Web design
How to Get More Enquiries From Your Website: 10 Fixes That Work
People are visiting your site, but the phone isn't ringing. These ten practical fixes make it easier for the visitors you already have to get in touch.
On this page
- 1. Say what you do in the first few seconds
- 2. Make the contact button easy to find on mobile
- 3. Add click-to-call
- 4. Shorten your enquiry form
- 5. Make your pages load quickly
- 6. Show proof that you’re the real deal
- 7. Give price guidance, if it suits your business
- 8. Answer objections before they’re asked
- 9. Reply quickly to every enquiry
- 10. Track what gets more enquiries from your website
- Frequently asked questions
Lots of business owners tell us the same thing: people visit the website, but the phone doesn’t ring. If that sounds familiar, the good news is that you can often get more enquiries from your website without paying for a single extra visitor. Most of the fixes are about making it easier for the people already on your site to get in touch.
Here are the ten fixes we look at first when we review a small business website, whether it’s for a local trade or a company selling across the UK.
1. Say what you do in the first few seconds
The top of your homepage, the part people see before they scroll, has one job: tell visitors what you do, who it’s for and what to do next. A headline like “Welcome to our website” wastes that space. “Kitchen fitting in Preston and across Lancashire” doesn’t.
Underneath, add one short line on why people choose you and a clear button such as “Get a price” or “Book a call”. If visitors have to scroll or guess before they understand your offer, many won’t bother.
2. Make the contact button easy to find on mobile
Many of your visitors will be on their phones, so test your site on one. Can you see a way to get in touch straight away? Does it stay within reach as you scroll? A slim bar fixed to the bottom of the screen with “Call” and “Enquire” buttons works well for lots of local businesses.
3. Add click-to-call
If your phone number is plain text, or worse, part of an image, mobile visitors have to copy it out by hand. Set it up as a proper tap-to-call link so one tap opens their dialler. Do the same for your email address and, if you use it for work, a WhatsApp link.
For trades in particular, a quick call is often the fastest route to a booking. A joiner in Burnley who’s up a ladder all day may find a two-minute call easier than an email thread, and so will plenty of their customers.
4. Shorten your enquiry form
Every extra field is another reason to give up. For a first enquiry you usually only need a name, a way to reply and a short message. Addresses, budgets and measurements can come later in the conversation.
A few more form tips:
- Say what happens next, for example “We’ll reply within one working day”, but only if you will.
- Show a clear thank-you message so people know their enquiry has gone through.
- Test the form regularly. A broken form fails silently, and you’ll never know who tried to contact you.
5. Make your pages load quickly
A slow page loses people before they’ve even seen your offer, especially on mobile data. Oversized photos, piles of plugins and heavy page builders are the usual culprits. Our guide to whether website speed affects SEO explains what to measure and the changes that got our own site showing its first content three times faster.
6. Show proof that you’re the real deal
People get in touch when they trust you, and the strongest trust signals are the genuine ones:
- Real reviews, with a link to your Google reviews so visitors can see them for themselves.
- Photos of your actual work, your team and your premises, instead of stock images.
- Accreditations, guarantees and insurance where they apply to your trade.
- Before-and-after examples or short case studies.
A dog groomer in Blackburn with a gallery of real customers’ dogs (shared with the owners’ permission) feels far more trustworthy than one using stock photos of perfect poodles.
7. Give price guidance, if it suits your business
One of the first questions most visitors have is “Can I afford this?” If your site says nothing about cost, some people will assume you’re out of their budget and leave without asking.
You don’t have to publish a full price list. “From” prices, typical ranges or a short explanation of what affects the cost can give people the confidence to enquire. If you’d rather not share figures, explain how pricing works and that you’re happy to talk it through.
8. Answer objections before they’re asked
Think about the questions people ask you on the phone, and the worries that stop them booking. Do you cover their area? How soon can you start? What happens if something goes wrong?
Answer these on your service pages and in a short FAQ section. Every question you answer on the page removes a reason to hesitate. It also gives Google more to work with, which can help the right people find you. Our guide on how to rank higher on Google covers that side of things.
9. Reply quickly to every enquiry
Getting the enquiry is only half the job. If someone has contacted three businesses, the first to reply properly often has a head start. Set up an automatic reply that confirms you’ve received their message and says when you’ll be in touch, then follow up personally as soon as you can.
Automated follow-ups also help with people who go quiet, such as a friendly reminder a few days after you send a quote. We explain how to set these up in our guide to email automation for small businesses.
10. Track what gets more enquiries from your website
If you don’t measure enquiries, you can’t tell which changes are working. At a minimum:
- set up analytics to count form submissions and taps on your phone number and email address,
- ask every new customer how they found you,
- check the performance figures in your Google Business Profile, which show actions such as calls and website clicks.
Make one change at a time where you can, then compare over a few weeks.
Sometimes the honest answer is that a website can’t be patched into shape. If yours is slow, hard to update or was never planned around enquiries in the first place, our web design service builds sites around one goal: making it easy for the right visitors to get in touch.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a new website to get more enquiries?
Not always. Many of the fixes above, such as a clearer headline, a tap-to-call number and a shorter form, can be made to an existing site. A rebuild makes more sense when the site is slow, hard to edit or fighting you on every change.
Is a contact form or a phone number better?
Offer both, because different people prefer different routes. Some customers want a quick call, while others would rather send a message in the evening. Make both easy to find on every page, especially on mobile.
Should I put prices on my website?
It depends on your business. Clear prices or “from” guidance can reassure visitors and filter out people who aren’t a good fit. If your work varies too much to price upfront, explain what affects the cost instead.
How quickly should I reply to a website enquiry?
As quickly as you reasonably can. An instant automatic reply reassures people their message has arrived, and a personal reply soon after shows you’re keen to help. Whatever timescale you promise on your site, stick to it.
