Having a website is better than not having one. But having a bad website? That can actually be worse than nothing. A bad site tells people "this business doesn't care about quality" — and they'll take their money elsewhere.
Here are 5 signs your website is costing you customers.
1. It's not mobile-friendly
Pull out your phone right now and look at your website. Does it look good? Can you read the text without zooming in? Can you tap the buttons without accidentally hitting the wrong one?
Over 60% of web traffic is on phones now. If your site doesn't work on mobile, you're turning away the majority of your visitors. Google also ranks mobile-friendly sites higher, so you're hurting your search visibility too.
2. It takes forever to load
If your site takes more than 3 seconds to load, about half your visitors will leave before they see anything. They'll hit the back button and click on your competitor instead.
Common culprits: huge uncompressed images, too many plugins, cheap hosting, bloated page builders. A fast site loads in under 2 seconds.
3. There's no clear way to contact you
I see this constantly. Someone lands on a small business website and... there's no phone number. No contact form. Maybe there's an email buried in the footer in tiny text.
Your contact info should be obvious. Phone number in the header. Contact form on its own page. An email that's easy to find. Make it dead simple for people to reach you.
4. It looks like it was built 10 years ago
Web design trends change. If your site has:
- Tiny text on a white background
- Stock photos that look like they're from 2012
- A layout that feels "boxy" and cluttered
- Flash animations (yes, some sites still have these)
- A "last updated" date from years ago
...people will assume your business is outdated too. First impressions matter, and your website is often the first impression.
5. It doesn't tell people what you do
This sounds obvious, but you'd be surprised. I've seen business websites where I couldn't figure out what they actually do within the first 5 seconds.
When someone lands on your site, they should immediately see:
- What you do (plumbing, tutoring, landscaping, etc.)
- Where you do it (Kansas City, Mission, KC metro, etc.)
- How to get started (call, fill out a form, book online)
If your site doesn't answer those three questions instantly, people will leave.
The fix
The good news: most of these problems are fixable without rebuilding from scratch. A website refresh — cleaning up the design, speeding it up, making it mobile-friendly, and fixing the content — can usually be done for $100-250.
Sometimes a full rebuild makes more sense, but don't assume you need to start over. Often the bones are fine and it just needs some work.