Is Your ‘Awesome’ Website Just a Nice Try?

You built a website you're proud of. But it's not bringing in business. You feel frustrated because you know your service is great, but your website is failing you.

To get more inquiries, your website must be more than just a pretty design. It needs to be a helpful tool that guides visitors. It should answer their questions, solve their problems, and make it very easy for them to contact you.

I see it all the time. Business owners spend a lot of money and time on a new website. They launch it with high hopes. They think, "This will be an awesome website. It will bring a lot of inquiries." But then, nothing happens. The contact form stays empty. The phone doesn't ring. It was a nice try, but it didn't work. The good news is that we can figure out why this happens. And we can fix it. Let's look at the common mistakes that turn a potentially great website into just a "nice try." You can turn your site into a machine that brings you new customers.

Are You Focusing Too Much on Just the Looks?

Your website looks beautiful. You love the colors and fonts. But no one is contacting you, and you don't know why. You need a site that works, not just one that looks good.

A beautiful design is good, but a website's main job is to help the user. It must solve their problem and clearly guide them to take action. Function is more important than fashion when you want to get more inquiries from your website.

Many people fall into this trap. I once had a client who spent their entire budget on fancy animations and graphics. The site looked like a piece of art. But visitors were confused. They didn't know where to click or what the company even did. It was a classic "nice try." We need to remember that a website is a tool, not just a brochure. It has a job to do. Its job is to turn a visitor into a customer. To do that, we must focus on the user's experience. Is it easy for them to find what they need? Is the text easy to read? Does the site load quickly on their phone? These are the questions that really matter. A simple, clean, and fast website that is easy to use will always get more inquiries than a slow, confusing, but "beautiful" one.

What's More Important Than Looks?

Your website's success depends on how useful it is to your visitors. Three things are much more important than a fancy design: User Experience (UX)¹, a Clear Call-to-Action (CTA), and being Mobile-Friendly². A good UX means the site is easy and pleasant to use. A clear CTA tells people exactly what to do next. And since most people use their phones to browse, your site must work perfectly on a small screen.

Is Your Content Speaking to No One?

You wrote pages of text for your website. You described your company and your services. But the content isn't attracting the right people, and you feel like you wasted your time.

Your website's words must speak directly to your ideal customer. Address their specific problems and use their language. This builds trust and shows you understand them, which makes them want to contact you for a solution.

I remember a client who sold accounting software for small businesses. Their website was full of technical terms and talked all about the company's long history. It was a "nice try," but their customers, who were busy and often confused by accounting, didn't understand it. They just wanted to know, "Will this make my life easier?" We changed all the content. We stopped using jargon. We started writing about how the software saves time and reduces stress. We used headlines like "Finish Your Bookkeeping in 10 Minutes a Day." Almost overnight, the number of inquiries from the website tripled. The lesson is simple. Stop talking about yourself. Start talking about your customer and their problems. Your website is for them, not for you.

How to Write Content That Gets Inquiries

To make your content effective, you need to know exactly who you're talking to. Think about one single, ideal customer. What are their biggest frustrations? What goals are they trying to achieve? Write every word on your website for that one person. Use the word "you" a lot. This makes your writing feel like a one-on-one conversation. Also, always focus on the benefits for the customer, not just the features of your product. A feature is what something is. A benefit is what it does for the customer. People buy benefits, not features.

Did You Forget to Tell People What to Do Next?

People are visiting your website. The analytics show they click on a few pages. But then they just leave. They don't call, and they don't fill out your form. It's so frustrating.

A website fails to get inquiries when it doesn't clearly tell visitors what to do. Every single page needs a prominent button or link—a Call-to-Action (CTA)—that guides them to the next logical step, like contacting you.

You can't assume people know what you want them to do. We are all busy and distracted online. If we have to search for what to do next, we will probably just give up and leave. I learned this the hard way. Early in my career, I built a site for a local plumber. The site had his phone number, but it was small and at the very bottom of the page. He got very few calls. We thought it was a failure, a "nice try." Then, I made one simple change. I added a big, bright button at the top of every page that said "Call Now for Emergency Service." The phone started ringing immediately. You have to guide your visitors by the hand. Tell them exactly what to do next.

The Power of a Clear Call-to-Action (CTA)

A Call-to-Action is simply an instruction to the visitor. It's meant to cause an immediate response. Your CTA should be impossible to miss. Use action-oriented words. Instead of "Submit," try "Get Your Free Quote Now." Every page on your site should have a primary CTA. For a service page, it might be "Schedule a Consultation." For a blog post, it might be "Download the Full Guide." Make it obvious, make it compelling, and make it easy. Don't make your potential customers think. Tell them where to click.

Is Your Website Invisible to Google?

You launched your beautiful new website weeks ago. You told your friends and family. But no new customers are finding it. It feels like your website doesn't even exist online.

If your website isn't optimized for search engines (SEO), it's like a store with no sign on a hidden street. Basic SEO helps Google understand your pages and show them to people who are actively looking for your products or services.

This is one of the most common reasons a website becomes just a "nice try." People think that just by putting a website online, customers will automatically find it. That's not how it works. You have to give Google clues about what your website is about. This is called Search Engine Optimization, or SEO³. It sounds complicated, but the basics are quite simple. You need to think about what words your customers would type into Google to find you. These are your "keywords." Then, you need to use those keywords in important places on your website, like your page titles and headlines⁴. I once forgot to do this for a client's site. It was embarrassing. The site was live, but completely invisible. We had to go back and add the right keywords. It's a lesson I'll never forget.

Simple SEO to Get Found

You don't need to be an SEO expert to get started. Focus on the fundamentals. The most important thing is to create high-quality, helpful content that uses the phrases your customers are searching for. Then, make sure your basic on-page SEO is set up correctly. This includes your page titles (the text that shows up in the browser tab) and your meta descriptions (the short summary that appears under your title in Google search results). These elements tell Google and potential visitors what your page is about. Making sure your site is fast and mobile-friendly is also a huge factor for SEO today.

Conclusion

A website that gets inquiries is not an accident. It focuses on the user, has clear content, tells people what to do, and is easy for Google and customers to find.