Notes

The website is the easy part

Nathan Householder3 min read

People ask me if I build websites. Sometimes, yes. But I usually say the same thing next: the website is the easy part.

Here’s what I mean. A good website does one job. It gets the right person to raise their hand: fill out the form, book the call, buy the thing. That matters, and it’s worth doing well.

But think about what happens in the next ten minutes. Somebody just filled out your form on a Saturday night. Where did it go? Who sees it? When do they hear back? If they don’t book right away, does anyone ever check in again?

For most small businesses I meet, the honest answer is: it went to an inbox, you’ll see it Monday, and if they don’t book, nobody follows up. Not because anyone doesn’t care. Because you were busy doing the actual work, and Monday has its own fires.

That’s where people slip away. Not on the website. After it.

What “after” should look like

Here’s what I set up behind a form, in roughly this order:

  1. They hear back right away. Not a robotic “we received your submission,” but a short note that sounds like you and says what happens next, with a link to book if that’s the next step.
  2. You hear about it. A text or a notification, so a new inquiry never sits unseen in a folder.
  3. It lands in one place. Their name, what they asked and where they came from go onto one record, so you’re not piecing it together from three apps later.
  4. Somebody follows up if they go quiet. A check-in a few days later, and another a couple of weeks after that, written to sound like you. It stops the moment they reply or book.
  5. You can see it. Who’s asked, who’s booked, who’s gone quiet.

None of that is visible on your homepage. All of it decides whether the homepage was worth building.

Before you redo your website

If you’re thinking about a new site, try this first. Tonight, fill out your own contact form with a different email address, and watch what happens. How long until you hear back? What does it say? Does anything happen after that?

If the answer is “not much,” start there. A nicer homepage just sends more people into the same gap.

Tell me what happens after your form, and I’ll tell you what I’d fix first.