Someone just recommended your business. What happens when they visit your website?
Two business owners are chatting at a networking meeting. One mentions a problem they’re trying to solve, and the other says:
“You should speak to Jacquie. She knows her stuff.”
So, they go back to the office and do what most of us would do.
They Google you.
And, because you’re not there to explain things, answer their questions, or reassure them, your website has to do a lot of the talking for you.
Ideally, you want them to find a website that gives them a reason to think:
“Yep, this sounds like the person I’ve been looking for.”
A recommendation creates an expectation
When someone recommends your business, it’s easy to imagine the process looking something like this:
Recommendation → Website visit → Enquiry
(or even Recommendation → Enquiry)
In reality, there’s usually a bit more going on:
Recommendation → Tell me more → Website visit → Can you help? → Trust → Decision → Enquiry
The recommendation gives you a head start. Someone has effectively said “I think this person can help you”, so there’s some initial trust there. But that doesn’t mean the decision is a done deal.
The person visiting your website still has to work out whether you can actually help them. They may not be consciously going through a checklist (it’s more subtle than that), but they’re still getting a feel for whether what they’ve been told matches what they’re seeing.
Can they help with what I need?
Do they work with businesses like mine?
Do they really understand my problem?
Do they know what they’re talking about?
Do I like how they come across on their website?
Is there any evidence that they do a good job?
Does this feel like someone I want to do business with?
What happens if I contact them?
Your website doesn’t have to answer every one of those questions immediately when someone lands on your homepage. But it does need to lead people towards the answers.
Surely the recommendation has already done the hard work?
A recommendation is really just the start. Someone lands on your website with a little bit of borrowed trust, and you have the opportunity to build on that, not give them reasons to question it.
Think about it for a moment.
Their friend has said:
“Jacquie’s brilliant. She really understands small businesses.”
They’re interested, so they take a look at your website.
And then they find something confusing, out of date, and full of generic marketing waffle.
That’s a mismatch right away. It may not be an instant “no”, but now there’s a little doubt. If what they’re seeing doesn’t match what they’ve just heard about you, they may start wondering whether the recommendation was any good after all.
Now imagine the opposite.
The website reinforces everything their friend has told them. It’s clear, up to date, and feels like it was made for people like them.
It’s reassuring, and they think:
“Yep, I can see why they recommended her.”
That’s the feeling you’re trying to create.
So what is your website telling people?
When someone new lands on your website, they’re unconsciously looking for answers to a few common questions:
1. What does this business do?
This isn’t just about finding the services page.
It’s about whether someone can understand in a few seconds what you do, who you do it for, and why they might need you. Vague headlines and business jargon can make that really difficult to work out.
You don’t have to explain absolutely everything on your homepage. But people shouldn’t have to work out what you do.
2. Is this for me?
Even when someone can quickly understand what you offer, the next question is usually: Can I see myself here?
This is where knowing your customers really helps. The language you use, the examples you share, and the problems you talk about should give the right people a little moment of recognition:
“Ah, that sounds like me.”
3. Does this business understand what I need?
You may offer exactly the right products and services, but can someone visiting your website see that you understand their problems and needs?
A business can list website design, SEO, and content writing. But that doesn’t necessarily make someone feel like you understand what they’re struggling with.
Your website needs to connect what you do with the problem your customer is trying to solve.
4. Can they actually do this?
People need to see evidence.
They look for examples, experience, testimonials, credentials, photographs of your work, case studies, and other specific things that help them believe you can deliver what you say you can.
Exactly what that evidence looks like will be different for every business. But the principle is the same.
Don’t just tell people you can help. Give them reasons to believe you.
5. Can I trust this business?
When we talk about building trust, most people immediately think about reviews and testimonials. They’re important, but trust signals go much further.
Is your website current?
Are your contact details clear?
Do your links work properly?
Are you communicating in a professional but human way?
Does your website feel cared for?
They might seem like small details. But put them together, and they can have a big impact on the overall feeling someone gets when they land on your website.
6. What happens next?
Is it easy for people to find out how to contact you?
Maybe they want to book a service, buy something, make an enquiry, or take whatever the next sensible step is for your business.
What happens after they do?
If someone completes your contact form, how long can they expect to wait for a reply? If you don’t work at weekends, setting that expectation upfront means they’re not going to wonder why they haven’t heard from you before Monday.
It’s not just the big things that matter
The six things above are important, even if some of them sound like small details. And there are so many more things that can influences how someone feels about your business too.
I mean, what does it really matter if someone has to hunt around for your email address, especially if you’ve got a contact form?
Quite a lot, when you think about it.
A broken link
A “Latest news” page that hasn’t been updated since 2022
A contact form that doesn’t work properly
An about page showing someone who left years ago
A confusing navigation structure
Stock photography that feels nothing like the business
An impressive headline that tells you nothing at all
A “Book a call” button that takes you through endless steps
Any one of those things might seem insignificant. But websites aren’t usually judged on one thing.
People take in lots of little signals and use them to build an overall impression. And I think this is where business owners sometimes underestimate the impact of these seemingly minor details.
Your website doesn’t have to be perfect, but it shouldn’t be giving people reasons to hesitate.
So what is your website actually there to do?
Your website isn’t there to replace a conversation with someone and it doesn’t need to answer every possible question. So you can ditch the 47 pages. Yay 🙌
If you think about it, your website doesn’t need to:
Turn every visitor into a customer
Answer every possible question
Contain everything you’ve ever done
Be a miniature version of your entire business
Its job is much simpler. It’s there to help move someone from:
“I found your site via search,” or “Someone recommended you.”
to
“Yes, I think I’d like to talk more.”
For me, that feels like a much more achievable and useful goal.
However someone finds you, they’re still a person
There’s a real difference between someone finding your business and someone choosing it. A networking recommendation is just one way someone might arrive on your website.
They might find you through Google
They might ask an AI tool for a recommendation
They might see you on social media
Someone might send them a link
They might meet you at an event and look you up later
There are more ways than ever for someone to discover a business. And that means there’s understandably a lot of pressure to think about how to be found.
I’ve been having more and more conversations with business owners about this. They want to know:
How do I show up in AI search?
What happens when people get their answer without clicking?
Do I need to be creating more content?
Do I need to be seen everywhere?
These are important questions. But I think there’s a danger that we spend so much time thinking about how to be found that we forget about the person doing the finding.
Getting found online is only half the story. I wrote more about that in my previous post. The other half of the story is what happens once someone actually lands on your website.
They’re still a person trying to work out whether you’re the right business for them.
Try looking at your website through someone else’s eyes
Ask someone who doesn’t know your business very well to imagine they’ve been told:
“You should speak to this person.”
Then give them your website link.
Don’t explain anything else, but ask them afterwards:
What did you think I did?
Who did you think I helped?
What problem did you think I solved?
What made you trust me?
Was there anything that made you hesitate?
What would you do next?
Here’s the important part: let them answer without trying to defend your website.
Don’t immediately explain what they were supposed to understand. If people consistently misunderstand the same thing, your website hasn’t failed because they’re bad readers. It’s given you useful information about what your website is communicating.
And that’s pretty close to how I approach a website audit.
This is what I look for in a website audit
Everything I’ve talked about here is why website audits have become such an important part of what I do. I’m not interested in looking at your website and producing a big list of things you’ve done wrong.
What I want to understand is what happens when a real person tries to use your website.
Can they understand what you do?
Can they see how you can help?
Can they trust what they’re seeing?
And can they work out what to do next?
To do that, I look at these three things together:
The business
What are you trying to achieve?The customer
What do they need to understand, feel, and do?How people find you
How are people discovering your business and how are search and AI changing the way that happens?
Of course I’ll look at the technical side too. That’s still important. But I don’t think you can separate a website from the business behind it, the people it’s trying to reach, and the experience you’re trying to create.
It’s also why I think content should be written for people first.
Your website is part of the conversation you’re having with potential customers. Your content should help them understand you, answer their questions, and get a feel for how you work. And, yes, it should make it easier for the right people to discover you.
It all comes back to the person
The next time someone recommends your business, there’s a good chance they’ll Google you.
You won’t be there in person to speak with them.
But your website will.
And whether they arrive because someone recommended you, because Google showed them your business, or because an AI tool mentioned your name, the job of your website is the same.
Help the right people understand what you do
Help them see that you can help
Give them reasons to trust you
Make it easy for them to decide what to do next
Your website doesn’t need to be perfect.
It just needs to make that recommendation feel like a good one.
Fancy testing your website?
Try those six questions with someone who doesn’t know your business very well. You might be surprised by what they say.
And if you’d like a fresh pair of eyes on your website, that’s what my website audits are for.
