5 Signs Your Website Is Costing You Customers

You've got a website. It's been up for a while. Maybe you built it yourself, maybe a friend helped out, or maybe you hired someone years ago. Either way, you're wondering: is this thing actually working?

The truth is, a bad website doesn't just sit there doing nothing—it actively pushes customers toward your competitors. Here are five signs that your website might be costing you business.

1. It Takes More Than 3 Seconds to Load

This is the biggest killer. Studies show that 53% of mobile users leave a site that takes more than 3 seconds to load. That's more than half your potential customers—gone before they even see what you offer.

Test your site speed at PageSpeed Insights. If you're scoring below 50 on mobile, you have a problem.

2. It Looks Terrible on Mobile

Over 60% of web traffic comes from mobile devices. If your site isn't mobile-friendly—if text is too small, buttons are hard to tap, or users have to pinch and zoom—you're losing the majority of your potential customers.

Pull out your phone right now and visit your own website. Is it easy to navigate? Can you read everything without zooming? Can you tap buttons without accidentally hitting the wrong thing?

3. Visitors Can't Find Your Contact Information

If someone wants to hire you or buy from you, how easy is it for them to reach out? Your phone number, email, and contact form should be visible on every page—not buried in a footer or hidden on a separate page.

Every extra click between "I want this" and "I contacted them" is a chance for the customer to give up and go elsewhere.

4. Your Site Looks Outdated

Design trends change. A website that looked modern in 2018 looks dated in 2025. And here's the thing: visitors judge your business by your website.

An outdated website signals that your business might be outdated too. That you don't pay attention to details. That maybe you're not even still in business.

Common signs of an outdated site:

Stock photos that look generic or cheesy
Cluttered layouts with too much text
Tiny fonts or poor contrast
Flash elements or auto-playing music (yes, these still exist)

5. You're Not Showing Up in Google

Search your business name. Search what you do + your city. Do you show up? If not, your website isn't doing its job.

Good SEO isn't magic—it's about having proper page titles, descriptions, fast loading times, mobile-friendliness, and quality content. If your site was built without SEO in mind, you're invisible to people actively searching for what you offer.

What To Do About It

If any of these sound familiar, you have two options:

Fix it yourself—possible if you have the time and technical skills, but most business owners don't.
Hire a professional—get a modern, fast, mobile-friendly website that actually converts visitors into customers.

The cost of a professional website is almost always less than the cost of the customers you're losing to a bad one.