Your contact details aren't visible enough
If someone has to scroll or hunt to find your phone number, you've already lost some percentage of visitors who would have called. Your number should be visible in the header on every page, ideally clickable so it dials directly on mobile. This sounds basic, but it's one of the most common issues I see on trade websites.
There's no clear next step on the page
A visitor who reads your page and isn't told what to do next often does nothing. Every page should have an obvious action: call this number, fill in this form, request a quote. If the only way to contact you is buried in a footer, you're relying on the visitor to do the work of finding it.
The site is slow on mobile
Most trade website traffic happens on a phone, often while someone is standing in a kitchen with a leak or looking at a broken boiler. If your site takes more than a couple of seconds to load, a meaningful portion of visitors will leave before it finishes. Site speed isn't just a ranking factor, it's a direct driver of whether people stay long enough to contact you.
The content doesn't answer the actual question
A generic "our services" page that vaguely covers everything you do isn't as effective as a specific page that directly answers what someone searched for. If someone searches "emergency boiler repair," a page built around exactly that phrase, with real detail about what happens and how fast you respond, converts better than a broad page that mentions boilers among ten other services.
There's no trust signal above the fold
Before someone calls a tradesman, they're usually looking for some reassurance: reviews, certifications, years in business, real photos of past work. If none of that is visible without scrolling deep into the page, you're asking for trust before you've offered any evidence for it.
The site was built for looks, not for the buyer's actual journey
A lot of trade websites get built by a designer with no specific brief around lead generation. The result looks fine in a portfolio but doesn't map to how someone actually decides to hire a tradesman: they want proof of competence, a clear price expectation, and an easy way to get in touch. Design without that structure underneath it rarely converts as well as it could.
What actually fixes this
The pattern across all of the above is the same: a site needs to be built, or reworked, around getting a visitor to actually pick up the phone or fill in a form, not just look presentable. That means visible contact details, a clear next step on every page, fast load times, and content that answers real questions instead of vaguely covering everything at once.
If your current site isn't pulling its weight, we build simple, fast sites from £495, designed specifically around conversion rather than just appearance. Already got a site you like the look of? It can often be restructured to convert better without a full rebuild.
Want a clear picture of where your current site is losing people? we offer a free visibility audit that covers exactly this.