Is Your Website Design a Digital Turn-Off?

Is Your Website Design a Digital Turn-Off?

You ever walk into a shop
And instantly walk back out
Because the lights are flickering
There’s a weird smell
And someone behind the counter just grunted at you?

That’s your website.

If it looks awful. Loads slow. And doesn’t work on mobile.

Then you, my dear business owner, are silently telling people:

“Please leave. We are closed. Also we do not care about your feelings.”

Frustrated user watching a slow-loading website with a spinning loading icon on a computer screen.
A frustrated user impatiently waits for a slow website to load, illustrating how slow loading times can lead to users abandoning a site.

I’m not saying your site’s bad

I’m just saying if it were a person

It would show up to your wedding in crocs and a spaghetti-stained vest

Poor website design is not just ugly

It’s expensive

Every second someone can’t find the checkout
Or has to zoom in on a contact button the size of a tic tac
That’s money flushing itself straight down the drain

You’re not just losing clicks
You’re losing trust
And possibly your sanity

Let me paint you a picture

I click your link

The page loads like it’s powered by potatoes

I try to scroll

But your menu keeps disappearing like a magician’s rabbit

I try to buy something

But I’m 8 clicks in and still no clue how to add to basket

I rage quit
And I tell all my mates your site is cursed

So let’s break it down:

Slow as your nan’s WiFi
If your site takes longer than 3 seconds to load
I’ve already left to buy the same thing from your competitor

Mobile mess
If I need thumb yoga to zoom in on your desktop site
It’s 2025 – come on
Make it work on phones
Most of us are scrolling while pretending to work

Menus from the dark ages
If I need to channel Sherlock Holmes just to find your About page
That’s not clever
That’s chaos
Clear navigation = people stay longer = sales go up

Visual vomit
Bright red fonts on green backgrounds
Stock photos of smiling robots
Text crammed tighter than jeans after Christmas
No thanks

Dead ends and 404s
Broken links are like handing someone a map with every road leading to “Nowhere”
Fix. Them. Please.

Website with chaotic design featuring clashing red and green fonts, haphazard robot stock photos, and cramped text, representing poor website design.
An example of poor website design with clashing visuals, stock imagery, and illegible text, highlighting the “visual vomit” that can deter users.

Here’s what bad design really does to you:

  • People bounce faster than a toddler on sugar
  • You get fewer leads than a dodgy dating profile
  • Customers start to trust you less than a politician in an election year
  • Google buries your site somewhere on page 47
  • And worst of all… you start thinking business is slow because of “the economy”
    When really
    It’s just your crusty old homepage

I won’t leave you crying into your keyboard

Here’s how to go from zero to “Ooh this looks professional”:

No Comic Sans
No blurry photos
No background music unless you’re selling 90s dance CDs

Not optional
If your site doesn’t flex on a phone, it’s flexing people away

Tell people what to do
Buy this
Click that
Book now
Don’t make them guess
They’ll guess wrong

Fast hosting
Clean code
No videos that autoplay and shout at me like I owe them money

A blog from 2019 isn’t vintage
It’s lazy


What is poor website design?
It’s a site that’s hard to use, ugly to look at, slow to load, and annoying to navigate. Like a party where no one brought snacks.

How does poor design affect my business?
You lose leads, sales, trust and your spot on Google. It’s like turning off the sign on your shop and hoping people still walk in.

Can I fix my website or do I need a new one?
Depends how bad it is. If it just needs a spruce, go for it. If it’s held together with glitter and hope, start fresh.

How important is mobile-friendly design?
If your site doesn’t work on phones, you’re basically invisible to half the internet. Probably more. Maybe your mum too.

How often should I update my website?
Every time you update your business. New service? New offer? New photo? Whack it up. Keep it alive.

Do ugly websites still work?
Sometimes. Like socks with sandals. But just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

What’s a bounce rate?
It’s when someone visits your site, takes one look, and nopes out. You want that number low, not sky-high like my blood pressure after using a bad website.


If you’re serious about growing
Looking good online isn’t optional

Poor website design can tank trust, sales and your entire reputation faster than you can say “Please wait while it loads”

So give your site the glow-up it deserves

Tidy it up
Make it fast
Make it easy

And for the love of lipstick

Make it work on mobile