Most small business owners don’t look at their own website very often. Which means problems can sit there for months — turning visitors away without you even knowing.
Here are five common issues we see on local business websites in the Macedon Ranges. If any of these sound familiar, it’s probably time for a tune-up.
1. It Takes More Than 3 Seconds to Load
People are impatient. If your site is still loading after three seconds, a decent chunk of visitors have already hit the back button.
Slow sites usually come from:
- Uncompressed images (that 5MB photo of your shopfront? Yeah, that’s the problem)
- Cheap shared hosting that’s overcrowded
- Too many plugins or tracking scripts
2. It Looks Terrible on Mobile
Over 60% of web traffic in Australia is on mobile phones. If your site was built five years ago and hasn’t been touched since, there’s a good chance it’s not mobile-friendly.
Pinch-to-zoom is a dead giveaway. If visitors have to zoom in to read text or tap tiny links, they’re having a bad time.
3. Your Contact Info Is Hard to Find
This sounds obvious, but we see it all the time: buried phone numbers, contact forms that don’t work, or opening hours hidden three clicks deep.
Your phone number and email should be on every page. Ideally in the header or footer. And if you have a physical location, an embedded map helps people actually find you.
4. It Hasn’t Been Updated in Years
“Latest news: March 2022” sends a message. And that message is “we might not be open anymore.”
You don’t need a blog that posts weekly. But a stale site makes people wonder if you’re still operating. At minimum, check your copyright date, remove seasonal promotions that expired six months ago, and make sure your contact details are current.
5. There Are Broken Links and Error Pages
Clicking a link that goes nowhere is frustrating. It’s also a signal that nobody’s paying attention.
Common culprits: old PDF menus, links to social profiles that have changed handles, or pages you deleted but didn’t redirect.
The Good News
None of these require a full rebuild. Most can be fixed in an afternoon with the right know-how.
If you’re not sure whether your site has these issues, we offer a free 10-minute audit. We’ll check the obvious stuff and tell you what’s worth fixing first.
Get your free website check — no obligation, no hard sell.
