Welcome back — or if this is your first time here, thanks for stopping by.
I look at a lot of essential trade business websites around Vancouver, and there’s a pattern that comes up again and again:
Everything looks fine when you check it yourself…
but something isn’t working the same way for your customers.
Most of the time, the difference comes down to one thing:
You’re checking your site on desktop.
They’re using it on their phone.
Forbes found that in 2023 62.73% percent of all web traffic came through mobile phones.
In fact, data cited by Forbes shows that over 60% of web traffic comes from mobile devices — and that number has only continued to grow.
So even if your site feels fine on desktop, that’s not where most of your customers are making decisions.
Where the disconnect starts
If you open your website on a computer, chances are it looks good.
Clean layout.
Clear information.
Nothing obviously broken.
But that’s not how most people are finding you.
They’re:
- Searching on their phone
- Clicking from Google
- Trying to contact you quickly
And that’s where things can start to break down.
The problem isn’t that mobile is “broken”
Most sites technically work on mobile.
That’s what makes this tricky.
The issue is that small differences in how things behave can have a big impact when someone is trying to take action.
Especially when that action is:
→ calling you
→ filling out your contact form
What this actually looks like in real situations
These aren’t obvious bugs.
They’re small things that only show up when you use the site the way a customer would.
For example:
- The phone number is visible… but hard to tap quickly
- The number opens the dialer, but what shows there doesn’t quite match what was on the site (which can make people hesitate)
- The contact button is pushed down the page or easy to miss
- The form is technically there, but awkward to use on a smaller screen
- Parts of the layout shift or stack in a way that slows someone down
None of these seem serious in isolation.
But they all happen at the same moment — when someone is trying to reach you.
How this connects to everything else
This is where a lot of issues overlap.
If you’ve ever noticed:
- you’re getting visitors to your website but not nearly as many calls
- your contact form isn’t bringing in many leads
- or something feels off with how people are reaching you
Mobile is often a big part of that.
Because even if everything looks fine on desktop, that’s not where most of those decisions are happening.
Why people don’t push through
One of the biggest misunderstandings is thinking:
“If they really wanted to contact me, they would.”
In reality, people don’t push through friction on websites.
They don’t:
- zoom in and out trying to figure things out
- double-check numbers
- retry forms multiple times
They go back… and choose the next option.
And according to Forbes, again, “88% of online users won’t return to a site after a bad experience.“
A simple way to check this (what most people miss on mobile)
If you’ve already tested if your phone number works when tapped, and if your form submits properly, this is a bit different.
This time, you’re not checking if things work.
You’re checking how easy it is to find them in the first place.
Because most people don’t spend time looking around your site.
They land, and within a few seconds they’re either:
A → contacting you
B → going somewhere else
Try this on your phone
Open your website on your phone — ideally on mobile (not wifi) data, and try it once in incognito mode so nothing is preloaded.
Now don’t browse.
Pretend you need your own service and try to contact yourself as quickly as possible.
But this time, pay attention to this specifically:
How long does it take before you even see a phone number?
Not “is it there” — how long it takes to appear.
Because if it loads late, or only shows after things shift around, people don’t wait for it.
Is your phone number clearly available at the bottom (footer) as well?
This matters more than it seems.
A lot of people rapidly scroll straight to the bottom of a site, expecting to find contact info there — blind to everything else.
If it’s not also in the footer — or not obvious — it creates friction right at the moment they’re trying to act.
Are ALL versions of your phone number actually usable?
Not just one.
If your number appears:
- in the header
- in the body
- in the footer
Are they all clickable?
Or only some of them?
Because hitting a number that looks right but doesn’t do anything feels like something is broken — even if another one works somewhere else.
Why this matters (this is the part most people miss)
From your perspective, it’s easy to think:
“My number is right there at the top. It’s obvious.”
But that’s from someone who already knows the site.
A customer doesn’t.
They’re:
- on their phone
- in a hurry
- not paying close attention
So they rely on patterns.
And one of the biggest patterns is:
→ “Scroll → find contact info at the bottom → act”
If that pattern breaks — even slightly — it creates hesitation.
And hesitation at that moment usually means:
→ they leave
→ and try the next business
What you’re really checking here
Not whether your site works.
But whether someone can:
→ find and act on your contact information immediately, without thinking
Because that’s what actually determines whether you get the call.
This is one of those things that looks fine when you already know where everything is — but feels very different when you don’t.
Why this often gets missed
Most website checks happen:
- On desktop
- With time to look around
- Without any urgency
But real customers don’t use your site that way.
They’re usually:
- In a hurry
- On a smaller screen
- Making a quick decision
So issues that seem minor in one context become much more important in another.
The takeaway
If your website seems fine but isn’t turning into calls or leads, it’s worth looking at how it actually behaves on mobile.
Not just whether it loads.
But whether someone can quickly and confidently contact you without hesitation.
Because that’s where a lot of missed jobs tend to happen.
If you haven’t checked your site this way before, it’s worth a few minutes.
Most of these issues are subtle — but they show up right when it matters most.
In the next post, I’m going to go through another common situation:
when your website and your other listings (like Google or directories) don’t quite match — and how that can quietly cost you calls.