How bad website design affects your business

 

When creating a website for your business, it’s important to understand how bad design affects your users’ experience and, therefore, your credibility.

 

Although your business might be rock-solid in reality, having a poorly designed website can give users the perception that your brand is low-quality or not trustworthy. When someone visits your website, they seek affirmation that you’re credible and an expert in your field. And when the web page design that is the face of your business does not reflect this image, you could be losing out on sales and damage your brand’s reputation. 

 

We discuss what poor website design looks like, why it matters, and how to avoid it.

 

What Makes a Bad Website Design?

 

Several factors contribute to a poorly designed website. Here are just some examples of what makes a bad website design. 

 

• Slow loading speed, which results in a high bounce rate
• Poor Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) implementation
• Non-responsive website design that’s not mobile-friendly 
• Difficult to understand or navigate, creating a bad user experience
• Unattractive website layout design, images, colours and fonts
• Poorly written website content with minimal or no call to actions (CTAs)
• A disorganised or incomplete web design and marketing strategy 

 

How a Poorly Designed Website Impacts Your Business

1. Lack of Credibility and Customer Trust

 

When someone lands on your website, they will form an opinion about your business within 50 milliseconds – that’s 0,05 seconds! Moreover, even if you do keep their attention for longer, your website’s look-and-feel and overall attractiveness will still influence their opinion of you.

 

38% of users will leave a website if the layout or content is not appealing. Suppose you have any spelling errors or poor design elements. In that case, they will discount you and leave before taking any action, which is the whole point of having a website.

 

2. Your Ranking on Google (SEO) 

 

You can have the best SEO strategy in place, but if your website is unappealing and users leave within seconds, it will sabotage your efforts. This is because your bounce rate will increase, indicating that your website is not of good quality to users. As a result, search engines like Google will deprioritise your website on their results pages. In other words, customers won’t find you! 

 

3. Frustrated Customers Leaving Your Site 

 

When you have a poorly designed website, it could affect your site’s loading speed. This, in turn, can frustrate customers, causing them to leave immediately, also contributing to a low search engine ranking.

 

4. Bad User Experience Crushing Marketing Efforts 

 

One of the most important aspects to consider when it comes to your user experience (UX/UI) design is responsive web design that will display correctly on all screens, particularly mobile.  57% of users say they will not recommend a business without a good mobile website design. In fact, 85% of adults expect a company’s website to look just as good on mobile as it does on their desktop. 

 

5. Loss in Sales and Revenue

 

A website’s purpose is primarily lead generation and conversions. You want potential customers to find you, take action, interact with you and ultimately make a sale. If you don’t get users to do any of these things, you’re losing sales and revenue. 

 

6. You Look Out of Touch with Your Audience

 

A bad website experience will tell your audience that you either don’t know them or don’t consider them a priority. You want to ensure that the user experience is in line with what your target market would appreciate. 

 

7. No Second Chances from Customers

 

Did you know that 88% of online consumers said they are less likely to return to your website if they’ve had a negative experience? That’s undoubtedly eye-opening. So, if you want recurring customers and build up a loyal customer base, your website is the place to start. 

 

 

Checklist: Is Your Website an Example of Bad Web Design?

 

1. When Last Did You Update Your Website Content, Images and Design?

 

If you haven’t looked at or touched your website in five years, it’s time to take a long, hard look. Outdated content and design will make you look like you could be out of business. According to surveys, 94% of website first impressions are design-related, so start there. 

 

2. How Easy is it to Navigate Your Site?

 

Ask someone else to go through your site and give you notes. Do you have way too many pages, or are your pages hidden away in the footer? Do you have an overwhelming amount of pages in a dropdown menu nested in yet another dropdown menu? 

 

3. How Long Does it Take to Load?

 

You can check your current website’s speed online here.  Always keep a close eye on this. There are a couple of ways you can improve it, and an easy way is to start by resizing the images on your site. 

 

4. Can Consumers Understand What You’re Selling?

 

Does your copy adequately describe what you’re selling, and is it more focused on what customers can get than on what you offer? Website copy must be customer-centric and focus more on the benefits they can get than your product or service features. It must also have plenty of call to actions (CTAs) throughout the site. Research suggests that 70% of small businesses don’t have enough CTAs on their websites.

 

How to Avoid Bad Website Design 

 

Don’t settle for amateurs. You want to ensure that you work with a professional website design company for your website to avoid having to redo everything again. 

 

From the content writer, designer, developer, SEO specialist – it takes a village to create a high-converting, beautiful website. But if you partner with the right agency, it will be a breeze and save you money in the long run.

 

Importance of a Good Website for a Business 

 

The benefits of a good website design outweigh any costs it might incur. And it could be one of the most valuable investments you make in your business. 

 

So, what makes a great website? In summary, a successful website is discoverable on search engines like Google, loads quickly, holds attention, is visually appealing, simple to navigate, and encourages users to take action, thereby converting sales.

 

How to Choose a Website Design Agency

 

As an experienced web design agency, we understand that trusting someone with your brand image can be difficult. With hundreds of growth strategy and web design projects under our belt, we’ve built the frameworks to make your web redesign a simple and effortless process.

 

If you’re ready to create a website that will increase your visibility on search engines, help market your brand, and lead to sales, contact us to hear more about our website design services today.