Is Your Website Costing You Work? 5 Signs It’s Time for an Update
If your site looks like it’s stuck in 2010, your customers probably think your business is too.Let’s be real: most small business owners don’t wake up excited to tinker with their website. And if you’ve been booked solid for years on word-of-mouth alone, it might feel like your site isn’t all that important anyway.
But here’s the thing—your website might be costing you good work without you even knowing it.
It only takes a few seconds for a potential customer to click away if your site feels clunky, outdated, or untrustworthy. And once they’re gone? They’re probably calling your competitor.
So, if you haven’t touched your site in a few years (or a decade 😬), this one’s for you. Here are 5 clear signs it’s time to update your website—before it quietly keeps costing you leads.
1. It Looks (and Feels) Outdated
Let’s start with the obvious. If your website looks like it hasn’t been touched since the early 2010s—slow loading, small text, weird colors, or tiny images—then yeah, customers notice.
Avoid these things at all costs:
Stock photos that clearly don't match your business
Grainy, small low quality images
Fonts that don't match your brand at all
Leaving lorem ipsum text on any page
A modern, clean site doesn’t just look better—it feels more trustworthy. And for a local business, trust is everything.
Stat to know: 94% of first impressions on a website are related to design and visual appeal. (Source: Stanford Web Credibility Project)
2. It Doesn’t Work Right on Phones
Over 60% of local searches now happen on mobile devices. If your site loads slowly, doesn’t resize on phones, or the contact button is too tiny to tap—you’re losing leads.
Ask yourself:
Can someone find your phone number in two seconds?
Is your contact form easy to fill out on a phone?
Do photos and text adjust to screen size?
If not, your website isn’t just outdated—it’s actively turning customers away.
Pro tip: Pull up your site on your phone right now. Pretend you’re a new customer. Frustrated yet?
3. It’s Hard to Navigate (or Confusing as Hell)
Customers come to your site with one goal: figure out what you do and how you can help them.
If your site buries your services under weird menus or loads 10 pages before showing a phone number, they’re gone.
You need:
A clear headline that says what you do and who you serve
An easy-to-find list of services
One clear call-to-action (Call Now, Get a Quote, Book Online, etc.)
And no, "Welcome to our homepage, we are a solutions-based provider of quality service" doesn’t count. Be detailed, but talk on your website like you'd talk to customers in person.
4. You’re Not Getting Inquiries From It
This one’s simple: if your website hasn’t brought you a solid lead in months (or ever), something’s broken.
It could be:
You’re not showing up in local search results (poor SEO)
Your contact form is buried or broken
The site looks too outdated to trust
If people are landing on your site but not taking the next step, it’s not doing its job.
Hint: If your competitors are showing up on Google and you’re not, that’s a red flag.
5. You Don’t Know How to Update It (So You Just Don’t)
Maybe your site was built by a friend of a friend. Maybe it was made in WordPress years ago and now every time you log in, it’s a tech nightmare. Maybe you’ve just avoided touching it because every edit feels like a gamble.
If you can’t make basic updates—like changing your hours, adding a photo, or swapping out services—you’ve got a problem.
You shouldn’t need to call in a favor or hire a developer every time you want to fix a typo.
Time for a Change? Here’s Your Fix
The good news? Fixing your website doesn’t have to be a big, expensive custom project.
If you want a website that:
Looks professional
Brings in local leads
Works on all devices
Is easy to update without tech stress…
...we’ve got you covered.
Our Squarespace website templates are built for hardworking small business owners like you—with clear structure, built-in trust features, and step-by-step video tutorials.
Because your website should work as hard as you do.
Ready for a site that gets the job done?Browse our templates made for small businesses — no fluff, just clean design, powerful structure, and real support.
