E51: Why Your Website Isn’t Converting and How to Fix It Without Starting Over (Part 1)
I see this all the time. Business owners are getting traffic to their website, but no one is calling, booking, or filling out forms.
They assume the problem is more ads, more SEO, or more content, when in reality, the problem is usually their website structure, messaging, and lack of a clear conversion strategy.
In this episode, I break down the most common website mistakes local service businesses make, including unclear calls to action, no lead capture system, confusing copy, and poor page structure. I explain when you actually need a new website versus when you just need better messaging, what pages are essential for ranking, and why you should never choose between SEO and conversions. You need both.
If your website looks decent but isn’t making you money, this episode will show you exactly what’s missing and how to fix it.
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P.S. When you are ready, here are a few ways I can help…
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Sean Garner is a marketing consultant and Certified StoryBrand guide dedicated to helping small business owners grow and dominate their industries. He created the Marketing Domination podcast to teach people how to combine storytelling with strategic marketing to help businesses connect with customers and stand out online.
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MARKETING DOMINATION PODCAST
Introduction
Sean Garner [00:00]:
Do you actually need a new website, or do you just need to improve your copy? What pages do you need on your website for it to rank and convert? And how come you’re getting people to go to your website, but they’re not actually turning into leads? We’re going to answer those, along with other common website questions I get from local service business owners.
Sean Garner [01:05]:
Do you actually need a new website, or do you just need to improve your copy? What pages do you really need on your website in order for it to rank and convert? And what about this—are you getting people to show up to your website, but they’re not actually converting into leads and sales? We’re going to talk all about that and other common questions I get from local service business owners when it comes to their website on this episode of the Marketing Domination Podcast.
Sean Garner [01:37]:
That was not what I wanted.
Sean Garner [01:45]:
This is going to start a series covering the top questions I get asked on client calls whenever leads and prospects reach out to us about different aspects of marketing. This first topic is actually going to be a two-part series focused on websites.
I get tons of questions about websites—what software to use and what to do to make them convert more. So I’m taking those top questions and breaking them down over the next two episodes to give you the clarity you need to help your small business grow and dominate online.
If this is your first time checking out the podcast, my name is Sean, and I run a marketing agency called Sean Garner Consulting. We help local service-based business owners grow and dominate online using StoryBrand messaging, website sales funnels, and search engine optimization—which is now search everywhere optimization—so you get found wherever your potential customers are looking for you.
Let’s dive right into this. The first question is all about conversions. Why is my website getting traffic but not converting leads? Another variation I hear all the time is, what’s killing conversions?
Business owners often say, “I’ve built this website. I can see people coming to it through marketing reports, data, or maybe a current agency I’m working with. We’re getting people to the website, but once they’re there, why isn’t anything happening?”
A couple of things to think about here—the most common issue I see that kills conversions is a lack of a clear call to action. If people are coming to your website and your buttons say things like “Contact Us” or “Learn More,” that is absolutely crushing your conversions.
We need clear, direct calls to action on your website, and where those calls to action are placed is extremely important. The most valuable real estate on your website is the top right-hand corner. When someone lands on your site, that’s where your clear, direct call to action needs to be.
So think about this: what is the main thing you want someone to do when they visit your website?
Clear Calls to Action That Actually Convert
Sean Garner [02:54]:
We need to be clear about the action we want potential customers to take in order to engage with our business. It’s not “Contact Us,” and it’s not “Learn More.” Typically, we want them to book an appointment, schedule an assessment, call now, or reserve a consultation. We want them to take a very specific action, and that exact language should be used on the button.
That button should be placed in the top right-hand corner of the website and repeated again in the center of the page before someone even has to scroll. We then want that exact same wording used consistently throughout the entire website.
When we’re building websites, I think in terms of scroll depth. Every time someone scrolls twice, I want them to see another call-to-action button, and it should always say the same thing.
Another common mistake I see is businesses sending people to the same booking or scheduling page but changing the wording each time. At the top it might say “Book Your Free Assessment,” then later “Schedule a Consultation,” then another button says “Schedule a Strategy Call.” Calling it different things creates confusion. Simply fixing that and making it clear and consistent can instantly help your website convert more.
The second reason websites don’t get leads is because there’s no way to capture them. This is where we use something called a transitional call to action, or a lead generator. Not everyone who visits your website is ready to buy, book an appointment, or fully commit. So we need to give them something else to engage with.
This is usually a free offer where they exchange their name, email, and phone number for something of value. That could be a free guide, a mini course, a training video, or a checklist—something that helps them take a step forward. They may believe you can help solve their problem, but they’re not ready to take full action yet. This allows us to capture the lead and follow up.
Why You Need a Lead Generator
Sean Garner [05:06]:
I think a lot of times business owners get frustrated that their website isn’t generating leads, and they jump straight to thinking it’s a sales problem. But if you don’t have a lead generator set up, or even a way to capture leads, you shouldn’t be surprised that your website isn’t collecting them.
If you don’t have that in place, the only thing your website can do is collect business, which is great and ultimately the goal. But there’s an important step before that for a certain type of customer who isn’t ready to commit yet. We still want to engage them so we can follow up later.
The third reason websites typically don’t convert is unclear messaging. A lot of homepages and sales pages are filled with bloated information that customers don’t actually care about. It’s all about the business—why the company thinks it’s amazing—instead of focusing on the customer.
The messaging isn’t inviting the customer into a story. It doesn’t address the problem they’re trying to solve or position the business as a guide to help them win. Instead, it uses insider language and makes things complicated.
At our agency, we’re certified StoryBrand coaches, and we use the StoryBrand framework to clean this up. We create clear talking points and simple messaging that positions the business as the guide, not the hero. That clarity helps customers see themselves in the story and understand exactly how you can help them.
Do You Need a New Website or Just Better Copy?
Sean Garner [06:54]:
The second part of this, and the next question I get, is: do I actually need a new website, or do I just need better copy? That’s a great question, and honestly, it depends.
A lot of times when people think about a website, they’re just thinking about pictures and words. For most business owners, that’s how they visualize their website. But for us as a marketing agency—and specifically as an SEO-focused marketing agency—when I think about a website, I’m looking at several different layers.
Yes, we can take an existing website and change the words, and that may help conversions for the people who are already visiting. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to help you get more traffic or rank higher in search results—whether that’s Google Search, ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI overviews, or other LLMs. There’s a lot more to it than just copy.
One of the things we like to do before working with a client is a full audit. If anything we’re talking about today sounds interesting, you can go to SeanGarner.co and click “Schedule a Call.” That will book a call directly with me. On that call, we’ll do a full audit of your current marketing and website, see how it’s performing, identify issues, and then make recommendations based on where you want to take your business. That way, you know exactly what needs to be done to grow and dominate your industry.
Copy is huge. It’s the foundation of what we do. As a StoryBrand guide, creating the brand script, the talking points, and the website copy is critical. We want it to be clear and simple. We use a specific formula with ten different sections on the homepage to answer your customers’ questions and drive conversions.
But just having new words doesn’t automatically fix everything. We also have to look at overall style and design. Your customers are judging you. If you’re a plumber, roofer, or medical spa, people aren’t just looking for the service—they’re evaluating whether they trust you.
If someone clicks on your website and it looks like it was built years ago or done DIY, and then they click on a competitor’s site that looks professional and modern, they’re naturally going to trust the one that looks better. It’s the same as in the real world. If you walk into a sketchy-looking building versus a clean, modern storefront in the same industry, you instantly trust one more than the other.
So depending on how old your website is and how it’s technically built, that’s a big factor in deciding whether you need a brand-new site or just improvements.
What Pages Your Website Actually Needs to Rank
Sean Garner [09:04]:
The next question is: what pages does my website actually need in order to rank and convert? I love this question because it’s very well thought out.
When it comes to ranking and converting—whether that’s in search engines, LLMs, or AI overviews—there’s a structure you need to think about. I break this into two parts.
First, conversions. To convert visitors into leads or customers, you don’t actually need a ton of pages. What you need is a really strong, well-structured sales page that you’re sending traffic to. Typically, people don’t need an overwhelming amount of information to make a buying decision.
We wireframe our homepages using the StoryBrand framework. Those ten sections are designed to check all the boxes your customer needs so that, just from the homepage, they have enough information to take the next step.
Now, ranking is a different story. In order for your website to rank and even be shown to potential customers in the first place, you do need additional pages and a clear page structure. That structure is what helps search engines and AI platforms understand what you do, where you do it, and who you help.
Sean Garner [11:13]:
Ultimately, when it comes to ranking for specific things, the biggest factor you need to look at is your competition. If your competitors have all of these pages built out, structured, and formatted, and you don’t, it doesn’t matter how awesome your one page is—you’re not going to rank. SEO is comparative. If you want to rank better, you have to do things better than your competition.
We’ve had some clients where we’ve done very minimal work, and they shot up to number one in less than a month simply because they were in a minimally competitive environment. We applied solid fundamentals and good strategy, and they immediately climbed.
Other industries—especially home services, medical spas, and similar spaces—are much more competitive. In those cases, you have to be far more strategic in how you build things out.
When we think about site structure and pages, we typically start with a homepage. As I mentioned earlier, the homepage is designed to convert. That is your primary sales page.
Next, we want an About page. The About page is great for what I call trophy content. This is where you actually do want to talk about your business. While we don’t focus on ourselves on the sales page, the About page is important because when LLMs, search engines, and crawlers are scanning your website, they need a clear place to understand who you are.
On that page, you want things like who you are, what you do, your service hours, address, how long you’ve been in business, awards you’ve won—everything in one place. That makes it easy for these systems to crawl and understand your business.
Another important page is a main service hub page. This page gives a top-level overview of all the services or products you offer.
Sean Garner [13:07]:
From there, we typically break each service down into individual sub-service pages. For example, with a medical spa, you might have a main services page, then individual pages for Botox, laser hair removal, facials, and so on.
These sub-service pages are critical for SEO. They allow us to optimize each page for what customers are specifically searching for. When someone looks for a specific service, we now have a dedicated page designed to rank for that search.
Another important page type for local service businesses is location pages. When we build these, we usually take a variation of the homepage and service page and tailor it to a specific geographic area within your service region.
When creating location pages, it’s helpful to include specific details—neighborhoods, landmarks, and local references—to make the page feel authentic to that area. This helps both users and search engines understand that you genuinely provide services in that location.
So when someone searches for a medical spa, IV therapy, or home service in a specific city, these location pages give you an opportunity to rank and signal to Google, LLMs, ChatGPT, and AI overviews that you actually serve that area.
That’s how I think about website structure.
To convert: you need strong copy that follows a proven framework.
To rank: you need a page structure that matches or exceeds what your competitors are doing.
At a minimum, having these core pillar pages gives your website the opportunity to compete.
The next question I get all the time is: should my website be built for SEO first or conversions first? Great question. My answer is—why not both?
SEO vs Conversions
Sean Garner [15:01]:
I think a really good website should be optimized for both SEO and conversions. SEO isn’t a hack or a trick to manipulate Google or ChatGPT into showing your business first. It’s about being clear and proving why you deserve to rank where you do. When you have a clear website that properly showcases that, it typically converts really well.
High conversions also help impact SEO. One thing we do at our agency that’s somewhat unique is that we’re certified StoryBrand coaches. We write very clear brand messaging that’s designed to convert, but because we’re also an SEO-first agency, we understand what people are actually searching for and how websites need to be structured to rank in search everywhere.
We combine those two things. We use clear language, but we also follow specific structures for headings, title tags, meta descriptions, and technical SEO so the site has the opportunity to rank in search engines and AI-driven platforms. My answer is both. Don’t just pick one. You need to show up, and you need to convert.
You can do one without the other. You could have a highly conversion-focused website with great copy but no keyword strategy, so no one can find you. Or you could have an old-school SEO site that’s stuffed with keywords, doesn’t position the customer as the hero, and doesn’t convert. If you want to truly grow and dominate, you need both.
Does Website Design Really Matter?
Sean Garner [17:06]:
The last question for today is one I really love: does website design even matter for local businesses? If you’re a plumber, electrician, or medical clinic, does having a good-looking website really matter? Are people hiring you just because your website looks amazing?
The answer is no—and also kind of yes. Think about how you make purchase decisions. When you’re looking for a local service, you usually start in the map pack. You search “plumber near me” or “roofer near me,” look at the top listings with the most reviews, and start calling them. Then you scroll down, click through websites, and compare.
Website design doesn’t directly impact rankings, but customers absolutely make judgments based on how things look. We’re all judging. If I land on a website that looks like it hasn’t been updated in 20 years, I start thinking maybe that business isn’t doing well or isn’t very professional. Customers are doing the same thing.
For some industries, design matters even more. Medical spas are a great example. They’re very aesthetic and luxury-focused. If one website looks DIY and another looks polished, modern, and visually showcases the services and facility, the better-looking one will win nine times out of ten.
For other home services, design might matter a little less, but it still plays a role in perception. If someone visits your site and then checks out a competitor whose site looks significantly better, they’ll likely lean toward the competitor.
Sean Garner [19:23]:
I see this a lot with home service businesses that have been around for a long time in smaller markets. They rank number one because their business name is the keyword, but their website is terrible. Then you click on the next competitor’s site and it completely blows it away—price estimators, live chat, clear service breakdowns, strong visuals. That competitor is going to win, and eventually they’ll outrank the older site too.
Design may not help rankings immediately, but it will over time because user experience is a ranking factor. If Google shows your website, someone clicks it, and immediately leaves, that’s a negative signal. If they stay, engage, and take action, that’s a positive signal. Over time, that impacts rankings.
Design also influences buying decisions. A better experience keeps people engaged, builds trust, and increases conversions.
Want More Help?
Sean Garner [21:28]:
These are some of the most common website questions I get. In part two, we’re going to go even deeper—what website platform to use, how often to update your website, and how to make your site stand out from competitors.
If you want us to implement strategies like this in your local service business, book a call with me at SeanGarner.co. We’ll do a complete audit of your marketing, website, and SEO, show you exactly where the opportunities are, and outline the steps you need to grow and dominate online.
