Hunter Wilson, Louisville Web Guy Hunter Wilson Louisville Web Guy · Updated October 14, 2026 · 6 min read
A desk phone with a cobweb on it next to a website whose tiny phone icon needs a magnifying glass to find

Website not getting calls? Before you pay for a redesign, check whether the phone number and the form on it work.

That sounds too simple. It's also the first thing I check, because it's broken more often than you'd think.

What I Found on a Real Site in September

In September 2026 I took over the website for a family plumbing company in Louisville. Before I changed anything, I used the site the way a customer would. I tapped every button and sent the form.

  • The WhatsApp button had someone else's number on it. An earlier SEO company had added it. Nobody at the shop knew whose number it was.
  • The contact form sent messages to an outside form service. Nobody could tell me where they ended up.
  • The email link didn't work.
  • Seven service pages had been hacked and swapped for gambling spam, starting in mid-August.
  • Nothing was tracked. There was no way to know if the site had ever produced a call.

From the owner's side, the homepage looked fine. That's the problem. You don't see these things unless you go looking.

We rebuilt the site and put a tap-to-call number at the top of every page. We track every tap on it. We also added a contact form. In its first four days it got 14 submissions, and every one was a spam bot.

So we took the form down. Every page now has two buttons: Call, and Schedule online. Schedule online goes straight into the booking system their office already uses. The first real online booking came in the same day that button went live.

My own site tells the same story. Most of my clients found me on Google and then called or texted. My contact form hasn't brought in one signed client.

So my rule is simple. The phone number comes first. A form is the backup.

These are the 7 fixes I'd check on any small business site that isn't getting calls, in the order I'd check them.

Fix 1: Make Sure the Number Is Right, Visible and Tappable

1 Phone Number Wrong, Buried or Not Tappable

Pull up your site on your phone and tap the number. Does your phone ring? Check every number on the site, including chat and WhatsApp buttons someone else added.

Then check where it sits. If it's only in the footer, on the Contact page or inside an image, people in a hurry won't find it.

The Fix:

Put your number in the header of every page as a tap-to-call link (a tel: link). On phones, a header that stays put while people scroll keeps it one tap away.

Website header without a phone number, above the same header with a tap-to-call phone number
Put the number in the header of every page and make it tap-to-call.

Fix 2: Send Your Own Form

2 A Form That Goes Nowhere

Fill out your own contact form right now. Did the email show up? Who got it? Did it land in spam?

If nobody can answer those questions, the form is a dead end. And if it fills up with spam, real requests get buried.

The Fix:

Send a test every month. Add a spam filter. If the form still brings in nothing but bots, take it down and lead with the phone number, or link to the booking tool you already use.

Fix 3: Speed It Up

3 Slow Loading Speed

If the page and the call button are still loading a few seconds in, you're making someone in a hurry wait.

In Google's 2016 mobile study, 53% of visits were abandoned when a page took longer than 3 seconds to load. Google also says its Core Web Vitals, its measures of loading speed and page stability, are used by its ranking systems.

The Fix:

Test your site at PageSpeed Insights. Look at the real-user data first when it's there. On WordPress, start with what to check first on a slow WordPress site.

Fix 4: Make It Work on a Phone

4 Site Doesn't Work Well on Phones

Most people looking for a plumber or a salon are on a phone. Tiny text, tiny buttons and pinch-to-zoom cost you calls.

The Fix:

Test on a real phone, not a narrow browser window. Make the buttons big enough to tap with a thumb.

Fix 5: Give Every Page One Next Step

5 Visitors Don't Know What to Do

Your services are listed and the photos look good. But what should someone do next?

The Fix:

Pick one or two actions and repeat them down the page. For the plumbing company it's Call and Schedule online. For you it might be "Call for a Free Estimate" or "Book an Appointment."

The same web page with no call to action and with one clear call button repeated down the page
Every page needs one obvious next step. Repeat it on long pages.

Want Me to Audit Your Site?

SEO Audit, $595. I review your site by hand and give you a written fix list in priority order.

Get an SEO Audit

Fix 6: Show People Why They Can Trust You

6 Nothing That Builds Trust

Someone who finds you through search has usually never heard of you. If your site doesn't give them a reason to trust you, they'll call someone who looks more established.

The Fix:

  • Show your Google reviews, or link to them
  • List your license, insurance or certifications
  • Use real photos of you, your team and your work
  • Use testimonials with real names (with the customer's OK)

Short on reviews? Here's how to get more Google reviews.

Fix 7: Check What Google Shows for Your Site

7 Hacked Pages or No Search Presence

Search Google for site:yourwebsite.com. If you see pages you didn't write, your site may be hacked. That's how the plumbing company's gambling pages showed up.

If you see almost nothing, Google doesn't know much about you yet. A site with no visitors can't get calls.

The Fix:

  • Hacked pages: get them cleaned up and change your hosting passwords
  • Claim and fill out your Google Business Profile
  • Give each main service its own page, in the words your customers search
  • Keep your name, address and phone the same everywhere online

How to Tell If It's Working

You can't fix what you can't count. On the plumbing site, we track every tap on the phone number and every online booking. Then we can see which pages and ads bring in real jobs.

At the least, ask every new caller how they found you. Write it down.

Quick Self-Check on Your Phone

Lou the mascot holding a silent phone receiver beside a laptop website with a muted bell and a tiny phone number in the footer
Before you redesign anything, tap your own number and send your own form.

Does the phone number work?

  • It's in the header of every page
  • Tapping it rings your phone
  • No other numbers on the site you don't recognize

Does the form work?

  • Your test message arrived
  • You know who gets it
  • It isn't buried in spam

Does it load and fit on a phone?

  • Page shows up in about 3 seconds
  • Text readable without zooming
  • Buttons big enough to tap

Is the next step obvious?

  • One clear button near the top
  • It repeats on longer pages

What does Google show?

  • No strange pages in a site: search
  • Your Business Profile is claimed and filled out

Need Help?

Four ways I can help:

  • Website Rescue: Not sure what's wrong? Start with the $250 diagnostic. You get a plain-English answer and a fix plan.
  • SEO Audit ($595): I review your site by hand and give you a written list of what to fix, in priority order.
  • Website Maintenance: If the site works but keeps drifting, Care covers hosting, backups, updates and small content edits.
  • Website Rebuild: If the site is past fixing, Pro is $2,500 setup and $399/month.

Or call or text me at (502) 305-4043. I'll tap your number and send your form while we're on the phone, and tell you what I find.