The Cost of a Poorly Designed Website (Like a Leaky Roof on Your Best Shop)
If your website is badly designed, it’s costing you money – even if you’re not paying a monthly fee for it.
Think of it like a leaky roof on your busiest shop. From the outside, everything looks fine. The sign’s up, the lights are on. But inside, stock is getting ruined, customers are dodging buckets, and you’re quietly losing money every single day.
That’s the real cost of a poorly designed website. It doesn’t always fall down dramatically. It just… leaks.
In this guide, we’ll walk through the main ways bad web design drains your business, how to spot the leaks, and what to do about it.
What do we actually mean by a “poorly designed” website?
A poorly designed website isn’t just an ugly one.
You can have a beautiful site that still performs terribly if it:
- Confuses visitors
- Loads slowly
- Looks broken on mobiles
- Hides your contact details
- Is hard to update
At Los Webos, we like to say: good design is about results, not just looks. If your website isn’t helping you get enquiries, bookings or sales, something’s off.
1. Lost enquiries: the silent killer
Imagine standing in your shop watching people walk in, glance around, shrug, and walk straight back out.
Online, that’s happening all the time – you just can’t see their faces.
How poor design loses you enquiries
Common culprits include:
- Confusing layout – visitors can’t see what you do or where to click next
- No clear call-to-action – no obvious “Call us”, “Book now” or “Get a quote”
- Too much text, not enough clarity – walls of waffle instead of plain-English benefits
- Hidden contact details – phone number buried in tiny footer text
A simple example:
- 500 people visit your site each month
- A clear, well-designed site might convert 5% into enquiries (25 leads)
- A clunky, confusing site might convert just 1% (5 leads)
If each new customer is worth £300 to you, that’s:
- Good site: 25 leads → say 10 customers → £3,000/month
- Poor site: 5 leads → say 2 customers → £600/month
Difference: £2,400 per month quietly disappearing.
That’s not a design problem. That’s a revenue problem.
2. Wasted marketing spend: pouring water into a colander
Spending money on Google Ads, Facebook Ads or SEO while your website is poorly designed is like pouring water into a colander and hoping it fills up.
Where the waste happens
You pay to send people to a website that:
- Looks dated or unprofessional → people don’t trust it
- Doesn’t match your ad message → people get confused and leave
- Is hard to use on mobile → visitors give up within seconds
So your ad reports might show plenty of clicks, but hardly any enquiries.
If you’re spending £500 a month on ads and your site can’t convert visitors, that £500 isn’t an investment – it’s a leak.
Fix the bucket (your website) before turning the tap up (your marketing).
3. Time drain: the hidden staff member you didn’t hire
A good website works like a helpful member of staff:
- Answers common questions
- Explains your services clearly
- Filters out tyre-kickers
- Guides people to book or buy
A bad website does the opposite. It generates:
- Endless basic phone calls: “Do you do X?”, “How much is Y?”, “Where are you based?”
- Confused emails because your services page isn’t clear
- Time spent explaining things that your website should have covered
Let’s say your team spends just 30 minutes a day dealing with questions that a clear, well-structured website could answer.
That’s:
- 2.5 hours a week
- Over 10 hours a month
Multiply that by your hourly rate and you’ll quickly see how expensive a confusing website can be.
4. Damaged trust: first impressions are harsh online
If your website is your 24/7 salesperson, a poorly designed one is like sending someone to a client meeting in a stained T‑shirt and flip-flops.
Harsh? Maybe. But people judge fast online.
How bad design hurts your reputation
- Outdated design suggests you’re behind the times
- Broken links or errors make you look careless
- Low-quality images make your work look worse than it is
- Inconsistent branding makes you seem disorganised
The risk? Potential customers think:
“If they cut corners on their own website, what will they do with my project?”
Even if you’re brilliant at what you do, your website may be telling a different story.
5. Missed opportunities: when your site can’t grow with you
Your business evolves. Your website should too.
A poorly designed site often comes with:
- No easy way to add new services or locations
- No blog or resources section to support SEO
- No integration with booking systems or CRMs
It’s a bit like renting a shop with no room for extra stock. You hit a ceiling and stay there.
A well-planned site is built to grow with you – add new pages, target new areas, plug into new tools – without needing to start from scratch every 18 months.
6. Legal and accessibility risks: the boring bits that really matter
Not the most exciting topic, but important.
A poorly designed website may:
- Be hard to use for people with visual or motor impairments
- Ignore basic accessibility standards (contrast, font size, keyboard navigation)
- Mishandle cookie notices and privacy information
Aside from the moral side – everyone should be able to use your site – there can be legal and reputational risks if you completely ignore this area.
Good design bakes accessibility in from the start. It’s not about making your site ugly; it’s about making it usable for more people.
How to tell if your website is costing you money
You don’t need to be a tech expert. Use these simple checks:
1. The “5-second” test
Ask someone who doesn’t know your business to look at your homepage for 5 seconds, then answer:
- What do we do?
- Who do we help?
- What should you do next on the site?
If they can’t answer clearly, your design isn’t doing its job.
2. The “mobile on the sofa” test
Sit on your sofa with your phone (like a normal user):
- Is the text easy to read without pinching and zooming?
- Are buttons big enough and spaced out?
- Can you find your key service and contact details in under 20 seconds?
If not, you’re losing mobile visitors – which is likely more than half your traffic.
3. The “customer journey” test
Pick one key action you want people to take, like:
- Request a quote
- Book an appointment
- Call you
Now count how many clicks and how much scrolling it takes to get there from the homepage.
Anything long, confusing or hidden is a red flag.
So, what does a good SME website do differently?
A strong, well-designed site doesn’t need to be fancy. It just needs to:
- Explain clearly what you do and who you help
- Guide visitors towards one or two key actions
- Work beautifully on mobile and desktop
- Load quickly so people don’t bounce
- Reflect your brand – modern, trustworthy, consistent
- Be easy to update as your business grows
Think of it as a well-organised, welcoming shop:
- Clear sign above the door (your headline)
- Tidy shelves with labelled sections (your navigation)
- Helpful staff member ready to assist (your calls-to-action)
- No leaks, no clutter, no confusion
When to fix vs when to rebuild
Not every poorly designed website needs throwing in the bin. Sometimes, small changes can make a big difference.
A quick tidy-up can help if:
- The design is basically modern but a bit cluttered
- Your content is mostly fine but needs clearer calls-to-action
- It works reasonably well on mobile but needs tweaks
In this case, you might:
- Simplify your navigation
- Improve your main headings and calls-to-action
- Update key images and testimonials
A full rebuild is usually needed if:
- The site looks like it’s from 2010
- It’s not mobile-friendly at all
- It’s painful to update anything
- You’ve changed your services or target audience significantly
Here, it’s often cheaper in the long run to start fresh with a clear strategy than to keep patching up a sinking ship.
Turning your website from cost to asset
A poorly designed website is a cost centre: it leaks time, money and trust.
A well-designed website becomes an asset: a 24/7 salesperson that:
- Attracts the right visitors
- Explains your value clearly
- Collects enquiries while you sleep
- Grows with your business
At Los Webos, we specialise in building beautiful, fast, SEO-friendly websites for UK SMEs that actually earn their keep.
We skip the jargon, focus on clear results, and design your site like a hard-working team member – not a pretty poster on the wall.
Worried your website is quietly leaking money?
If you suspect your current site is more leaky roof than reliable shop, let’s have a look.
We offer straightforward website reviews where we:
- Spot the biggest leaks in your current design
- Show you what it’s really costing you in lost leads
- Recommend practical fixes – whether that’s a tidy-up or a rebuild
No pressure, no tech-speak – just clear, honest advice.
Ready to turn your website into a real business asset?
Get in touch with Los Webos today and let’s plug the leaks before the next storm hits.