When people think about websites that do not work very well, they often imagine something dramatic. They picture a site full of broken links, missing pages, garish colours or text that looks like it escaped from a 1990s leaflet. Those sites do exist, but they are not the main problem most businesses face. Most websites fail in a much quieter way. They confuse people.
Confusion on the internet is subtle. It usually shows up as a tiny pause. Visitors land on a page, read a line or two, then hesitate. Something feels off. Something is not quite clear. They try to make sense of it, feel a flicker of doubt, and leave. All of this happens before they even realise it. The website does not upset them. It simply does not help them.
Nearly every small business falls into this trap because owners know their own world so well. They know the industry language. They know the difference between the two similar services they offer. They know why a particular detail matters. Visitors, on the other hand, arrive with none of that context. To them, everything is new.
For example, a local consultancy might talk proudly about a specific framework they use, assuming everyone understands it. A visitor just wants to know whether this team can help them solve a problem by a certain deadline. When those two perspectives do not meet in the middle, the visitor ends up confused and quietly backs away.
The first step to fixing confusion is understanding what your visitor needs from you in the first few seconds. They want to know they are in the right place. They want reassurance that you understand their problem. And they want a clear hint of what to do next. That is it. They do not want poetry. They do not want corporate-speak. They do not want you to overwhelm them. They want simplicity.
A good homepage behaves more like a friendly conversation than a brochure. It says who you help. It explains what you do. It gives the reader confidence that they have found the right business. One of the most powerful things you can do is strip away anything that gets between your visitor and those three answers.
Navigation is another area where confusion creeps in. Many business websites grow slowly and organically. A new service appears, so a new page is added. A team member suggests a new menu item, so that gets bolted on as well. Over time the site becomes a patchwork of ideas rather than a clear journey. Even worse, some pages linger long after the service has changed or disappeared entirely, and visitors end up reading information that no longer applies.
A tidy, simple structure makes a huge difference. Your website does not need twenty pages if six will do the job. Visitors rarely explore a site deeply. They follow the path you make for them. If that path is neat, calm and logical, your business feels neat, calm and logical too. If the path is tangled, visitors feel as though they have wandered into the back room of a busy office where nothing is labelled.
Tone is a big part of clarity as well. You do not need to sound creative or technical. In fact, the more normal your writing sounds, the more trustworthy you become. People do not read websites for entertainment. They read them to understand whether you can help them. A conversational, relaxed tone achieves that far more effectively than clever marketing language ever will.
People never blame themselves for leaving a confusing website. They always blame the business. If they cannot understand your message, they do not think they might have missed something. They think the company is not for them. That is why clarity matters so much. It protects the relationship before it has even begun.
The nice thing about fixing confusion is that it rarely requires a total rebuild. Sometimes it is enough to rewrite a few key paragraphs so they sound human again. Sometimes it is about simplifying the menu. Sometimes it is about shaping a homepage that guides visitors smoothly into the rest of the site instead of dropping them into the deep end.
If your website feels muddled or visitors keep asking the same basic questions in emails and phone calls, that is a sign the site is not supporting you. It means the website is pushing work back onto you instead of handling it quietly in the background.
If you would like help untangling things and shaping a message that feels clear, confident and genuinely helpful, that is exactly the kind of work we love doing at 77 Rockets. We help small businesses talk to people in a way that feels human, easy to understand and ready for action.
