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Why are people contacting us instead of using our website?
If people keep calling, emailing, messaging, or using web chat instead of your website, this guide explains how to track the website issues driving repeat enquiries.
Why are people contacting us instead of using our website?
When people contact your organisation instead of using your website, it is rarely because they prefer to. More often, it is because something online is unclear, hard to find, or not working as expected.
These enquiries can come through many channels, including phone calls, emails, social media messages, and web chat. While they may feel like separate issues, they usually point to the same underlying problems on the website.
This resource explains why this happens and how to track repeat enquiries in a way that turns everyday support requests into clear signals for improvement.
Enquiries are signals, not interruptions
Most organisations handle enquiries across multiple channels, often managed by different teams. Support staff see the same questions again and again, while website teams may never see those messages at all.
Over time, this creates a gap between what users are experiencing and what gets fixed online.
Enquiries often reveal:
What people are trying to do
Where they become unsure or blocked
What the website is failing to explain clearly
When this information is not captured in one place, it is easy to dismiss issues as isolated or unavoidable. In reality, they are usually patterns waiting to be seen.
Website issues stay hidden across channels
When enquiries are spread across phone, email, social media, and web chat, problems become harder to spot. Each channel shows part of the picture, but no single view shows the whole story.
Many teams struggle because enquiries are tracked by volume or channel, not by cause. Patterns are noticed informally but rarely documented in a consistent way. As a result, website problems stay vague, and decisions about what to fix rely on opinions rather than evidence.
The same types of website issues appear again and again. Navigation labels do not match how people think. Important information is buried too deeply. Forms look complete but fail at key steps. Rules or eligibility checks appear too late. Confirmation messages do not reassure users that they have done the right thing.
These issues often drive repeat enquiries across multiple channels, but without a shared tracking method, it is difficult to prove which problems matter most.
Track enquiries against website issues
The support enquiries vs website issues tracker helps teams connect what people are asking with what is happening on the website.
Instead of logging every single interaction, the focus is on recurring questions and common points of confusion. Each issue is captured in plain English and linked to the page, form, or step where users get stuck.
Over time, this creates a reliable picture of:
Which website issues drive the most enquiries
Which problems appear across multiple channels
Where small changes could reduce support workload
This shared view helps support, communications, and digital teams work from the same evidence.
Turning issues into priorities
Once issues are visible, they can be prioritised more confidently. Each issue can be assessed based on how often it occurs, how much it affects users, and how difficult it is to fix.
Using a simple priority scoring approach allows teams to decide what to tackle first without guessing. It supports steady, meaningful improvements rather than waiting for a full redesign.
Use a simple priority score to decide what to fix first, based on impact and effort rather than opinions.
The Priority scoring tool for website improvements shows how to score issues consistently and choose what to tackle next. Check the free resource: How do we decide what to fix first on our website?
Outcomes teams typically see
When teams use this approach consistently, they often see fewer repeat enquiries, clearer agreement on what needs fixing, and stronger evidence for website improvements. Over time, the website starts handling tasks that previously ended in phone calls, emails, or messages.
Why this matters for long-term improvement
Support enquiries are one of the clearest indicators of website usability problems. They show where real people struggle, in their own words.
By tracking enquiries across phone, email, social media, and web chat, teams can turn everyday support work into insight. Problems become visible, decisions become easier, and fixes become more targeted.
This resource helps you use what you already have to make your website easier to use and less reliant on support channels.
File type:
Notion Template
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