Can A Bad Website Cost You Money?

There are around 1.7 billion active websites worldwide, and this number grows daily. With so much online competition, gone are the days when a business could get away with basic information listings and still get customers through the door.

To meet the modern customer’s high expectations, your website must be high quality, impressive to look at, use original content, and be simple to use.

In fact, if your website doesn't meet these standards, you might miss out on some great opportunities (and the profits that come with them).

Website design is like most things in life. You get what you pay for.

Putting time and effort into creating a website for your construction company is a straight road to success. Skimping on your website may be tempting, but it’ll cost you in the long run.

Land Rover CEO Ralf Speth's wise words also come to mind “If you think good design is expensive, you should look at the cost of bad design.” Clearly, Ralf knows what he’s talking about.

Let’s take a deeper look at how a bad website will cost you money and how you can avoid these mistakes.

Bad websites give off bad first impressions

A good first impression goes a long way. When customers visit your website for the first time, you want to show them that you’re the right choice to go with. After all, it's 2022, and users have high expectations for websites, and a bad impression could lose you a customer!

Google has said that 53% of website visits are abandoned when they take more than three seconds to load. Even after that, 38% of impatient shoppers will wave goodbye to your website if your content doesn't give them a good enough reason to stay.

People are drawn to things that look nice. Although the content on your website has a big role in its value, a good first impression usually depends on your website's design and layout.

Web pages that are hard to read, have poor-quality graphics, and are non-responsive will make a bad first impression. You’ve managed to get your visitor to your website, but if they see a site in bad shape, they will leave before they even consider converting!

A cheap website also looks unprofessional and can make potential customers question whether or not they can trust you. So many people hear horror stories about being scammed online, which is why trust is an important aspect of online marketing. Make sure your website is trustworthy by ensuring the design is spectacular, and everything works the way it should.

The main thing to remember here is to invest in your design and the usability of your website. You want your website to look good and work properly so your visitors will feel comfortable about investing in you for their next project.

Bad websites reduce website traffic

You may not know it, but your cheap website is likely costing your construction business money by slowing down traffic to your site. The truth is that search engines like Google don’t take kindly to outdated, low-quality websites with only basic information.

Your website's search performance depends on more than just good SEO. Google’s algorithms decide if your site is fast, readable, mobile-friendly, informative, easy to navigate, and much more.

Google wants its users to be happy with their search results. It only wants to show them the websites that actually provide them with the services they’re looking for.

More than 90% of people never click on the second page of Google search results, and if you don’t meet Google’s standards, your website might get buried beneath a sea of competitors. By missing out on a prime spot, you'll lose customers to your competitors in the construction industry.

Bad websites waste time and money

Have you ever heard the expression that what's cheap today is expensive tomorrow? Well, this definitely applies to building your website.

We all love to save money where we can, but your website isn’t the place to do it. Cheap websites won't get you where you want to go, and whatever money you spend will be wasted.

You'll likely have to design your website from scratch again and spend more time and money. So, doesn't it make more sense to create it right in the first place?

Even though it can seem like a lot of money, splashing the cash on your website from the get-go will be a worthwhile investment.

You'll be able to meet the needs and intents of your potential customers and secure a spot at the top of Google's search results. This will lead to the ROI you deserve for all your hard work on your website.

Bad websites lose customers by not being mobile-optimized

Over half of internet searches are made on mobile, so your website must offer a great user experience on any device, or you risk losing potential customers.

Making your site work for mobile is different from making it work for desktop. You'll have to take different screen sizes and load times into account, and a mobile-responsive site should be able to reformat itself on any device as needed.

There are many great benefits of having a site that’s optimized for mobile, including:

  • Better customer engagement
  • Increased average time spent on site
  • The website can be accessed anywhere at anytime
  • Appear higher in search results

By not making your website work for mobile, you risk losing a big part of your target audience and missing out on valuable sales.

You can run a quick test to see if your website is mobile-friendly or not through Google.

Why an outdated website is just as bad for business

Like a website that is poorly designed, one that’s outdated can look bad to customers and damage your SEO. If you haven’t updated your website since the early 2000s, it's time to give 2002 its website back and move on with the times.

Over the years, your audience, company, and the construction industry itself have changed. Don't miss out on the sales you deserve by failing to update your website to meet these changes.

Clear giveaways of an outdated website include clip-art style graphics, poor security, cluttered layout, visitor counter, dated fonts, colored page background, and many more.

When your website is outdated, it leads to many negative qualities that will have customers racing to hit the back button. These qualities include:

  • Slow speed
  • Bad SEO
  • You're missing out on sales
  • You're vulnerable to an online breach
  • Looks like you're going out of business
  • Not mobile friendly
  • You're prompting a wrong perception
  • You appear untrustworthy
  • The quality of your product or service seems questionable

Your website represents your business. It’s the face of your company, and by keeping your site fresh, up-to-date, and easy to use, you’ll be visible on search engines and gather all the quality leads you could want.

Advantages of a good website

It only makes sense that if a bad website can cost you money, a good one can earn it. Some of the biggest advantages that come from having a good website that meets customer expectations include:

  • Open 24 hours - With a well-designed site, you can meet customer needs around the clock. No matter the time of day, your customers will have access to information on the construction work you do. They’ll also be able to book a slot to talk to you about their project.
  • Your audience knows you’re the right fit - When your website is easy to find, has a neat layout, and answers questions clearly, customers will be eager to work with you.
  • High visibility - High-quality websites appear higher in search engine results, making it easy for your target audience to find you. When customers can easily find your website, they can also access important information such as your contact number and email.
  • Credibility - In today's advanced world, customers expect every business to have a website and a high-quality one at that. When your website impresses customers, it proves to them that you’re a credible and trustworthy company. At the same time, this can be great for attracting talented employees to your organization.

We hope this blog has helped you understand the many ways a poor website can cost your business and how you can improve your website for the better.

If you’re looking for some help in creating a high-quality website that delivers the results you dream of, then we’d love to help.

Susan Smith - Founder of Just for Contractors -web design marketing and branding
Susan Smith
The Founder and Strategist & Lead Designer of Just for Contractors

Susan and her team help contractors and the skilled trades get ahead of their competitors with a one-of-a-kind website that actually works,
backs up their excellent work and brings in the kind of clients (and team) they want.

She’s been in the construction trade since she was a kid — her dad owned a 100+ people tool and die business, her husband and now her 3 kids are all in the
trades. She understands them and was tired of seeing the really crappy websites the construction trades had online and hearing them say "I don't get any leads
from my website". If their website was crappy, they were losing business. It was time to intervene.

You can find Susan on LinkedIn.
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