How a bad website hurts your business

A website is now a must-have for every business, regardless of the way it conducts its selling activities – stationary, online or both. Did you know that a bad website design, ill-considered navigation or images that load forever can deprive you of customers’ trust for good? Read this article if you want to know how a bad website hurts businesses.

Ineffective website – why is it bad for your business?

A website may seem to be just a redundant or simply an additional element of a business. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth! A badly designed website can significantly affect the development, sales and image of the company. Companies with bad websites report a much higher number of non-completed entries or quick exits. In today’s world, users have access to a wide variety of brands and appreciate those places on the Internet where they can shop, order a service or get to know the offer fast and without any obstacles.

How to do a preliminary website audit?

Before you decide to delete your current site, do an internal audit that will allow you to determine which elements are good and what needs to be refined or replaced. Start with the analytical side of things. First of all, pay attention to the Google Analytics entry and exit statistics, evaluate how much time people spend on your site, check the dynamic scores for mobile devices and so on. Just go through all the data analysis tools that can give you information that indicate whether your site is giving you the profit that you expect from it. But do not stop there!

In the second stage try to think like a potential client. Review the responsiveness of the website on a smartphone and laptop – perform the Google Mobile-Friendly Test. Check page performance with the PageSpeed Insights tool. Try to send an email via the contact form, go to social media via the website, etc. Do whatever a potential buyer may want to do and judge if you feel frustrated about how long you have to wait or if any functionality could be missing!

Characteristics of a bad website – things you should avoid

Regardless of whether your online space is basically just a “business card” and has only the most crucial information, or on the contrary, it is a store where the entire sales process takes place, you need to make sure that your website is easy and pleasant to use. Here is a list of things you should focus on.

Bad website performance and usability

You are probably wondering what makes a bad website. The first thing that comes to mind for most users is the slow performance. It is almost certain that most potential clients will leave immediately if the website does not work dynamically, they have to wait dozens of seconds for each subpage to fully open, and it takes a minute for a photo to load. This should not come as a surprise! Nowadays, when we have a lot of different companies in every industry, we are no longer at the mercy of  one service or product provider. Time, on the other hand, is now the most valuable currency and many people prefer to pay more money but be able to place an order faster than the other way around.

Poor website navigation

Bad website navigation is yet another important issue. Here is a potential scenario: you are on an online shoe store website and you are interested in buying sneakers. You know exactly what you are looking for, but in the subpage section you can only find “sports shoes”. So you have to go through the entire offer of sports shoes that are completely unsuitable for you to find out whether the store has the model that caught your eye at all. Would you stay on such a site or would you rather switch to another retailer who divided the footwear section better? You have to answer this question for yourself. Good navigation also includes many other functions that are necessary when going through a website, e.g. easy find of contact options or information about deliveries and returns policy.

Low quality content

It is also worth taking care of your website content. Contrary to appearances, bad website content can cause you to lose many customers who will not find the necessary information or will not be encouraged to buy an interesting product because of its description. There is more to it than you think! Good content also has a huge impact on the positioning of the website, i.e. the position at which it is displayed in the search engine after entering specific phrases. In niche industries, where the competition is small, positioning can be done with little work. However, when it comes to SEO content in very popular areas, such as cosmetics, medicine, law or fashion, you need to put in a lot more effort in order for the algorithm to notice them at all.

What makes a bad website design?

You are probably wondering what makes a bad website. The answer is: design totally inconsistent with the current trends. If you want your website to really appeal to the users and you want them to enjoy visiting it because of its aesthetics, you will probably need to carry out a solid “facelift” at least every few years. Why? Trends in Internet marketing change every few seasons and if you want your website to be perfect you must follow them – which creates the necessity to change the graphics. Currently, there are many leading web design trends, such as minimalism, geometric patterns or personalized illustrations. You will surely find the perfect one for your business, but remember, it cannot stay the same for another decade! Many customers say that some websites have poor web design and it usually refers to the fact that they are outdated and in no way fit for the current tastes of users. It is just like interior design. The things we liked ten years ago seem completely unattractive today. A bad looking and outdated website is terrible for business, so it is worth investing in a metamorphosis from time to time! Of course, there are websites that have looked the same for years and are still fashionable and considered aesthetic, but it is a very big feat to design and implement something like that.

Bad mobile website

You must remember that the website should be adapted to the requirements of smartphones or tablets. In today’s world more than fifty percent of online traffic comes from mobile devices, so it would be a serious mistake to omit this area! What is the impact of a bad website? First of all, you lose all those customers who want to buy something, order a service or at least get to know your company when they are for example on the bus, waiting for a child at school or cooking dinner. Moreover, many customers who come across your advertisement in social media, click on it and see that you have a completely non-mobile friendly website, will also give up on getting to know your products. This is even worse, because you will not only lose the potential buyer, but also the money you put in to advertise an unresponsive website.

Bad website layout

The last thing that will change your terrible website is a new layout. This part is related to the design itself. What should you focus on? The most important thing is to adjust the layout to the purpose of your website. It is obvious that a classic “business card website” or a simple catalog can easily be kept in the so-called one-page structure. However, this option will not work even in the smallest online store with several products. There is also the graphic aspect of the layout. Make sure that the whole thing is consistent if you do not want your site to compete in a bad website look contest. Choose main colors, font and icons. Make sure all of those elements fit together nicely. Are you afraid that it is too much for you to handle? Hire a web designer to do it for you!

Impact of a bad website on business – conclusions

A bad website design, just like bad website usability, can significantly affect your company’s results. Now you know that a bad website hurts online sales and there is no denying it! If you want to change something and take your business to a higher level, use our services. We can provide you with website consulting services, website content creation or responsive web design services. Remember that a good website does not only benefit your customers, but also your entire marketing team, enabling it to carry out extended activities.