site is old, refresh it. Let customers stay in touch with you on social media. Show customers they can trust you. Measure and review how users behave on your site. If you spot problems, work on solving them. I wish you good luck and high conversions!
Your website isn't bringing in clients? Let's find out why
Every problem described above can be diagnosed and fixed. At the SEMTAK Marketing Agency we start with data, not guesswork:
- Website SEO audit — we will pinpoint the exact reasons behind the lack of traffic and conversions.
- A modern website — when your current one is outdated or not responsive.
- SEO services — systematic work on your visibility in Google.
