Your website works for you around the clock. It can also quietly turn customers away around the clock, without anyone telling you. People rarely call to say your site was confusing. They just hit the back button and contact someone else.
The good news is that most website problems are easy to spot once you know what to look for. Here are seven signs your small business website may be costing you customers, plus a quick self-check you can run this week.
1. It Loads Slowly
Speed is the first impression. If a page takes too long to appear, or jumps around while it loads, many visitors will not stick around to see what you offer.
Google’s Core Web Vitals give you clear targets. For a good experience, Google says:
- The main content should load within 2.5 seconds (Largest Contentful Paint).
- The page should respond to taps and clicks within 200 milliseconds (Interaction to Next Paint).
- The layout should stay stable, with a Cumulative Layout Shift of 0.1 or less.
Quick check: Run your home page and top service pages through Google’s PageSpeed Insights, which reports on both mobile and desktop performance and suggests improvements. Common culprits include oversized images, too many plugins, and slow hosting.
2. It Is Hard to Use on a Phone
Most of your visitors are probably holding a phone. Pew Research Center’s 2025 survey found that 91% of U.S. adults own a smartphone. Google also uses the mobile version of a site’s content for indexing and ranking, so a weak mobile site can hurt you in search as well.
Quick check: Open your site on your own phone and try to do what a customer would do. Can you read the text without zooming? Are buttons easy to tap? Does the menu work? Can you fill out the contact form without frustration?
3. Visitors Cannot Tell What You Do
When someone lands on your home page, they should understand three things almost immediately: what you do, who you do it for, and where you do it. Vague headlines like “Welcome to our website” or “Excellence in everything” waste your most valuable space.
Quick check: Show your home page to someone who does not know your business for five seconds, then ask them what you do. If they cannot answer, rewrite your headline in plain language. “Licensed plumbing repairs for Houston homeowners” says more than any slogan.
4. It Is Hard to Contact You
Every page should make the next step obvious. If people have to hunt for your phone number, scroll through a long form, or guess whether you serve their area, you will lose some of them.
- Put your phone number and a clear call to action at the top of every page.
- Make phone numbers tap-to-call on mobile.
- Keep forms short. Ask only for what you need to follow up.
- Show your service area and hours where people can find them.
- Tell people what happens after they reach out, such as when they can expect a reply.
Quick check: Time how long it takes to find your phone number and contact form from three random pages.
5. It Does Not Feel Trustworthy
People want reassurance before they hand over their time, money, or personal information. Several things can undermine that trust:
- No secure connection. If your site does not use a secure HTTPS connection, Google Chrome can show an “Info” or “Not secure” symbol next to your web address. Google explains that this means someone may be able to view and change the information people send and get through the site.
- Outdated information. Old promotions, past event dates, and a copyright year from years ago make a business look inactive.
- Little social proof. BrightLocal’s 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey found that 47% of consumers will not use a business with fewer than 20 reviews, and 74% only care about reviews written in the last three months.
Quick check: Look at your site the way a skeptical first-time visitor would. Is there recent proof that real customers choose you? Do you show real photos of your team and your work?
6. Checkout or Booking Is a Hassle
If you sell online or take bookings, friction at the last step is especially costly, because these people were ready to act. Baymard Institute calculates an average documented online shopping cart abandonment rate of 70.22%, based on 50 studies.
Baymard’s research on U.S. online shoppers also shows why many people leave. Setting aside those who were just browsing:
- 40% left because extra costs like shipping, taxes, or fees were too high.
- 19% did not trust the site with their credit card information.
- 18% left because the site wanted them to create an account.
- 17% said the checkout process was too long or complicated.
Quick check: Place a test order or booking on your phone. Count the steps, look for surprise costs, and offer a guest checkout if you can.
7. It Is Not Accessible to Everyone
Accessibility means people with disabilities can use your site, including people who rely on screen readers, keyboard navigation, or higher contrast. It is also a widespread problem. WebAIM’s 2026 analysis of the top one million home pages detected WCAG 2 failures on 95.9% of them, and low-contrast text on 83.9%.
The U.S. Department of Justice has published guidance on how businesses open to the public can make sure their websites are accessible to people with disabilities, as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Quick check: Make sure text has strong contrast against its background, every meaningful image has descriptive alt text, form fields have labels, and you can move through the page using only the Tab key.
Your 30-Minute Website Self-Check
Grab your phone and a notepad and work through this list:
- Run your top pages through PageSpeed Insights.
- Use your site on your phone as if you were a new customer.
- Do the five-second test on your home page headline.
- Find your phone number and contact form from three different pages.
- Confirm your site loads with HTTPS and no security warnings.
- Remove or update anything outdated.
- Place a test order, booking, or form submission.
- Check contrast, alt text, and keyboard navigation.
Write down every problem you find, then fix the ones that affect the most visitors first.
When It Is Time for a Redesign
Some issues are quick fixes. Others are signs your site has outgrown its foundation, especially if it was built years ago, is hard to update, or fails several of these checks at once. If that sounds familiar, our website design and development team builds responsive, fast-loading, custom websites with user- and search-engine-friendly navigation.
Let’s Make Your Website Work for You
Your website should be your hardest-working salesperson, not a silent reason people leave. If you would like a second set of eyes, Required Marketing Group Inc. would be glad to review your site and talk through your options.
Request a quote at https://requiredmarketing.com/quote-request/ and tell us about your goals. You can also email us at [email protected] or call our main line at (844) 978-1051.
