A website rarely fails loudly. It just quietly doesn't produce, and you assume that's normal. Run these ten checks on your phone, on mobile data, and see what you find.
1. It's slow on mobile data
Turn wifi off and load your homepage. If it takes more than about three seconds, you're losing people before they see anything. Most South African visitors arrive on mobile, often on a metered connection.
2. There's no way to contact you above the fold
Open the homepage. Without scrolling, can you phone or WhatsApp? If not, you're asking a ready buyer to go looking. Many won't.
3. It breaks on a small screen
Check it at the width of a modest Android phone. Text overflowing, buttons too small to tap, a menu that doesn't open — these are common and invisible if you only ever check on a laptop.
4. Nobody can tell what you do
Cover everything except the first line. Would a stranger know what you sell and where you operate? If the first thing they read is "Welcome to our website", that's a wasted position.
5. There's no pricing at all
You don't have to publish exact figures. But a page with no indication of cost sends people to a competitor who gave them one. Ranges and starting-from prices work.
6. The contact form is the only option
Forms convert poorly on their own, and half the time nobody has tested whether they still deliver. Send yourself one right now. Then add WhatsApp.
7. You can't tell where the business is
Local searchers want to know you're nearby. If your suburb or service areas appear nowhere on the site, you're invisible to "near me" intent and to Google.
8. The most recent thing on it is from 2022
Old copyright dates, dead links, prices from three years ago, a team member who left. Each one is a small signal that nobody's minding the shop.
9. There's no proof of anything
No customer names, no photos of real work, no reviews, no numbers. Claims without evidence are ignored.
10. It isn't linked to your Google Business Profile
The profile and the website reinforce each other. If they aren't connected, you're running two half-efforts.
What to do with the results
Fix the free ones first — contact details above the fold, a WhatsApp button, testing the form, adding your suburbs, updating the year. That's an afternoon and it costs nothing.
If you've ticked five or more, the site isn't underperforming, it's the wrong site. A rebuild will cost less than another two years of enquiries you never knew you missed.
Related reading: Website redesign · Our pricing · Contact us
Send us your URL and we'll run these checks properly and tell you what's actually wrong. Written response within 24 hours.
Get a website health check →Website Redesign
You already have a website. It's slow, it looks tired, and it doesn't bring in enquiries. We rebuild it into something you're actually proud to share.
See Website Redesign