Stop Losing Customers Who Can't Find Your Phone Number

Why Your Website is Playing Hide-and-Seek With Your Customers

I was talking to a plumber in Coorparoo last week. Let’s call him Dave. Dave has a great business, top-notch reviews, and a crew that knows their stuff. But Dave was frustrated. He’d spent five grand on a flashy new website, yet his phone wasn’t ringing any more than it did with his old, ugly site.

I took one look at his site on my iPhone. It looked like a million bucks. Big beautiful photos of pipes, a fancy logo, and a long story about his grandfather starting the business in 1974.

But here was the problem: I scrolled down to read about his emergency hot water services, and his phone number vanished. It stayed at the very top of the page. To call Dave, I had to scroll all the way back up, past the 'About Us' section, past the photos of his ute, just to find that little 'Call Now' button.

Dave was making his customers work too hard. And in Brisbane’s competitive market, if you make a customer work, they’ll just go back to Google and click on the next bloke in the list.

Today, we’re going to talk about 'sticky' elements. Don't worry about the name—it just means things on your website that stay put while the customer scrolls. If you want more phone calls and more bookings, this is the most important change you can make to your site this year.

The Great Myth: "People Know How to Find the Menu"

There is a massive lie being sold to small business owners by 'creative' web designers. The lie is that your website should be a 'journey' or an 'experience.'

Rubbish.

If someone’s toilet is overflowing in Chermside at 8:00 PM on a Tuesday, they don't want an 'experience.' They want a plumber. If a mum in North Lakes is looking for a local accountant to fix a tax mess, she wants a 'Book Consultation' button, not a 3-minute video introduction.

Most designers think that keeping your menu or phone number visible at all times is 'cluttered.' They want a clean, minimalist look. But 'clean' usually means 'hard to use.'

I’ve seen this work for dozens of Brisbane businesses: when you keep your most important information—usually your phone number or a booking button—right in front of the customer's eyes at all times, your enquiries go up. Period.

What is a Sticky Header and Why Should You Care?

Imagine you’re walking through a massive Bunnings. You’re looking for a specific type of screw. You walk down aisle 42, but you can’t find it. In a bad website scenario, you’d have to walk all the way back to the front entrance to find the 'Information' desk.

In a good website scenario (the 'sticky' scenario), an assistant follows you at a polite distance. The moment you have a question, you just turn your head, and they are right there.

On your website, a 'sticky header' is that bar at the top that stays glued to the top of the screen as you scroll down. It usually has your logo on the left and your phone number or a 'Get a Quote' button on the right.

Why this makes you money:

If you're worried about your site looking cluttered, remember that you need to stop using fancy website tricks that actually get in the way of making a sale. A sticky header isn't a trick; it's a tool.

The "Thumb Zone": Why Mobile is Everything

If you’re a tradie or a local shop, 80% of your traffic is probably coming from people on their mobile phones. They are likely holding their phone with one hand, using their thumb to scroll while they do something else.

This is where most Brisbane business websites fail miserably.

They have a tiny little 'hamburger' menu (those three little lines) in the top corner that is impossible to hit with a thumb. Or worse, the phone number is just plain text that isn't even 'click-to-call.'

The Sticky Footer: The Secret Weapon

For mobile users, the best place for your 'Call Now' button isn't actually at the top. It's at the bottom.

Think about how you hold your phone. Your thumb naturally rests near the bottom of the screen. We recommend a 'Sticky Mobile Footer' for almost every local service business we work with. It’s a simple bar at the bottom of the phone screen that has two buttons: - Left side: A 'Call Us' button (big and bright). - Right side: A 'Book Now' or 'Enquire' button.

This bar stays there no matter how far down the page they scroll. Whether they are reading your reviews or looking at your gallery, the ability to give you money is always one thumb-tap away. This is how you turn your homepage into a machine that actually gets you off the tools and into higher-profit work.

Myth-Busting: "It Will Annoy My Visitors"

I hear this all the time. "Won't a floating button annoy people?"

You know what actually annoys people? Having to scroll for six seconds to find a way to talk to you.

In our experience at Local Marketing Group, nobody has ever complained that a website was 'too easy to contact.' People complain when they can't find the price, can't find the location, or can't find the phone number.

Look, I get it—you’ve probably heard from some 'expert' that you need to focus on your brand story. But if your brand story is getting in the way of a customer booking a job, your brand story is costing you thousands of dollars in lost revenue.

The "Call to Action" (CTA) – Don't Be Shy

Most business owners are too polite on their websites. They have a tiny link that says 'Contact' tucked away in a corner.

If you want results, you need to be direct. Your sticky button shouldn't just be a phone icon. It should say "CALL NOW FOR A FREE QUOTE" or "BOOK YOUR INSPECTION."

We worked with a landscaping company in Morningside that had a beautiful website but very few leads. We changed their static 'Contact Us' page into a sticky bright orange button that said 'Get My Free Design Plan.' Within two weeks, their lead volume doubled. They didn't change their prices, their photos, or their services. They just made it impossible for a visitor to not find the order button when they were ready to buy.

What Should Stay Sticky? (And What Shouldn't)

You can't make everything sticky. If half the screen is covered in floating boxes, you’ll look like a spammy pop-up site from 2004.

What SHOULD be sticky: - Your Phone Number: For service businesses, this is #1. - The 'Book Now' Button: If you use an online booking system. - Your Main Navigation (on Desktop): So people can jump to other services easily.

What SHOULD NOT be sticky: - Your Full Logo: Keep it small or hide it on scroll. People know whose site they are on; they don't need a giant logo taking up 20% of the screen. - Social Media Icons: Nobody is going to your website to find your Instagram. They are there to solve a problem. Don't distract them. - Chatbots that block content: If your 'Hi, how can I help?' box covers up your text, it's going in the bin.

How Much Does This Cost?

If you have a modern website (like WordPress), adding a sticky header or a mobile call bar is usually a very quick job for a professional.

- DIY: If you’re tech-savvy, there are free plugins that can do this. Cost: $0 and about 3 hours of frustration. - A Professional Developer: Should take 1-2 hours. Cost: $150–$300.

If your current website developer tells you this is a 'massive project' that requires a full redesign, they are either lying to you or using a very outdated system. This is a standard feature for any high-performing local business site in 2024.

The 5-Second Test

Here’s a quick exercise for you. Open your business website on your phone right now.

1. Start scrolling down. 2. Stop at a random point. 3. Can you see a way to call yourself within half a second?

If the answer is no, you are losing money. It’s that simple. You are literally paying for people to visit your site (through SEO or Ads) and then making it hard for them to give you their business.

Real-World Results: The Brisbane Mechanic Study

We recently helped a mechanic near the Gabba. They had a decent site, but their 'Book a Service' button was only at the bottom of their 'Services' page.

We implemented two changes: 1. A sticky header on desktop with their phone number in a bright red button. 2. A sticky footer on mobile with two buttons: 'Call Now' and 'Find Us on Maps.'

The Result: A 35% increase in phone enquiries in the first month. They didn't spend an extra cent on advertising. They just stopped losing the customers they already had.

What Should You Do First?

Don't try to redesign your whole site today. Most of what you read online about 'total brand overhauls' is rubbish designed to sell you expensive packages you don't need.

Start here: 1. Check your mobile site. Is there a 'Call' button that follows the user? If not, get one. 2. Check your desktop site. Does the menu disappear when you scroll? If it does, make it sticky. 3. Make sure your buttons stand out. If your website is blue, make your 'Call' button orange or green. It needs to pop.

Summary: Will This Make You Money?

Yes. Making it easier for customers to contact you is the fastest way to increase your sales without increasing your marketing budget.

Sticky navigation isn't about being 'fancy.' It's about being helpful. It’s about making sure that when a customer in Brisbane is ready to make a decision, you are standing right there with your hand out, ready to help.

Stop letting your customers wander around your website like they're lost in a shopping centre with no signs. Put the signs right in front of them.

Ready to get your website working as hard as you do? At Local Marketing Group, we help Brisbane small businesses turn their websites into lead-generation machines. No jargon, no fluff—just results.

Contact us today and let’s get your phone ringing.