Why visitors leave without enquiring, and what to check

01

What does it mean for a small business website to fail?

A website fails when it does not produce the enquiries, bookings or sales it was built for. Having a site is not the goal. The goal is a measurable action from the right people, such as a call, a form, a booking or a purchase.

Start with one sentence: "This site exists so that [type of customer] can [action]." Then count how often that action happens each month.

The grouping into six is ours. Each section backs its explanation with a primary source where one exists.

02

Why do visitors leave my website within seconds?

Visitors leave quickly when they cannot tell what you do, who it is for and what to do next. Research on page visits found people often leave in 10 to 20 seconds, so the top of your homepage must answer all three questions at once.

The figure comes from Nielsen Norman Group, reporting on browser data collected for Microsoft Research (Liu, White and Dumais, 2010) covering more than 200,000 pages. The data is old, so treat it as a pattern, not a rule for your site. Nielsen advised communicating your value proposition within 10 seconds.

1. 01
   Show

   Open your homepage on a phone and show only the top of the screen to someone who does not know your business, for 10 seconds.

2. 02
   Ask

   Ask what you sell, who it is for and what they would do next.

3. 03
   CompareFull step in the download ↓
4. 04
   FixFull step in the download ↓

03

Why can people not find my website on Google?

Google finds pages mainly by following links from pages it already knows, then ranks them for relevance. A site that is not indexed, has vague page titles or says little about what you do and where will not appear for customers' searches.

First check whether Google has your pages at all. Type site:yourdomain.co.uk into Google. If nothing appears, open Search Console and check the site has been crawled. Google's SEO Starter Guide covers page titles, descriptions, link text and image alt text as the basics.

Results take time. The guide says some changes take effect in hours and others take several months, and suggests waiting a few weeks before judging results. It says no secrets automatically rank a site first, so be cautious about any supplier who promises first place.

04

Is my website too slow or hard to use on a phone?

Google uses the mobile version of your site for indexing and ranking, and publishes targets for loading speed, responsiveness and stability called Core Web Vitals. A phone version that hides content or loads slowly can lose visitors and search visibility.

Google asks you to keep the same content, robots tags, structured data, title and meta description on mobile and desktop. A mobile page with less text than the desktop page is judged on the smaller version.

The targets apply at the 75th percentile of page loads, so three in four visits should meet them. Test with Google's free PageSpeed Insights and the Core Web Vitals report in Search Console.

05

Why do visitors not trust my website enough to get in touch?

Visitors trust a site when they can see who runs it, where it is, how to reach a real person and evidence that other customers were satisfied. A limited company must also show certain legal details on its website.

The Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Names and Trading Disclosures) Regulations 2015 require a company to show its registered name on its websites, along with the part of the UK where it is registered, its registered number and its registered office address. Parts of the regulations have been temporarily modified, so read the current text on legislation.gov.uk.

06

Does my small business website have to be accessible and follow privacy rules?

Both matter legally. The Equality Act 2010 code of practice says its obligations also apply to services provided on a website, and UK cookie rules require clear information and, for most cookies, consent. WCAG 2.2 is the benchmark used to test accessibility.

WCAG 2.2 is a W3C Recommendation with three conformance levels, A, AA and AAA. Level AA includes a 4.5:1 minimum contrast ratio for normal-size text.

On cookies, the ICO says advertising is never strictly necessary, so advertising cookies need consent. Analytics cookies can skip consent only if conditions are met: clear information, a simple free way to object, aggregate data used solely to improve your service, and any third party acting as your processor. Guidance moves, so check the latest ICO page. This is general information, not legal advice.

07

Who should look after my website after it launches?

One named person should own it and be responsible for updates, backups, security, content and results. Websites fail quietly when opening hours and prices go out of date, plug-ins are not updated, or nobody checks that enquiries arrive.

Also know who controls the accounts. The domain name, hosting, admin login and Google accounts should be registered to your business, with you holding the logins, not only your developer.

08

What does a small business website that wins customers contain?

It states what you do and where within seconds, offers one clear next step, shows contact details, backs claims with real evidence, works well on a phone, can be found, is accessible and meets the legal basics. These are the eight elements to check.

Each element can be judged without technical skill: read the top of the page, tap the main button on a phone and test speed with Google's tools.

09

Should I build my website myself or hire a professional?

Build it yourself when your needs are simple, you have the time and your message is clear. Hire a professional when the site must take bookings or payments, connect to other systems or handle personal data, or when your time is worth more than the build.

Costs vary with the tool, the scope and your own time, so get written quotes whichever route you choose.

Reeve Consult builds business websites, apps and platforms for UK businesses. The questions in the download are worth asking any supplier, including us.