7 signs your website is losing you customers
A website can look “fine” and still scare away the people who land on it. Check these seven things in five minutes, from your phone.
Patrick Uribe · Granada · · 6 min read
If your website is slow to load, looks bad on mobile, shows a “not secure” warning, doesn't make clear what you sell or doesn't appear on Google, it's losing you customers every day. Most of these problems can be fixed quickly without rebuilding the whole website.
Every week I review business websites in Granada and almost always find the same problems. The curious thing is that the owner rarely sees them: they visit their website from the office computer, already know what they sell and don't think there's any problem.
Your customer, on the other hand, arrives on a phone, in a hurry and without knowing you. These are the seven signs that scare off the most visitors, from the most serious to the least.
1. The browser warns that your website is “not secure”
It's the most damaging problem and the easiest to avoid. If the SSL certificate expires or is badly installed, the browser shows a warning screen before letting anyone in. Almost nobody clicks “continue”. I've seen Granada business websites showing this warning for weeks, in the middle of high season.
How to check: open your website on your phone. If there's no padlock next to the address, or a warning appears, it's urgent.
2. It takes more than three seconds to load
Uncompressed images, heavy videos or too many plugins slow a website down. On mobile data, every second counts: many people leave before they see anything. And Google takes speed into account when deciding who to show first.
How to check: Google's free PageSpeed Insights tool gives you a score for mobile and for desktop.
3. It looks bad on mobile or you have to zoom in
Tiny text, buttons squeezed together, menus that won't open or cropped photos. Today most visits come from mobile, so a website designed only for desktop is designed for a minority.
4. It isn't clear what you sell within five seconds
Try it with someone who doesn't know your business: have them look at your home page for five seconds and tell you what you do, where and for whom. If they hesitate, your website is talking about you instead of what your customer is looking for. One clear sentence at the very top is worth more than a pretty slogan.
5. Getting in touch is too hard
Phone numbers you can't tap, forms with ten fields, an email hidden in the footer or WhatsApp links that don't work. Every obstacle is one customer fewer. Make sure people can contact you in one tap from any page.
6. Out-of-date information
Old opening hours, services you no longer offer, events from a year ago or outdated prices. It looks abandoned, and customers wonder whether you're still open. I've seen it in bars with a broken menu and in businesses with three different sets of opening hours depending on the page.
7. Google can't find you
Search for your service and your city, for example “physiotherapy in Granada”. If you don't appear, or only appear when you type your exact business name, your website isn't working to bring you new customers. It's usually down to badly written titles, pages with no text, images with no description or a neglected Google listing.
What to do if you recognise your website
You don't need to rebuild it from scratch. In most cases it's enough to fix the urgent things (certificate, speed, contact) and then work on the SEO. That's what I did with Neotec, which went from an SEO score of 58 to over 80, and with pocoestudio, from 53 to 68.
My SEO audit checks your website across eight categories, gives it a score from 0 to 100 and hands you the fixes ranked by impact: first whatever is costing you the most customers. The first review is free.
FAQ
How do I know if my website is slow?
Use PageSpeed Insights, Google's free tool: it gives you a score for mobile and desktop and tells you what's slowing it down.
What happens if my website shows a “not secure” warning?
It's usually an expired or badly installed SSL certificate. It's urgent, because the browser stops almost every visitor, but it can usually be fixed quickly.
Do I need a new website if mine has problems?
Not always. Often it's enough to fix speed, security, contact and SEO. If the foundation is poor, then a redesign makes sense.
What does an SEO audit check?
Titles and descriptions, headings, images, speed, structured data, social sharing, indexing, links and content. The result is a score from 0 to 100 and a list of fixes ranked by impact.