It’s a question we hear a lot, usually after a business has launched a shiny new site and then… nothing happens.
No leads. No enquiries. No movement.
On the surface, the site looks fine. Clean homepage. List of services. Contact form tucked neatly in the footer.
But when you actually ask what it’s doing for the business, how it’s driving action, supporting sales, or building trust, the answer is usually the same:
Not much.
And that’s the problem with brochure websites. They don’t do anything. They just sit there.
What Is a Brochure Website?
A brochure website is exactly what it sounds like. The digital equivalent of a printed leaflet, static, simple, and purely informational.
Most include:
A homepage
A services or product page
A short ‘About’ section
A basic contact form
Some might throw in a testimonial slider or a case study or two. But fundamentally, the job of a brochure site is to say: “Here’s who we are.”
It’s a tick-box exercise, something to point people to when they ask, “Do you have a website?”
And for a while, that might feel like enough.
But in 2025, it’s not.
Because your competitors aren’t standing still. They’re investing in websites that do something. That generate leads. Qualify traffic. Position them as experts. Support wider marketing efforts.
That’s the difference between a placeholder site and a performance site.
So… What’s Actually Missing?
The issue isn’t that brochure websites are inherently bad, it’s that they stop short of being useful.
Most brochure sites:
Don’t guide users toward a specific action
Aren’t structured to rank well in Google
Lack trust-building elements like proof, people, or results
Are hard to update without developer support
Don’t reflect how your audience actually buys today
So, while they may look neat, they don’t drive enquiries. They don’t answer real questions. And they don’t evolve with your business.
They look the part, but don’t play the part.
What Should Your Website Actually Be Doing?
Whatever your sector, construction, recruitment, engineering, professional services, your website should be doing a job.
That might be:
1. Generating leads
Not just displaying a phone number, but guiding users toward an action: a form, a download, a callback, a price calculator. And tracking what happens next.
2. Answering real questions
Think about what your customer Googles at 9pm when they’re researching. Your site should meet them there, with helpful content, not vague bullet points.
3. Building trust
That means showing results, not just promising them. Case studies. Testimonials. Certifications. People want to see who they’re working with.
4. Supporting SEO
Google ranks pages, not just websites. Every service or product you offer deserves its own optimised, keyword-rich page. Brochure sites rarely go that far.
5. Supporting your sales process
Your site should be doing the heavy lifting, warming up leads, educating visitors, pre-qualifying enquiries. That way, your team spends less time repeating themselves and more time closing.
6. Being easy to manage
You shouldn’t need to ring a developer every time you want to tweak a sentence. Modern sites should give you control over content and layout.
When Is a Brochure Site Actually Enough?
There are some situations where a static, no-frills site is the right call:
You’re a startup and need a basic online presence
Your customers don’t find you online
You’re not ready to invest in marketing or lead generation
In those cases, a simple brochure site can serve as a digital business card, and that’s absolutely fine. Tools like Squarespace, Wix, or a small agency-built site can cover the basics.
But once you want more, more traffic, more enquiries, more control, you’ll need to move beyond that.
Because “we exist” is no longer a compelling message.
What We Build at Surge
We don’t do templates. And we don’t build things for the sake of it.
We build websites around what you actually need, and what your customers are actually looking for.
That could be:
A brochure site with better SEO and clear user journeys
A lead generation site with calculators, landing pages, and CTAs
A full marketing-ready platform with integrated video, content, and performance tracking
Whatever it is, it’s built on a modern CMS (we use Statamic), optimised for speed and SEO, and designed to evolve with you.
We start by asking the right questions. Then we build the right thing.
It’s Not About Having a Website. It’s About What That Website Does.
If your site isn’t helping your business grow, helping your sales team, supporting your marketing, or building trust, then it’s not working hard enough.
You don’t need something overcomplicated. But you do need something that works.