Why isn't my website getting enquiries?

"We have a website but nothing ever comes through it" is the most common thing owners say to us. It is also the most fixable, once you know which of three very different problems you actually have. Guessing wastes months. Measuring takes ten minutes.

First, work out which problem you have

You need two numbers: how many people visit the site each month, and how many of them do something. If you do not have analytics, set up Google Search Console today. It is free, it takes a few minutes to verify, and within a couple of days it shows how many people found you on Google and what they searched for. Add a simple analytics tool for the total.

Then read the numbers like this:

A rough benchmark for a local service site is one to three enquiries per hundred visitors. Well below that, and the site is losing people it has already won.

Problem 1: nobody is visiting

The site is fine, or might be, but nobody can find it. The usual causes:

• Google has not indexed it, or has indexed only the home page. Search Console will tell you. A missing sitemap, a "noindex" tag left on from development, or a site built entirely in images can all cause it.
• Your Google Business Profile does not link to it, or does not exist. For a local business the profile is where most Google traffic starts.
• There is nothing to rank for. A home page, an "about" page and a contact form give Google no page to match to "sports physio Richmond". Google ranks pages, not businesses, so each service needs a page with its name on it.
• The site is new. Google takes weeks to crawl and months to trust. If it launched last month, give it time while you fix the rest.

The fix is the foundation we describe in What is SEO and how does it work? and the profile work in How do I rank in the Google map pack? None of it is fast, and all of it compounds.

Problem 2: the wrong people are visiting

Traffic looks healthy but the searches are wrong. Three patterns:

• Nearly all your visits are people searching your business name. Those are existing customers checking your hours. Strangers are not finding you, which is Problem 1 wearing a disguise.
• One blog post from years ago brings most of the traffic, for something you do not sell. A recipe, a how-to, an opinion piece. Those readers were never going to enquire.
• You are a local business ranking nationally, or an ad campaign is sending people from the wrong city or with the wrong intent.

The fix is pages that match the searches you want: the service and the suburb in the page title, with text that says who it is for. If an old post brings traffic you cannot use, add a clear line at the top pointing to what you actually do, and a link to the relevant service.

Problem 3: people visit and leave

The most common case, and the one with the quickest wins. The right people are arriving and the site is losing them. Work through these in order, because they are in rough order of how much each one costs:

1. Speed on a phone. Open the site on mobile data. If it takes more than three seconds, that alone can explain it.
2. The first screen. Does it say what you do, where, and for whom? If the reader has to work it out, many will not.
3. The price. "Contact for a quote" on every service sends people to the competitor with a number. A starting price fixes it; we cover how in Should I put prices on my website?
4. The phone number. In the header, on every page, tappable. Not hidden on a contact page.
5. The form. Send yourself one. Broken forms are far more common than owners think, and nobody tells you when one fails. Keep it to three or four fields.
6. Proof. Reviews with names, real photos, named clients. A site with nothing to back it up reads as new.
7. The next step. One clear button, one colour, visible without scrolling, that says what happens: "Get a quote", "Book online", "Call now".

If several of these are missing, the site has the broader problem we describe in Website red flags that make customers leave, and patching may cost more than rebuilding.

The ten-minute check

1. Open Search Console. Note monthly clicks and the top five searches.
2. Open your site on your phone on mobile data. Time it.
3. Read the first screen only. Say out loud what the business does and where.
4. Find the price and the phone number without scrolling.
5. Send yourself an enquiry through the form.
6. Look for a review, a real photo and a clear button.

Whichever step made you wince is where to start.

What asking looks like

A site that gets enquiries does a few simple things. It puts the phone number in the header. It states a starting price. It has one short form with the reply time next to it ("we reply within one business day"). On a phone, the call button stays visible as you scroll. And it says, plainly, what to do next. None of that is design flair. It is the site asking for the work, which most sites forget to do.

The bottom line

No enquiries means no visitors, the wrong visitors, or visitors who leave. Search Console tells you which in minutes. The first two are fixed with pages that match real searches and a proper Google Business Profile. The third is fixed by speed, a plain first screen, a visible price and phone number, a working form and one clear button. If you would like a straight answer on which problem your site has, send us the address and we will tell you.