If your website isn’t pulling its weight, it’s time to make some changes.
Let’s be honest, your website is the first impression of your business. It’s your 24/7 salesperson, credibility booster, and lead generator. Yet, too many companies still make critical mistakes that hurt conversions and frustrate potential customers.
At IMPACT, we’ve worked with hundreds of businesses to diagnose website issues and implement simple, high-impact changes that drive more conversions. On this episode of the Endless Customers podcast, Alex Winter sat down with Vin Gaeta, IMPACT’s Head of Web Strategy, to break down the four non-negotiable website elements that improve user experience and increase conversions.
Whether you’re a business owner, marketing leader, or web strategist, you’ll learn exactly what’s holding your website back and the four key changes you can make today to attract more leads and turn them into paying customers.
Every business has one goal: Growth. However, a slow, confusing, or outdated website can quietly kill conversions before you even get a chance to engage a potential customer.
“We see this on almost every single website critique we do,” Vin explained. “These are four things that will affect your bottom line. If you do them correctly, you will see stronger conversion rates.”
And the best part? You don’t need 100 fixes—just four.
Let’s start with a fix that could be quietly turning away visitors before they even get a chance to engage—your ‘Contact Us’ page.
This one even made me do a double-take.
“The first thing: you should not have a ‘Contact Us’ page in your navigation,” Vin said.
Wait… what?
Vin isn’t saying you should eliminate ways for people to reach you—just that ‘Contact Us’ shouldn’t be your main call to action.
Think about it. When a visitor lands on your website, they’re there for a reason. Maybe they’re interested in your product or service, maybe they have a problem they need solved, or maybe they’re doing research before making a decision. But “Contact Us” doesn’t help them take a clear next step.
What are they contacting you for? A sales call? A support request? Your office address? Directions to your headquarters? A fax number? (Yes, some businesses still have those.) The ambiguity makes visitors hesitate.
And hesitation means lost conversions.
Instead of a vague “Contact Us,” your primary navigation should guide visitors toward an action that signals buying intent.
“‘Contact Us’ is too general,” Vin explained. “People might be looking for an address, a support line, or something random. Instead, your navigation should drive visitors toward a real buying action—something that signals they’re ready to take the next step.”
When your navigation is too broad, you leave potential customers unsure of what to do next. And when people aren’t sure, they often do nothing. But when your CTA is specific and action-driven, it removes friction from the decision-making process.
Imagine visiting a website where the final CTA is “Contact Us.” It feels like a dead end. Now compare that to a site where the button says, “Get a Custom Quote in 60 Seconds” or “Book a Free Consultation Now”—which one makes you feel more confident about taking the next step?
Fixing your website’s navigation is a great first step, but what happens when a visitor reaches the most critical part of your site—your sales conversion page? If they feel confused or uncertain about the next step, they’re likely to hesitate—and in sales, hesitation kills conversions.
Your website’s sales conversion page—whether it’s “Get a Quote,” “Schedule a Consultation,” or “Talk to an Expert”—is one of the most critical pages on your entire site.
It’s where interest turns into action.
But if that page is unclear, confusing, or intimidating, visitors will hesitate. And in sales, hesitation kills conversions.
“No one likes filling out forms,” Vin said. “No one likes reaching out because they don’t want to get sold to.”
The moment someone lands on your sales page, they have questions swirling in their mind:
If your page doesn’t answer these questions upfront, many visitors will bounce.
Your goal is to eliminate uncertainty and make people feel comfortable taking the next step.
Here’s how:
“We need to actually say what happens next,” Vin emphasized. “People want to know what they’re signing up for. Clarity builds confidence—and confidence leads to conversions.”
Now that you’ve optimized your sales page for clarity, it’s time to look at another silent conversion killer: vague and uninspiring calls to action (CTAs). If your buttons don’t tell visitors exactly what to expect, they won’t click.
Your website’s calls to action (CTAs) are the bridges between a visitor’s interest and their next step. But if your CTAs are vague, weak, or uninspiring, people won’t take action.
You’ve probably seen buttons like this:
Learn More
Click Here
Read More
These don’t work.
“They’re too vague,” Vin said. “Instead of ‘Learn More,’ say ‘Learn More About [Your Service]’ or ‘View Our Pricing.’”
Why? Because people don’t want to "learn more"—they want to know exactly what they’re getting. Every CTA should answer the question: What will happen when I click this? To do this, your CTAs must be specific, intentional, and customer-focused.
Here are some examples of bad and good CTAs:
Weak CTA: Learn More
Stronger CTA: View Our Pricing Guide
Weak CTA: Click Here
Stronger CTA: Schedule a Free Consultation
Weak CTA: Read More
Stronger CTA: Get Expert Tips on [Topic]
Weak CTA: Get Started
Stronger CTA: Start Your Free Trial
Weak CTA: Contact Us
Stronger CTA: Speak with a Specialist
These small tweaks in CTA language can make a massive difference in click-through rates, engagement, and conversions.
Even with strong CTAs and a clear sales page, there’s one technical issue that can quietly drive visitors away before they even have a chance to engage: slow website speed. And the biggest culprit? Unoptimized images.
This one is huge for both SEO and user experience. A slow-loading website isn’t just annoying—it’s costing you leads.
“Images are the #1 killer of website speed,” Vin said. “And in 2025, we’re still seeing websites with huge images that take forever to load.”
Slow websites = lost customers.
Think about it: When was the last time you waited more than three seconds for a page to load? Probably never.
“We expect instant gratification,” Vin said. “If a website takes more than three seconds to load, people assume it’s broken and leave.”
Slow load times lead to higher bounce rates, lower SEO rankings, frustrated visitors who never return, and fewer conversions, ultimately costing you revenue.
Here’s how to keep your site fast without sacrificing quality:
Reduce file sizes without losing clarity using these tools:
Keep all images under 200 KB whenever possible. If your images are 1MB or larger, they’re slowing your site down more than you think.
A fast website isn’t just about better SEO—it’s about keeping visitors engaged, making a great first impression, and converting more leads into customers.
These changes may seem small on their own, but together, they have a massive impact on your website’s ability to convert visitors into customers. Now, let’s recap what you need to do to start seeing results.
If there’s one thing you should do after this episode, it’s review your website today and see where you can improve. A few small changes can make a massive difference in your conversion rates, user experience, and overall business growth.
Here’s your checklist:
These aren’t just best practices. They’re essential steps to winning more customers and staying competitive in 2025 and beyond.
We urge you to go look at your website right now, and if you don’t see clarity, if it’s not obvious what the next step is, you have some work to do.
Your website should be working for you, not against you. If it’s not bringing in leads, it’s costing you money every single day. Make these changes now, and start turning more visitors into paying customers.
Vin Gaeta is IMPACT’s Head of Web Strategy. He leads a team of designers, developers, and strategists to provide full-scale website redesigns for our clients.
Learn more about how we build websites that actually deliver ROI
How do I know if my CTAs are working?
Use heatmaps and click tracking tools like Hotjar to monitor how users interact with your CTAs. Look for patterns such as:
High traffic but low clicks: Your CTA might be unclear or unappealing.
High bounce rates: Visitors aren’t finding what they expected.
Scroll depth: If users never reach your CTA, consider moving it higher.
To improve performance, run A/B tests comparing different CTA languages, colors, and placements. For example, test “Request a Quote” vs. “Book My Free Consultation.” Small changes can lead to significant upticks in engagement.
What video should go on my form page?
Include a short (60-90 second) video featuring the team member the visitor will speak with. Your video should also highlight what they can expect after submitting the form and set expectations.
Is image optimization really that important?
Yes! Beyond SEO, speed directly impacts user experience. A well-optimized site doesn’t just rank better, it keeps visitors engaged longer and moves them more confidently through the buyer’s journey.