Before anyone contacts you, they check your website. What are they looking for?

Before a customer calls, before a funder schedules a meeting and before a partner sends an email, someone opens your website. They aren’t reading it closely. They’re scanning for a few answers, and if they don’t find them quickly they move on.

None of these people will tell you they left. That makes it easy to assume your site is doing its job.

Here’s what’s inside:

• What they look for first. The answers people want in the first minute.
• What makes them trust you. The signs that tell a visitor you’re real and current.
• What makes them leave. Small problems that quietly cost you.
• A ten-minute check. How to see your site the way a stranger does.

Four answers people want in the first minute

1. What you do. Say it in plain words near the top of your homepage. If a visitor has to read three paragraphs to find out, many won’t.
2. Who it’s for. A customer wants to know you serve people like them. A funder wants to know which communities you reach.
3. That you’re good at it. Show real examples, client names, results or reviews. Claims without proof don’t count for much.
4. How to take the next step. Make it obvious how to call, book, buy or get in touch.

Signs that you’re real and current

Visitors look for signs that someone is paying attention. A recent post or news item helps, and so does a team page with people who still work there. An address and phone number that match your Google listing help too. So does a copyright year that isn’t several years old.

Specific details build trust faster than polished language. “We’ve served 400 families in three counties since 2015” says more than “we’re committed to our community.”

Small problems that quietly cost you

• A contact form that doesn’t actually send.
• Links that go nowhere.
• An events page whose newest event was last year.
• A site that’s hard to use on a phone, where most visitors arrive.

Each one is small. Together they suggest nobody is paying attention. Visitors carry that impression into their decision.

See your site the way a stranger does

1. Open your homepage on your phone. Read only what you can see without scrolling. Can you tell what you do and who it’s for?
2. Try to contact yourself through the site. Notice how long it takes and whether the message arrives.
3. Click every link in your main menu and footer. Fix anything that’s broken or out of date.
4. Find the newest date anywhere on the site. If it’s old, visitors will notice too.
5. Ask an AI bot to describe your business. Many people now do that before they visit. I wrote up the method in What does ChatGPT say when someone asks about your business?

If you’d like someone to go through it with you, book a free 30-minute call.

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