When a website fails to attract customers, the cause falls into one of two categories: either too few people visit, or the people who do visit never go on to make an inquiry. First, check your visitor numbers and inquiry numbers with Google's free tools. Once you know which one is lacking, the order of fixes becomes clear. Make this distinction before you change the design.
Start by using the numbers to pinpoint the cause
When it comes to attracting customers, separating the question of whether you lack visitors or whether your inquiry rate is low narrows down where to take action. Many people jump straight to redesigning before investigating the cause. But if few people are visiting, changing the look won't bring in more.
There are two free tools to use for this check.
- Google Analytics. Shows the number of visitors, the pages they viewed, and where they came from.
- Google Search Console. Shows which search terms your site appeared for and how many times it was clicked.
Use these two sets of figures to pinpoint the cause as shown in the table below.
| Number of visitors | Number of inquiries | Likely cause | Where to fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low | Low | People aren't finding you | Search-friendly structure, articles, advertising |
| Many | Low | Visitors see it but aren't moved to act | Copy, inquiry pathway, trust signals |
| Low | Many | The site is fine, but there aren't enough entry points | Adding articles, expanding search entry points |
Working from this assessment, check the following six reasons.
Six common reasons a website fails to attract customers
1. It's unclear who the website is for
The site is just a list of company information, with nothing about the kind of problems it is meant to solve or for whom. If visitors don't feel it speaks to them, they close it within seconds. In the first screen of your top page, state in one sentence who you help and what problem you solve.
2. The site isn't built to be found in search
To appear in search results, the words your customers actually type need to appear in your page titles, headings and body text. A site made up only of your company name and service names can't be found by people who don't know you yet.
Check Search Console to see the search terms your site has actually appeared for. If the terms you were targeting don't show up, that page isn't serving as a search entry point.
3. There aren't enough pages
A website with only a top page, a company profile and a contact page has far too few search entry points. Ideally you have as many pages and articles as there are problems your customers search for. Adding pages for each service, FAQs, case studies and column articles increases your entry points.
4. The path to making an inquiry is hard to follow
This is when readers finish a page and don't know what to click next. Examples include a phone number that appears only at the bottom of the page, a form with too many fields, or buttons that are hard to tap on a smartphone. Place an inquiry button at the end of every page and keep form fields to a minimum.
5. There aren't enough trust signals
People don't contact a company they've just discovered right away. Without a track record, customer testimonials, your business address, a photo of the owner or an indication of pricing, the reason to get in touch is weak. Writing concrete numbers and specific facts gives people grounds to trust you.
6. Updates have stopped
A website whose news section stopped a year ago, or whose price list is out of date, makes people wonder whether the business is still operating. Freshness also affects how search engines rate your content. Put a system in place so you can add news or an article at least once a month.
Five checks for your inquiry pathway
The pathway we recommend fixing first can be checked by trying the following five things on your own smartphone.
- Open the top page: can you find a phone number or an inquiry button within 5 seconds?
- When you tap the phone number, does it go straight to the dialing screen?
- Does the form have 5 fields or fewer?
- After submitting, does a message confirm receipt and give an idea of when you'll hear back?
- Is there an inquiry button at the end of your main service pages?
If even one of these isn't satisfied, that's where you're losing inquiries.
Decide the order of fixes by how quickly they pay off
You don't need to fix all six reasons at once. Work through them in the order that produces results fastest.
- Fix the inquiry pathway: the call button, the form fields, the button at the end of each page. The scope is small and results come quickly.
- Fix the first screen of your top page. State in one sentence whose problem you solve and what that problem is.
- Add trust signals: figures from your track record, customer testimonials, an introduction to the owner, an indication of pricing.
- Rewrite your main service pages. Put the words customers search for into your titles and headings.
- Add more articles. Publish columns answering your customers' questions on an ongoing basis.
- Supplement entry points with advertising. Since it takes time to be found in search, use ads to bring people in sooner.
Following this order lets you confirm results quickly with small fixes before moving on to bigger work.
How to go about adding articles
Write articles by taking the questions customers type into search and using them directly as titles. For example, pick up searches where the problem is put into words, such as "website not attracting customers." Make each article answer one question.
When writing an article, structure it in this order.
- Answer the question in the title outright in the very first sentence.
- Explain why it happens.
- Give concrete methods as numbered steps.
- Describe common mistakes.
- Present decision criteria in a table.
- Include related frequently asked questions.
- Finish with a button to get in touch.
In this format, the article is easy to take in for people and for search engines and AI alike. Rather than publishing a lot at once, keeping up a pace of one article a week builds results over time.
Areas that are hard to fix on your own
When improving how you attract customers, some parts you can handle in-house, while for others it's faster to rely on a specialist.
| Easy to handle in-house | Faster with a specialist |
|---|---|
| Adding news items, swapping out photos | Organizing the structure so you can be found in search |
| Adding FAQs | Designing the angle and rewriting the copy |
| Posting your track record and customer testimonials | Adding structured data |
| Checking the numbers | Improvement proposals based on interpreting the numbers |
If you don't know how to read the numbers, or can't decide what to fix first, you can also ask for a diagnosis alone.
Merci Ltd.'s approach to attracting customers
Merci Ltd. begins website production with strategic planning. Our creators conduct interviews, identify the strengths of your business, and then decide who to speak to and what to say. Coding into WordPress is handled almost entirely by AI, and structuring that is easy for search engines and AI to read is built in as standard.
After launch, you can request text and image changes via chat or LINE, and we check how they look elsewhere before applying them to the live site. A setup that lets you keep improving, rather than treating the website as finished once it's built, is the foundation for attracting customers.
How the causes show up by industry
Even when the complaint is the same — "we're not attracting customers" — the common causes differ by industry.
| Example industry | Common cause | What to fix first |
|---|---|---|
| Shops and classes | Map listing information conflicts with the website | Make business hours and phone numbers consistent |
| Professional and advisory services | No statement of whose problem is being addressed, or what problem | The one-sentence statement on the top page, and the consultation process |
| Manufacturing and wholesale | The range of processing or products handled isn't stated in figures | A list of what you can handle |
| Construction and housing | Too few project examples, and the photos are small | The number of case studies and the size of the photos |
| Medical and nursing care | No guidance for first-time visitors | A "First-time visitors" page |
Look at the row closest to your own industry and use it as a starting point for your review. The examples here are typical cases; the actual cause is confirmed by looking at your visitor and inquiry numbers. If you aren't collecting those figures, setting up Google Analytics and Search Console is the first job. Setup takes about an hour, and data starts accumulating from the next day.
How long to wait before judging the results
After making fixes, compare the numbers month by month. Changes to the inquiry pathway show up in the next month's inquiry count. For rewritten copy, watch how search impressions change over 2–3 months. For added articles, allow about six months. Don't draw conclusions over a short period, and record the dates of your fixes so you can look back and see which ones worked.
FAQ
If the cause is that people aren't finding you, rebuilding the look alone won't improve things. Check your visitor and inquiry numbers and fix the area that matches the cause.
It generally takes several months for search traffic to grow after you publish articles and pages. The effect of fixing the inquiry pathway shows up in the numbers within a few weeks.
Even if ads bring people in, weak copy or a weak pathway on your website won't turn them into inquiries. Fix the website alongside running the ads.
One approach is for you to talk through your answers to the questions and for us to turn them into written copy. Realistically, start with a volume you can sustain at one article a week.
Start with three things: visitor numbers, the most-viewed pages, and search terms. If you're still unsure how to judge, we're happy to discuss your current situation.
We decide the order of fixes together in a meeting
Attracting customers through your website comes down to pinpointing the cause and fixing things in the right order. We'll ask about your current numbers and concerns, and advise on what to fix first in your particular case.
