If your click-through rates are underperforming, the problem might not be your subject line or design. It could be deeper—site speed, deliverability issues, or content that doesn’t earn the click.
We’ll walk through four common reasons people don’t click, in the order you should tackle them, with simple fixes you can implement today.
Before you even open your email software, ask yourself: Is my site loading quickly and cleanly?
According to Google, 53% of mobile visitors leave a page that takes longer than 3 seconds to load. That’s more than half your traffic, gone before your beautifully crafted page even appears.
For email traffic, it’s worse. These visitors weren’t browsing, they clicked on impulse. Delay even 2 seconds, and you’ve lost their attention.
At Shawfire, we’ve seen brands pour thousands into design and copy only to lose 40% of clicks due to slow-loading landing pages bloated with animations and heavy GIFs.
Action Step:
This is your foundation. If your site doesn’t load quickly, the rest of your strategy can’t work.
Even if your emails look great, they won’t get clicks if they never make it to the inbox. Poor deliverability is like trying to sell through a brick wall. You’re pushing a boulder uphill instead of rolling it smoothly downhill.
Email clients now use engagement-based filtering. If your previous emails had low engagement or spammy structure, future ones may land in the Promotions tab or worse, in spam.
Stat to Know:
According to Validity, 20% of marketing emails never reach the inbox. That means you could be losing 1 in 5 potential clickers before they even see the message.
Action Step:
Once your email lands in the inbox, design takes over. A cluttered, slow-loading, or confusing layout can lose the click before it even has a chance.
Think of your email like a physical storefront. If the window is messy, the door is hard to open, or the sign isn’t clear, people walk away. Design either guides the reader toward your CTA – or it gets in the way.
Psychology Insight:
Our brains are wired to avoid friction. If your call-to-action isn’t instantly visible and visually distinct, the brain postpones the decision. And postponed usually means forgotten.
Action Steps:
Good design doesn’t just “look nice.” It removes hesitation, and that’s what gets the click.
This is the most overlooked part. Once everything technical is fixed, you need to ask: Does my content actually make people want to click?
If every email is just asking people to buy, your audience builds resistance over time. They start to see your brand as a salesperson, not a trusted guide.
Instead, create emails that are sometimes educational, sometimes entertaining, and sometimes promotional. This makes your asks more effective when they do come.
Real-World Analogy:
Selling in every email is like knocking on someone’s door every day asking for money. Eventually, they stop opening the door. But if you sometimes bring gifts, share tips, or invite them to events, the dynamic changes. They want to see you coming.
Action Step:
✅ Start with speed. A slow-loading site loses visitors before they arrive.
✅ Check your deliverability. Emails must reach the inbox before they can get clicks.
✅ Design for clarity and speed. Mobile-first, fast-loading, visually obvious CTAs win.
✅ Content must earn the click. Mix valuable, interesting, and sales-driven content to keep readers engaged.
When you fix low CTR, you unlock serious growth potential. Every email becomes more valuable, every list more profitable, and every visitor more likely to convert.
And if you want expert eyes on your strategy, Shawfire Media specializes in helping eCommerce brands turn traffic into revenue.
Ready to scale smarter? Let’s talk.
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