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Why Your Website Isn't Driving Growth? Get website traffic growth

  • Writer: Simon Hunt
    Simon Hunt
  • Sep 3
  • 3 min read

Updated: Sep 10

When Web Design Misses the Mark:


You hired an agency.You briefed them clearly.The site looks fantastic.

But six months later, the numbers tell a different story:

  • Google Lighthouse mobile performance scores: 39–62/100 (out of 100)

  • Website traffic: 100 visits/month vs competitors at 45,000/month

  • Keyword rankings: Mostly directional (“Who are you?”) or informational (“What do you do?”) — but nothing educational or commercial (“How do you solve my problem?” or “Where do I buy?”)


The result? A pretty website that isn’t generating pipeline or revenue.

Here’s why this happens — and how to fix it.


Competitors get 45X traffic

1. Designed for Founders, Not for Users


Agencies often build sites around the preferences of one or two co-founders rather than the target audience’s intent.

  • Founders want it to look sleek and modern.

  • Agencies want to showcase their design flair.

  • Nobody owns user research, SEO strategy, or conversion pathways.

The site launches with visual polish but little commercial impact.


2. Mobile Performance = Ranking Power


With Lighthouse mobile performance scores between 39 and 62, Google sees your site as slow, clunky, and low quality on mobile — which is now the default device for 60–70% of users.

  • Below 50 = Poor UX → Lower rankings

  • 50–89 = Needs improvement → Ranking potential limited

  • 90+ = Competitive performance → Better visibility & conversion

If you want search traffic, site speed and technical SEO matter as much as the design itself.

Poor Google lighthouse scores ie 39-62 out of 100 hit you twice, here is how:

  1. For every second over 3 seconds you lose 20% of your website visitors

  2. So this sites home page loads in a speed index of 8.1 seconds

  3. The site appears on a mobile device here's the impact summary:

    4 seconds impact - only 80% of web visitors retained

    5 seconds impact - only 60% """"""""""""""""""""""""""""

    6 Seconds impact - only 40% """""""""""""""""""""""""""

    7 Seconds impact - only 20% """""""""""""""""""""""""""

    8 seconds impact - only 0 remain """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""'


  4. Worse still Google penalises sites that perform poorly on mobile response speeds

    Why?

    Google wants high quality websites that deliver a good service to its customers

  5. So failing to run technical audits, be aware of large images slowing sites down is like saying "I'm building a website and the objective is "not to rank in google and get traffic and if i do get traffic I don't want it to convert.

Poor mobile performance reduce rankings and conversion

3. Content That Doesn’t Match Search Intent


Ranking for directional keywords (“Company name”) or basic informational queries (“What is X?”) means you’re visible only to people already aware of you.

Your competitors ranking for:

  • Educational keywords (“How to solve problem X”) → capturing early-stage buyers

  • Commercial keywords (“Best solutions for Y”, “X vs Y comparison”) → catching high-intent prospects

That’s why they get 45,000 visits/month and you get 100.

Most Founders want a site that ranks, gets traffic and generates enquiries, however few know how to get there.

Box clever import competitor keywords and analyse any you want to target

4. The Missing Marketing Engine


A website isn’t just a brochure. It’s the hub of a content + SEO + conversion system.

If you don’t:

  • Map buyer journeys - You can do this in 2 days a founder interview, chatGPT and some customer journey planning.

  • Publish educational & commercial content - this needs a calendar of activity publishing content where suspected customers learn. Usually off peers, linkedin groups, forums or Google search.

  • Build landing pages & lead magnets - Easy to do, measure and tweak.

  • Fix technical performance

…then your site can’t generate pipeline, no matter how pretty it looks.


Make sure easy fixes are not missed

5. How to Fix It


Here’s the playbook:

a) Technical Audit & Performance Fixes

  • Use Google Lighthouse, SERanking, and Google Search Console

  • Compress images, enable caching, and fix code bloat

  • Target 90+ mobile scores for better SEO

Target keywords that convert

b) Content Strategy by Search Intent

  • Informational: “What is…”, “How does…” for awareness stage

  • Educational: “How to fix…”, “Ways to improve…” to build trust

  • Commercial: “Best tools for…”, “X vs Y” for high-intent buyers


plan a conversion path per visitor type - it works and does not take long

c) Conversion Pathways

  • CTAs, lead forms, downloadable guides

  • Email nurturing & remarketing campaigns


conversion pathways educate where they learn

d) Competitive Gap Analysis

  • Identify keywords competitors rank for that you don’t

  • Build topic clusters & cornerstone content around them


5-10x growth in a short 6-12 months

6. The Result


By fixing performance, expanding into educational & commercial keywords, and adding conversion-focused content, you can:

  • 5–10X organic traffic in 6–12 months and get real website traffic growth

  • Cut reliance on paid ads

  • Generate qualified leads, not just page views


brochure sites look pretty but do not perform

Conclusion: Stop Building Brochure Sites get website traffic growth


A website designed only for visual appeal — without SEO, speed, or buyer journey strategy — is like a shop with no road signs, slow service, and no salespeople.

Your competitors know this. That’s why they get 45,000 visits/month and you get 100.



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