A website not getting enquiries usually has one of two problems. Too few of the right people see it, or the people who do can’t quickly tell what you do, whether you’re real and how to reach you. Sometimes it’s simpler and worse: the contact form has stopped working. Here is what I check, in order.
Is it a traffic problem or an enquiry problem?
“Nobody is contacting me through my website” can mean nobody visits, or that people visit and leave. A website not getting traffic needs different work from a website not getting leads, so I find out which before I touch the design.
I start in Google Search Console, Google’s free tool that shows which searches your site appeared for and how many people clicked. If hardly anyone sees the site, a prettier homepage won’t help.
Our own site went live on 23 September 2026. Six days later we were first for our own name, third for “microsoft 365 support wolverhampton” and nowhere in the top 50 for “web design wolverhampton”. On 15 October seven pages still weren’t in Google’s index, so I resubmitted the sitemap and requested indexing, which can take a week or two and isn’t guaranteed. There’s more in why a website is not showing on Google.
Is your contact form working? Test it today
Fill in your own form on your phone, on mobile data, and check the email arrives. Then tap the number on your site and check it rings. A contact form not working rarely shows an error, just a quiet inbox you put down to a slow month.
Email is usually behind it. When we set up Elevantae’s Microsoft 365 email, adding the DNS records wasn’t enough: I also had to switch on DKIM, a digital signature proving an email came from your domain, in Microsoft’s Defender portal. Microsoft’s guidance says mail from your own domain isn’t DKIM signed until you do, and since February 2024 Google has required SPF or DKIM from anyone sending to Gmail.
Get it wrong and enquiries can land in spam. One owner on UK Business Forums this year found his form had stopped sending after his email changed provider, and he couldn’t say when it broke.
Why is my website not converting? Start with the first screen
Converting means a visitor getting in touch. Without scrolling, they need to see what you do, where you do it and how to reach you, or they go back to Google and tap the next result.
Ofcom says most of UK adults’ time online is spent on a smartphone, so I judge every site on a phone first. Almost every customer of my own business, Detailing Sanctuary, finds it on a phone, looks at the work and rings. That works because every gallery photo is compressed to load on 4G, as the Detailing Sanctuary case study shows.
Google counts a page as good when its main content shows within 2.5 seconds. If your homepage opens with a slideshow, a cookie banner and a slogan, I’d bet that’s where some of your enquiries are going.
The trust signals people look for
Before handing over their number, a customer is deciding whether you’re a real, settled business. On UK Business Forums, where owners ask for brutal site reviews, the same points keep coming up: an email that doesn’t match the web address, a mobile as the only number, and no postal address, legal details or photo of the owner.
I think those put people off, and most are cheap to fix. Start with email on your own domain, which costs a few pounds a month per person from Microsoft. Then add a proper business number, and a real photo of you and your work.
A limited company must also show its registered number and registered office on its website, and most businesses selling online must give a name, a geographic address and an email address. I’m not a solicitor, so check the Companies House rules on GOV.UK, Business Companion or a solicitor for your own situation.
Show a price, even a starting one
Most firms in my own industry don’t, in their adverts at least. In October I looked up 39 web and digital firms around the West Midlands in Google’s and Meta’s public ad libraries. Only 14 had ever run a Google advert in the UK, and 6 were running one that week. Not one of the 30 adverts I read showed a price, and nearly all offered a free audit, review or quote.
We publish everything on our pricing page. An Essential website is £749, and because we’re not VAT registered, that’s the whole price.
Where a job can’t have one number, explain what moves it, as the Detailing Sanctuary site does for cars that look alike but need very different work. Someone who leaves over a starting price would probably have left after the quote anyway, and you’ve both saved a phone call.
Reviews and your Google Business Profile
For a local business these often matter more than the website. Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking, and Detailing Sanctuary’s reviews do more for it in local search than any clever technical work we’ve done.
When we set up Google Ads for a new café in Wolverhampton in October, the first Google login it gave us couldn’t see its Business Profile. The profile already existed and was verified, but under a different Google account the café also used, which someone had set up earlier. The street number on the profile was also missing the letter on the sign outside. The café has no website yet, so its adverts point at that profile. Google wants your name and address to match the real world, so know which account owns yours and check it against your sign.
Then ask every customer for a review, with a link or a QR code, and never offer a discount for one. Google prohibits it, and since April 2025 UK consumer law bans fake reviews and reviews bought with a hidden incentive. Our Google Business Profile setup is £110.
One clear next step on every page
Every page should make the next move obvious. Detailing Sanctuary has tap to call in the header, a quote form that asks about the vehicle up front, and a way to book.
It goes wrong when the contact details sit at the bottom, where many phone visitors never scroll, when the form asks for too much too soon, or when there are so many choices (a chat bubble, a newsletter pop up, five social media icons) that nobody picks one.
Picture a florist whose homepage opens with “Welcome to our world of flowers”, a slideshow and a link to Instagram, when the visitor only wants to know whether they deliver to Tettenhall on Saturday. That answer and an order button belong at the top, with the button repeated further down.
Count real enquiries, and count them honestly
You can’t judge a change without honest counting. When I audited Detailing Sanctuary’s Google Ads account in September 2026, it showed 8,387 clicks over about a year at an 8.59% click through rate. Underneath, the counting was a mess:
- The goal it was bidding towards had never fired, because its tag had no trigger.
- One phone tap was counted twice.
- Every load of the thank you page counted as an enquiry, bookmarks and search engine robots included.
- Free weekend enquiries were recorded as full value purchases.
The tracking is fixed, but I haven’t restarted the campaigns, so there’s no result to show yet. For most owners, write down calls, forms and bookings each week, ask new customers how they found you, and make a real form submission a key event in Google Analytics.
When the plainer old site did better
One owner on UK Business Forums in 2024 found his old, plainer site brought in about twice as many genuine enquiries as his shiny new one, from half the traffic. The new one had bold design and far less text. Reviewers said it was missing prices, photos of real people, testimonials and an enquiry form on the first screen.
My view is that the words were doing the selling. Plain, wordy pages often answer exactly what a buyer wants to know.
A redesign can also lose Google traffic if old pages vanish. Google’s guidance is to redirect every old address permanently to its new one and keep the redirects for at least a year, as I explain in whether a new website will lose your Google rankings. When we redesign, your copy, photos and reviews come across, and every old page is redirected.
A checklist you can work through today
- In Search Console, check your site is being shown, clicked and indexed.
- Send yourself an enquiry from your phone on mobile data, and tap your number to check it rings.
- On your phone, check the homepage shows what you do, where and how to reach you without scrolling.
- Match your email address to your web address, and show your address and legal details.
- Add a starting price to your main services.
- Give every page a single, obvious next step.
- Check your Google Business Profile is in your own account and matches your sign.
Repair or rebuild?
Finding out costs nothing. Send us your web address and we’ll go through the site on a real phone, then send a plain list of what to keep and what to fix. Sometimes the honest answer is that the site is fine and the Google Business Profile is the problem.
My rule of thumb: one problem on its own is a fix, four together is a rebuild. The usual signs are a slow load on 4G, a number you can’t see without scrolling, a form nobody’s sure works, a footer that still says 2021, and nobody knowing who to call to change anything.
Small fixes are £60 an hour in 15 minute steps, always quoted first. If adverts send people to a busy homepage, a landing page is £150, usually ready the next working day. For a rebuild, our website redesign service runs like a new build, starting with a free concept from Tommy within two working days of our call, with no obligation. Builds are £749, £1,495 or from £2,995, or pay monthly after a £200 deposit, and once it’s paid for, you own it.
Questions people ask about a website not getting enquiries
How do I know if my website contact form is actually working?
Send yourself a test enquiry from your phone, on mobile data, and check it arrives. Repeat it after any change to your email or website. If nothing comes through, ask whoever looks after your email whether SPF and DKIM are set up.
Should I put prices on my website if every job is different?
I think so, even if it’s only a starting price. Say what’s included and what moves the figure, so people who ask for a quote already know roughly what they’re buying.
Is a Gmail address OK for a business website, or do I need my own domain email?
It works, but forum reviewers keep naming it as a reason to doubt a business. Email on your own domain costs a few pounds a month per person from Microsoft, so it’s a cheap fix.
Will a website redesign bring in more enquiries, or could it lose the ones I get now?
A redesign judged on looks can strip out the words that were doing the selling, and old pages that vanish without redirects can lose Google traffic. Keep what works, tidy it, and redirect every old address.
Getting an honest look
If the phone still isn’t ringing, send your web address to enquiries@elevantae.com. I’ll look at it on a phone and tell you plainly what I’d change, and if the website isn’t the problem, I’ll say so. Or get your free concept first.