You can see people visiting your website. Maybe you see it in a report, or a marketing company told you. But the phone is not ringing the way it should. That is one of the most frustrating spots for a contractor, because you are paying for the visitors and not getting the jobs.
The good news is that a site that gets visits but few calls usually has a short list of problems, and most of them can be spotted in about ten minutes (our estimate) with your own phone. This post walks through five common ones, shows you how to check each one for free, and then tells you what we do about them.
Where a fact comes from Google or another outside source, we link it. The examples here are illustrative, not real customers. We do not quote traffic or call numbers, because your site and your trade are your own.
Start with how a customer actually reaches you
Picture the person you want to hear from. A homeowner has a leak, or a busted door, or a roof that started dripping last night. They search on their phone, tap a result, and look for one thing: how do I reach someone? If the page is slow, looks sketchy, hides the number, or leaves them wondering what to do, they back out and tap the next result. You never learn they were there.
That is why traffic alone does not tell you much. Below are five places the call gets lost. Four of them are what our Free Website Check-Up looks at. The fifth is a check you can do yourself, and it is not part of the Check-Up list.
1. The site is slow on a phone
It's easy to test your own site on a fast office connection. A customer is on a phone, maybe with a weak signal, standing in a driveway. A site can look fine to you and still crawl for them.
How to check it for free. Search for Google's PageSpeed Insights and paste in your home page address. Google's documentation says it “reports on the user experience of a page on both mobile and desktop devices.” Look at the mobile result, not the desktop one, since your customer is on a phone.
You will see terms like Core Web Vitals. Google's web.dev guide says that to provide a good user experience, the main content (LCP) should show “within 2.5 seconds of when the page first starts loading.” It also says “a good threshold to measure is the 75th percentile of page loads, segmented across mobile and desktop devices.” You do not need to master the jargon. If the mobile report flags problems, your site is a candidate for a speed fix.
Then do a real test. Turn off your Wi-Fi, load your site on your phone, and count how long you wait before you can read the page and see the phone number. If you would give up, so would a customer.
2. Your phone number is not tap-to-call
On a phone, a number should be a button. Tap it and the phone dials. When the number is plain text, or an image, the customer has to memorize it, switch apps, and type it in. Plenty will not bother.
A tap-to-call number is built with a “tel:” link. MDN, a widely used web reference, notes that the behavior varies with device capabilities and that cellular devices autodial the number.
How to check it for free. Open your site on your own phone. Find every spot where your number appears: the top of the page, the footer, the contact page. Tap each one. A dial screen should come up. If nothing happens, or you only get a copy option, that spot needs fixing. Also check that the number is easy to see without scrolling. Some sites bury it.
3. A “not secure” warning shows up
If your site does not use a secure connection, Chrome tells visitors. Google's Chrome Help page says a site without a private connection shows a “Not secure” symbol, and that the site owner must secure the site and your data with HTTPS. The same page suggests visitors not enter private or personal information on a page with such a warning.
Think about what that means for your contact form. A homeowner who sees that message is unlikely to type in their name, address and phone number.
How to check it for free. Type your address into Chrome, both with and without “www”, and look at the address bar. Then click through your contact page and any form page. A site can be fine on the home page and show a warning on another page, so check more than one. If you see a warning, send the page address to whoever manages your site and ask for it to be fixed. If a full-page red warning appears instead of your site, contact whoever hosts or builds your site right away.
4. Your page titles say the wrong thing
Google's guidance describes a title link as the title of a search result. Google's Search Central guidance says to “write descriptive and concise text for your <title> elements” and to “avoid repeated or boilerplate text.” It also says Google “may try to generate an improved title link from anchors, on-page text, or other sources,” so a weak title can end up replaced by something you did not choose.
A title like “Home” or “Untitled” does nothing for you. Compare it with an illustrative one: “Roof Repair in Bucks County, PA | Example Roofing Co.” That tells a searcher what you do and where, before they click.
How to check it for free. Search for your company name and your trade plus your town on Google, and read the title lines shown for your pages. Ask yourself: if a stranger saw only this line, would they know what we do and where we work? If every page has the same title, or a title with no trade or town, that is a fix.
5. Our view: the next step is unclear (a check outside the Check-Up list)
This one is our own view, not a Google rule, and it is not one of the four things in the Check-Up list. It is still worth your time. A visitor should know within a few seconds what you do, where you work, and what to do next.
How to check it for free. Hand your phone to a friend or a family member who does not work in your trade. Open your home page, say nothing, and ask them: what does this company do, where, and how would you get a quote? Watch where they hesitate. If they cannot answer in a few seconds, a customer will not wait around either. The fix is usually plain: one clear sentence at the top, one button to call, and one short form.
What a free check cannot tell you
Your own checks catch the obvious problems. They will not tell you which pages bring calls, and they do not replace someone looking at your whole site. If your leads come mostly from ads, our PPC for contractors guide and our post on Contractor PPC vs. LSA: Where to Put the First Dollar explain where those leads start. The website is where they become calls or do not.
Step 1: the Free Website Check-Up
Not sure if your website is costing you calls? We'll check it and send you a one-page report. Our Free Website Check-Up covers:
- How the site loads on a phone (Google's mobile speed test)
- Whether your phone number is tap-to-call
- Any “not secure” warnings
- Your page titles
It costs nothing, and you do not have to buy anything after. It is just a starting point so you know what is wrong. Get my free check-up.
Step 2: the $997 Fix-It, if you want us to fix it
Have a website that isn't bringing in calls? We fix the problems in one project, with no monthly contract. The Fix-It is $997 flat, one-time, and it covers:
- Speed up slow pages on phones
- Remove "not secure" warnings
- Fix phone problems and add tap-to-call
- Fix the titles Google shows
- Set up call tracking and your Google Business Profile
A word on call tracking. It can show you which pages and sources lead to calls, which is useful. But the rules about recording calls differ by state. Several states, including Pennsylvania, Florida and Illinois, require every party's consent before a private phone call is recorded (see the Reporters Committee state guides). Federal law generally requires only one party's consent (18 U.S.C. 2511(2)(d)). Check your state's rule, and ask a lawyer when in doubt. Tell callers and get their agreement before you record. Call tracking can count calls without recording them.
If you would rather we handle it, Fix my website. You can also see how we price our work on our pricing page.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my website get visitors but few calls?
There is no single cause. The common ones are a site that is slow on a phone, a phone number that is not tap-to-call, a “not secure” warning, weak page titles, and, in our view, an unclear next step. The checks above take about ten minutes (our estimate) and cost nothing.
How do I know if my site is slow on phones?
Run your home page through Google's PageSpeed Insights and read the mobile result. Google says the tool reports on both mobile and desktop. Then load the site on your phone with Wi-Fi off and see how long it takes to read the page and find your number.
What does a “not secure” warning mean for my business?
Google's Chrome Help says it means the site does not use a private connection, and suggests visitors not enter private or personal information on that page. That can scare a customer off your contact form. The site owner fixes it by securing the site with HTTPS.
Is the Free Website Check-Up really free?
Yes. It is a one-page report on how the site loads on a phone, whether your phone number is tap-to-call, any “not secure” warnings, and your page titles. You are not required to buy anything afterward.
Can I record my customer calls?
Several states, including Pennsylvania, Florida and Illinois, require every party's consent before a private phone call is recorded. Federal law generally requires only one party's consent. Check your state's rule, and ask a lawyer when in doubt. Tell callers and get their agreement before you record. Call tracking can count calls without recording them.
Where to start
Take about ten minutes today, pick up your phone, and run the checks above. If you would rather have a second set of eyes, our free check-up is a one-page report, and you can also call us at (267) 574-6444. Red Door Marketing Co. does marketing only for construction companies, from Levittown, PA. For more ways to keep your name in front of customers, see our 15 social media post ideas for construction companies.