Hi — I’m from Salazar Digital – Marketing & Web Design. I made a short video about a surprising problem many businesses face: you can drive traffic to your website, rank high in search results, run ads, and still not get calls or contact form submissions. In this article I walk through the most common reasons your site might be pushing potential customers away and what to check right now to fix it.
Quick overview: what’s really happening
At the end of the day you want people who visit your site to take an action: call you, send a message, or book an appointment. If people see your site but don’t contact you, it’s not always a marketing problem — sometimes it’s the website itself. Below are the most common problems I see and practical steps to resolve them.
Common reasons your website is “scaring” customers
1. Browser security warning (no SSL)
One obvious issue: your site is not secure. Modern browsers will warn visitors with messages like:
“This site is not secure.”
When people see that, many simply leave. A missing or expired SSL certificate (the HTTPS padlock) can trigger that message. It’s an easy technical thing to overlook, but it directly destroys trust.
What to do:
- Confirm your site uses HTTPS and shows the padlock in the browser address bar.
- If it doesn’t, install or renew an SSL certificate. Many hosting providers include free certificates.
- Recheck any mixed-content warnings (secure page loading insecure resources) and fix them.
2. Slow loading times — especially on mobile
Slow pages frustrate people. If your site takes too long to load — a spinner or partial content that never finishes — users will leave. This is even more common on phones when you use heavy videos, large images, or complex animations that delay rendering.
What to do:
- Test your page speed on mobile and desktop (tools such as Google PageSpeed Insights can help).
- Compress and properly size images, lazy-load media, and limit unnecessary animations.
- Consider hosting and caching improvements if load times are still high.
3. Unclear message or no call-to-action (CTA)
Visitors should instantly understand what you do and what they should do next. If your homepage talks about the wrong things or doesn’t tell users to call, book, or message, they won’t convert.
What to do:
- Make your main value proposition obvious in the first few seconds.
- Include clear CTAs like “Call now”, “Book an appointment”, or “Send a message” in visible spots.
- Provide an easy path: clickable phone number on mobile, contact form, or booking button.
4. Broken contact methods (forms, email, phone)
One of the simplest — and most damaging — issues is when contact methods don’t work. A client may tell you “I’m not getting calls,” but the real reason is the phone number on the site is incorrect, the contact form isn’t submitting, or email notifications aren’t reaching you.
What to do:
- Test the phone number on the site: call it from a different device.
- Submit the contact form yourself and confirm you receive the message (and that the autoresponse works if you have one).
- Check that form emails aren’t landing in spam or blocked by server settings.
5. Everything above is part of CRO — Conversion Rate Optimization
All these elements fall under CRO: improving the percentage of visitors who take a desired action. Page speed, site security, messaging clarity, working contact methods, and obvious CTAs all contribute to conversion rate. Fixing these improves not just traffic value but real leads.
Quick checklist: test your website now
- Open your site in a browser. Do you see a security warning or missing padlock?
- Visit your site on a mobile device. How fast does it load? Any layout or media issues?
- Is your main message clear within seconds? Can a visitor tell what you offer and why?
- Are CTAs visible and easy to use (click-to-call on phones, booking buttons, forms)?
- Call the phone number on the site and submit the contact form. Do you actually receive the leads?
- Check analytics for unusually high bounce rates on key pages — a sign people leave immediately.
Final tips and next steps
Driving traffic is only half the battle. If your site is scaring customers away, focus on these foundational fixes first:
- Secure your site with HTTPS.
- Speed it up — especially for mobile users.
- Clarify your message and add strong CTAs.
- Regularly test that contact methods work.
- Track conversions and iterate — CRO is ongoing.
If you want help running these checks or improving conversions, reach out to Salazar Digital – Marketing & Web Design. I cover these topics in a short video as well — search for Salazar Digital on YouTube to watch and learn more. Don’t let a simple website issue stop customers from contacting you.
Thanks for reading — see you next time.
