Your Website Is Your Hardest-Working Salesperson

For many small businesses, the website is often just something you put up and forget about. It's there, it looks fine, but it's not treated like your hardest-working salesperson. The truth of it all is that your website should be making money for you by actively working 24/7 to bring in leads. But if you're not paying attention, you could be losing money instead.

Here's the brutal truth: Your website is either bringing in cash or silently bleeding it. And to make matters worse, the damage is usually invisible until you go looking for it. If your website is outdated, slow, or just isn't that well-designed, then it's probably leaking leads and revenue. You may not even be aware of how much it is costing you until you work out the missed opportunities over a year, which can easily add up to £10,000 or more.

Think about it. Each time a visitor leaves your site frustrated, abandons a form, or doesn't get what they need, that's a potential customer lost. Let's take a look at a few common mistakes that could be costing you leads—and how you can fix them.

4 Common Mistakes That Are Costing You Revenue

1. Poor Mobile Experience: Losing Customers in 3 Seconds

Over half of all web traffic nowadays comes through mobile devices. If your site isn't designed to look great on phones or tablets, you could be losing a huge chunk of your audience before they even get a chance to see what you offer.

When your website isn't mobile-friendly, visitors can have an awful experience. Try imagining having to load a slow site, or read and navigate it on your small phone—the likely result is that you leave it right then and move on to the next one.

What Can Go Wrong?

• Mobile devices take an eternity to load each page
• Text is too small to read without zooming
• Buttons are too small to click easily
• Layouts do not adapt well to different screen sizes

The result? You lose visitors—and that means you're losing leads. And it's not just the user experience that suffers; Google also penalises websites that aren't mobile-friendly in search rankings.

The Solution:

Make your website mobile-first. That is, it's designed to work great on mobile devices and then adapted to larger screens like desktops or tablets. Not only will this keep the users happy, it will also boost your SEO ranking.

2. No Clear Call to Action (CTA): Visitors Don't Know What to Do Next

Think about walking into a store and not seeing any indication of where to go, what to buy, or how to check out. You'd probably feel lost and would leave the store, right? That is what happens when your website lacks a clear call to action.

When visitors land on your site, they should know exactly what to do next. Without clear CTAs, your potential customers are left confused, and they won't take the next step toward engaging with your business. It could be something as simple as booking a consultation, downloading a guide, or contacting you for more info.

Common Mistakes Include:

• No visible "Book a Consultation", "Get a Quote", or "Contact Us" buttons
• CTAs buried beneath too much text
• Too many competing calls-to-action—no clear idea of what visitors should do next
• Contact information buried in the footer instead of easily found

The Solution:

Your website should have one clear primary CTA on each page. Whether it's to book a call, get a quote, or schedule a demo, the CTA should be prominent and easy to find. You can also include secondary CTAs, like signing up for a newsletter or accessing resources—but the focus should always be on driving visitors to take one specific action.

3. Slow Loading Speed: Every Second Is a Lost Opportunity

Living in a world where everything is happening fast, nobody will wait for your website to load. If your site takes longer than 3 seconds to load, you risk losing 30% of your visitors before they even get to see what you have to offer.

Why Are So Many SME Websites Slow?

• Cheap shared hosting
• Large, un-optimised images
• Too many elements on pages
• Outdated plugins or do-it-yourself website builders

It's not just that visitors will leave; Google also takes loading speed into consideration when it comes to ranking. With a slow website, your SEO performance may be impacted negatively, and it will be harder for potential customers to find you.

The Solution:

Improve your website's speed by:

• Upgrading to better hosting that can handle the traffic you're getting
• Compressing images without losing quality
• Removing superfluous plugins and elements to speed up your pages
• Using a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to speed up loading times for visitors across the globe

A faster website means happier visitors and better SEO performance.

4. The Hidden Cost of "Doing It In-House"

It may seem like a good idea to save money by developing your website yourself. After all, you know your business better than anyone else, right? But the truth is, a DIY website can cost you more in the long run.

When you take on the job of designing your website, you are not just spending money; you're losing a lot of valuable time, too. It's valuable time, which can be better utilised in growing your business, rather than repeatedly trying to learn how to use a website builder or make particular changes yourself. Plus, if your website ends up looking unprofessional or doesn’t convert visitors into leads, that’s money lost.

Common Problems with DIY Websites Include:

• Lack of expertise: Your website may look fine on the surface, but it might lack the design and functionality needed to convert visitors.
• Time wasted: Instead of focusing on running your business, you're spending hours learning how to create a website.
• Long-term costs: You might save a little now, but losing customers and not ranking well in search engines will cost you much more down the line.

The Solution:

Consider working with professionals who understand the ins and outs of web design and conversion optimisation instead of going the Do-It-Yourself route. That way, you will have a website that looks good but also performs and generates leads for your business.

What a High-Converting SME Website Actually Looks Like

A website that works for your business isn't just pretty; it's strategic. It's designed to capture the attention of visitors and move them to take action, be that making an inquiry, booking a consultation, or purchasing a product.

Here's what a high-converting website looks like:

A Clear, Value-Driven Headline: Your headline needs to let visitors know what you do immediately, and how you can help them.

A Clean, Professional Design: A modern, easy-to-navigate website engenders trust with your audience.

A Logical User Journey: It should be easy for visitors to understand how to get around your site, what to do next.

Social Proof and Trust Signals: Testimonials, client logos, and case studies build credibility.

Simple, Obvious Calls-to-Action: Make sure your calls-to-action stand out and can be found without difficulty.

Effective Lead Capture Forms: Keep forms simple and ask for just the right amount of information.

Conclusion: Stop Treating Your Website Like a Brochure

If your website has been sitting unchanged for years or was thrown together in-house, it's likely losing you customers. Your website should never just be an online brochure; it needs to be a powerful tool that works actively to bring in leads and support your business. It's not about making your website look pretty; it's also making it smarter, faster, and more focused on converting visitors into customers.