RunCabin Blog · For working contractors

My business texting registration got rejected because of my website. What do I fix?

November 12, 2026 · 8 min read

Short answer: the reviewer opened the website you listed and could not confirm three things - that the business is real, that customers agree to get your texts, and that you won't hand their numbers to anyone else. The fix is almost always on the website, not in the form you filled out: a site that loads for a stranger, your business name spelled the way you registered it, a sentence of consent wording next to your quote form's button, and a privacy policy with one specific line about mobile numbers. Fix those four, then resubmit once.

This one catches owners off guard. You sign up for a business phone app, or you turn on two-way texting in your scheduling software so customers can get "on my way" messages and appointment reminders. The app asks you to complete something called carrier registration, or A2P 10DLC. You fill it in, wait, and a few days later it comes back rejected with a reason like "website lacks sufficient information" or "compliant privacy policy required." Meanwhile your texts to customers are not going out. Here is what is going on and how to get through it.

What this registration is, in plain terms

US mobile carriers require any business that texts customers from a regular ten-digit number through an app to register who they are and what they send. "A2P" means application to person: texts sent through software, as opposed to you thumbing a message on your personal cell. "10DLC" is the ten-digit local number. The registration goes to an industry body called The Campaign Registry, and your phone or scheduling app passes your details along.

It is not optional and your app cannot waive it. Quo (the business phone app formerly called OpenPhone) puts it bluntly in its carrier registration guide: "As of August 31, 2023, unregistered numbers cannot text US phone numbers." Jobber's help center says the same registration is required by US carriers and that Jobber cannot change the requirement.

The point of it is spam. Carriers want to know that the plumber texting "running 15 minutes late" is a real plumber texting a real customer who gave their number. Your website is how a reviewer who has never heard of you checks that.

Why the website is the part that fails

Most of the registration is facts you either have or you don't: your legal name, your EIN, your address. The website is the one part a person (or an automated screenshot) actually looks at and judges. Twilio, the company whose network a lot of business texting apps run on, publishes its rejection reasons. The one titled "Website lacks sufficient business or messaging use case info" lists causes that will sound familiar:

• The website is "empty, under development, private, password-protected, misspelled, or otherwise inaccessible to reviewers."
• The site does not clearly identify the business - the name, contact details, or a description of the services.
• Reviewers "cannot verify how end users consent to receive messages."
• Required disclosures are missing: "message and data rates may apply," opt-out instructions, privacy policy details.
• The privacy policy does not clearly say that mobile opt-in data will not be shared or sold.

Twilio's registration guide adds that web addresses get rejected when they are unreachable, point to a parked or for-sale domain, require a login, or redirect to a different brand. It also says the website "must be functional" and has to bear some relationship to the business name you registered.

None of that is about design. A plain, honest five-page site passes. A beautiful site with no privacy policy does not.

The four fixes

1. A site a stranger can load

Open a private browser window and type the exact address you put on the registration. If you see a "coming soon" page, a login screen, a registrar's ad page, or a website-builder preview that only works while you are signed in, that is your rejection. The site has to be published and public. If you typed the address with a typo, or listed a domain you bought but never built on, same result.

2. The same business name everywhere

The reviewer is matching your registration against your site. If you registered as "J. Rivera Contracting LLC" and the site says "Rivera Home Pros" with nothing connecting the two, that is a mismatch. Put the registered name somewhere visible, usually the footer: "Rivera Home Pros is a trade name of J. Rivera Contracting LLC." Add what you do and where, in plain words, and a phone number or email in text. (If you are unsure which name to lead with, see should my website use my LLC name or my DBA?)

3. Consent wording next to your form's button

This is the one most service-business sites are missing, because nobody thinks of a quote form as a "text message opt-in." But if your form collects a phone number and you plan to text that number, the reviewer wants to see the customer being told so. Quo's guide is specific about placement: the wording has to sit near the submit button of the form, not only in the footer or the privacy policy.

Something like this, directly above or below the button:

By submitting this form, you agree to receive text messages from Summit Painting about your quote and appointment. Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out or HELP for help. See our Privacy Policy.

Swap in your real business name and what you actually text about, and make "Privacy Policy" a working link. Keep it honest: if you only send scheduling and job updates, say that, and don't use the number for promotions the customer never asked for. Your provider may have its own preferred wording - if it does, use theirs.

4. A privacy policy with the mobile-number line

You need a privacy policy page that is public, linked from the footer, and on the same site. For texting registration it needs one sentence that generic privacy policies usually lack. Twilio's rejection notes describe it as stating that mobile information and messaging consent are not shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing. In plain words:

We do not sell or share mobile phone numbers or text messaging consent with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes.

Only post that if it is true, and make sure nothing else on the page contradicts it. A policy copied from another company that mentions "sharing data with marketing partners" will get you rejected even with the right sentence added, and Twilio specifically calls out having two conflicting policies as a cause. One short, accurate policy beats a long borrowed one. Our post on whether your website needs a privacy policy covers what else belongs on that page. This is general information, not legal advice.

"I don't have a website at all"

You have three routes, and which ones are open depends on your provider.

• A social or listing page. Quo's guide says that on its business path, "If you don't have a website, an official Facebook, Yelp, or Instagram page should work," as long as it clearly references the business. It also warns that personal pages with no business context are often rejected. The catch is the same one that comes up with payment processors: a Facebook page has no natural home for a privacy policy or for consent wording beside a form.
• Registering as a sole proprietor. If you have no EIN, most providers offer a sole proprietor path that asks for less, and a website is typically not on the list. The trade-off is lower limits. Quo, for example, says only one number per registration can text US numbers and a daily message cap may apply. If you do have an EIN, Twilio's guide says not to use this path.
• Getting a real site up first. Slower by a few days, but it is the route least likely to bounce, and it is the one some tools require outright. Jobber's help center says that to use two-way texting with a dedicated number you need a clear, accessible privacy policy published on your website.

If you are leaning on a Facebook page for this and everything else, do I need a website if I have a Facebook page? walks through the wider trade-off.

Before you resubmit

Rejections cost time, and with some providers they cost money: Quo's guide lists a resubmission fee for a rejected registration, and reviews can take anywhere from a day or two to several weeks. Jobber says applications can take up to three weeks. So fix everything, then submit once. A short checklist:

1. The site loads in a private window, on your phone, at the exact address on the registration.
2. The business name on the site matches the registration, or the footer connects the two.
3. Services, service area, and a phone number or email are on the page in text.
4. Every form that asks for a phone number has consent wording beside the button.
5. The privacy policy is linked in the footer, loads without a login, and has the mobile-number sentence.
6. There is only one privacy policy, and it does not mention sharing data for marketing.
7. The description of your texts on the registration matches what the site says. If you registered "appointment reminders and job updates," the consent wording should say the same.
8. Your legal name, EIN, and address are typed exactly as they appear on your IRS paperwork. Quo lists mismatched business details and an EIN less than 30 days old among its common rejection reasons, and those have nothing to do with the website.

Then read the rejection notice one more time. If it names a specific problem, fix that one first. If it is vague, ask your provider's support which item failed before paying to try again.

Can I just text from my own cell instead?

Texting a customer one at a time from the phone in your pocket is person-to-person messaging and does not go through this registration. Plenty of one-truck businesses run that way for years. The registration only comes into it when software sends the texts: a business phone app, a scheduling tool's reminders, a missed-call text back. Those tools are worth having once you are busy, and there is no way to switch them on without registering. So the website work is not a detour. It is the price of admission for the tools that save you the most phone time.

Where RunCabin fits

RunCabin doesn't run your phone system or file the registration for you; your phone or scheduling app does that. What we build is the thing the reviewer looks at: a real website on your own domain with your business name, your services, your towns, your phone and email on every page, and a quote form that sends requests to your inbox. If you text customers, tell us in the questionnaire which app you use and what you send, and we'll put the consent wording beside the form's button and add a privacy policy page with the mobile-number line. We build the site with AI, and a web developer finishes every page.

It starts at $499 to build, then $39.99 a month for hosting (or $479.88 a year), with no long contract and no lead fees. We can't promise what a carrier reviewer will decide, but the site stays public and stays up as long as you keep it, so the address on your registration keeps working, and if you ever cancel, your domain is yours.

---

Related reading: Stripe is asking for my business website. What do I put? · should my website have a contact form, or just my phone number?