Your site still loads. The logo looks fine. Nothing throws a big error. And somehow the phone is quieter, the form inbox is thinner, and you’re not sure when it started.

That’s the annoying part. Lead loss on a “working” website rarely looks like a crash. It looks like a slow drip — a little friction here, a little doubt there — until people who meant to contact you just… don’t.

Below are the quiet signs that show up most often for small businesses that already have a site, plus what to fix first so you’re not guessing.

Moving from idea to implementation

In a month, 3by400 receives at least three or four calls from people who have the "best idea for a new web site". About 1% of them really do have a great idea for a site. The rest, unfortunately, failed to Google their thought before running headlong to web site design. That 1% is worth the others...so how do you decide if your concept is truly a great new entrepreneurial idea?

For a while now, any website that receives funding from the federal government has had to conform to guidelines that make the website accessibile to the disabled. The buzzword here is Section 508, after its location in the US legal code. There's a small but lucrative sub-practice of web design that helps site owners pass muster in this area. But the net may be widening. According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, activists are pushing for a wider interpretation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). They argue that all e-commerce websites have to be 508-compliant. So far,...

The two most effective and least expensive ways to find new opportunities:

• Existing clients
• Be the expert with a teaching spirit

Several months ago, I wrote an article with information from the FTC about SPAM regulations. Since then, I’ve found their web site to be a treasure trove of information about Internet fraud. As problematic as SPAM and Internet cons are, it’s comforting to know that the Consumer Sentinel, a consumer fraud database, tracks the cons and the con artists. According to the FTC, here’s what online consumers are complaining about most: Internet Auctions The Bait: Shop in a “virtual marketplace” that offers a huge selection of products at great deals.The Catch: After sending their money, consumers say they’ve received an item...