Why your website should be making enquiries easier

A lot of founders assume that if their website isn't bringing in enquiries, the whole thing needs ripping up and starting again. Usually, it doesn't.

It's usually the homepage

By far the biggest issue I see is the homepage. Either it's packed with text and nowhere for the eye to land, or it's gone the other way and barely says anything at all. No clear next step, no obvious call to action, no sense of what to do once you've landed there.

If a retreat facilitator's homepage doesn't tell a visitor within a few seconds what she offers and how to book, that visitor leaves. It doesn't matter how good the retreats actually are.

I see the same pattern across industries. A therapist's homepage that opens with a paragraph about her qualifications before ever mentioning what she actually helps people with. An interior designer's site that's all beautiful imagery and no indication of how to enquire. A coach whose homepage reads like a personal diary rather than something a stranger can land on and instantly understand.

None of these are bad businesses. They're just websites that haven't been asked to do a proper job yet.

A website has a job to do

A good website isn't just something that looks lovely, although that helps. It should tell people what you do, who it's for and why working with you makes sense, all within the first few seconds. It should answer the questions people usually have before they enquire, rather than leaving them to work it out or message you to ask. And it should guide them towards an obvious next step, whether that's booking a call, filling in a form or buying something outright.

If your website was built a couple of years ago and your services, audience or confidence have moved on since, it's worth asking whether the site has kept up.

Sometimes it's not the design at all

People don't always expect that if your site design works well and it represents your brand properly, the issue is often not the site at all; it's the SEO sitting behind it. You can have a beautiful, on brand website that nobody is actually finding.

That's why any website work I do isn't just "make it look nicer." It includes working out whether people can actually find the site in the first place, whether your pages are set up properly for the terms your ideal client is actually searching, and whether Google understands what your business does and who it's for.

A marketing professional scrolling through Pinterest on a laptop to gather creative inspiration for social media content and website design.

One small change, a noticeable rise in enquiries

One of my longest standing clients is a personal trainer specialising in supporting women through menopause. I built her site from scratch a couple of years ago, and we've kept updating it every couple of months since, including keeping the SEO current.

The most recent change was adding a booking system directly onto the site, so people can book their enquiry call there and then, rather than sending a message through the contact form and going back and forth over email trying to find a time that works. It's a small, practical change, but it's made the whole process feel far more slick for anyone landing on the site. She's seen a noticeable rise in enquiries since it went in.

This was an addition to the website that broke down that barrier. It's made it so much easier for people to enquire, and she's not getting people dropping off anymore, she's seen a huge spike in enquiries since it went in.

If you built it yourself, this isn't a dig

Most of the clients I see in this position have a DIY site, built themselves, usually a while ago, and never quite revisited since. That's completely understandable, you were busy running the actual business.

But it's also worth saying this applies just as much if your site wasn't DIY and it's still not converting. The starting point is the same either way, look at whether the site reflects your business now, and whether people can actually find it.

Let's find out what's actually holding yours back

I build and update Squarespace websites, so if you're not sure whether your site needs a redesign, a few strategic tweaks, or better SEO, that's exactly what a Social Brew Call is for.

Book your Social Brew Call here.

Have a look at the Squarespace Websites service page for more on how that work looks.