The True Cost Of A Cheap Website
Written by Gabriel Bertolo
Published on January 14, 2026
Shopping around for a web design company as a business owner must be so confusing. It’s not uncommon for a business owner to reach out to several agencies and receive pricing that varies wildly. One proposal might come in at $2,000, while another company says your new website will cost $15,000. That’s a massive difference in pricing. Most business owners aren’t educated on the differences. The statistics show the importance.
It takes only 0.05 seconds (50 milliseconds) for users to form an opinion about your website. Source – https://mindfeederllc.com/web-design-and-conversion-rates-2024-2025-insights/
94% of first impressions are related to web design. Source – https://www.loopexdigital.com/blog/web-design-statistics/
75% of users judge a company’s credibility based on the website design. Source – https://www.businessdasher.com/web-design-statistics/
What this data means is that looking pretty isn’t the most important thing. It’s about building trust in those first milliseconds. Because if you don’t, that user will leave and go find a competitor that does.
It’s never about just having a “pretty” website. This is flawed logic. The goal should be to build a website with a high ROI. A website that looks good, ranks in search, builds trust with users, and has a high conversion rate provides the best return on your investment.
True web designers know this. Anyone can throw together a decent-looking website. What separates the pros from the amateurs is whether they can design a website that makes more money.
I have been doing this for over 13 years. And in that time, the sites I have built have generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. And I’m tired of seeing business owners lose money due to poor design practices.
In this article, I will show why a web design investment pays off and discuss the true expense of a cheap website through my own experience and statistics.
38% of people will immediately stop engaging with an unattractive website. Source – https://www.sixthcitymarketing.com/web-design-stats/
89% of consumers shop with competitors after a poor user experience. Source – https://www.businessdasher.com/web-design-statistics/
As proven by Hostinger, 60% of visitors leave a website if it takes more than 2 seconds to load. That’s not a technical problem, it’s a revenue problem. A cheap web designer isn’t going to put in the time and effort needed to make sure your website loads quickly. Load Speed Optimization is not easy or fun, but it is essential.
Imagine this scenario using the statistic above. Your website receives 1,000 visitors a month. Your website takes more than 2 seconds to load. You are missing out on 600 potential leads every month. You lost these potential leads before they even saw your website or read your messaging.
Keeping on with the impact of website load speed, the average e-commerce website has a conversion rate of 2.5-3%. Each 1-second load delay reduces conversions by 7%. If you’re doing $100,000/mo in revenue and you’re losing 7% to speed issues, you’re losing $84,000/year in revenue. All because you wanted to save money. So maybe you spent a few thousand on your website instead of $20,000. The cheap website is costing you a lot of revenue, while the $20,000 website would have paid for itself in one quarter.
Most first impressions are from a business’s website. 75% of users judge your credibility from your website. So if you have a website that looks like it’s from 2010, how much trust does that instill? What it does convey is that you aren’t professional and you don’t really care. Not great for building trust. And this judgement is even harsher when it comes to high-value services where the design expectations are even higher.
Bad design and an outdated site don’t just cost you that one sale. It costs you the entire lifetime value of that customer. It costs you whatever they would have spent. And it costs you any word of mouth and referrals you might have gotten.
If your average customer value is $50,000 over 3 years, and that bad website design costs you 10 clients, that cheap website just lost you $500,000 in revenue. And even worse, that bad design just gave your competition half a million in new revenue. Bad design doesn’t just hurt you; it helps your competition.
I hear this a lot. Many businesses feel their website is “good enough” because it’s functional and loads eventually. Functionality isn’t the bar. Surpassing your competition is. Users don’t know you. They rely on a small set of data to inform their buying decision. They compare websites, and when they do, design quality becomes a major differentiator.
I audit sites all the time. I run digital ad campaigns and do Search Engine Optimization for sites I didn’t build. So I’ve seen it all. When a business owner doesn’t perceive the website as the central hub of the business and falls into the “good enough” trap, there is always a ton of money left on the table.
I worked with a client recently, and this story really illustrates the value of hiring a professional web designer and developer.
An e-commerce brand contacted us because they were not happy with their website’s conversion rate. They were running ads, doing email marketing, regularly featured in Forbes gift guides, and they had a great product, but they had a low conversion rate.
The first thing we did was perform a Conversion Rate Optimization audit. We went through the entire site with a fine-toothed comb, looking for all conversion issues. We analyzed the site architecture, value propositions, the messaging, the product pages, and the all-important checkout process.
The report was 16 pages of recommendations to improve the website. They hired us to redesign it and fix all of the CRO issues.
The new website launched right before their busiest season. From these website improvements, their conversions went up 559% compared to the previous year. The same Google Ads they had been running went from a 4X Return on Ad Spend to an 11X Return on Ad Spend. So on just the ads alone, they went from making $4,000 in revenue for every $1,000 they spent on ads, to making $11,000 for every $1,000 they spent on ads. All of this led to their yearly revenue increasing by over 400%.
The CRO audit and redesign weren’t cheap. But here’s the thing, they made their money back in just a few months, and now every other marketing effort makes them a lot more money.
Web Design isn’t just aesthetics, it’s business strategy
Most people think of design, and they immediately think pure looks. Design is about problem-solving and achieving goals. Great design solves business problems by converting visitors, building trust, differentiating your brand from your competition, and communicating your value quickly.
Now let’s find out what the real strategic function of your business website is, or should be.
Your website works 24/7 and should be seen as your most efficient salesperson. But this is only true if it builds trust instantly. In the split second a user is forming their first impression of your business, a few things are going through their mind.
Is this business professional? Can I trust them with my money, project, or problem?
75% of credibility and trust is built here, before they even read a word.
And this is just the beginning of it. Then they read and scan your site. They are looking for clarity. They want to make sure that you are equipped to handle what they need. They want to see things that build trust.
Good design creates a visual hierarchy that guides the user’s eyes to what matters most. If a website doesn’t clearly articulate your value proposition in the first 3 seconds, you’ve likely already lost. Most websites really overlook the importance of the above-the-fold hero section and headline. This section can make or break your site. This isn’t about aesthetics, it’s about informational architecture and the right messaging.
In certain markets, design can be the only differentiator visitors can evaluate before engaging. 2 businesses can offer the same services at similar prices, but the higher-end design will signal higher quality and inspire more confidence.
Good design isn’t about pretty pages. It’s about the flow of information that moves the user towards a conversion action. Every element should have a purpose for the user. Providing clarity, building trust, answering objections, and clearly providing the next steps are crucial for improving conversions.
The style and quality of your website create near instant mental associations. A professional website with clear messaging and structure means your business looks professional and trustworthy. A modern design makes the user feel that you are a forward-thinking company. And a cheap, wonky website makes you appear as a budget business. These mental associations are powerful, near instant, and next to impossible to change once it happens.
We approach each web design project with a clear understanding of your goals and your market. We help you align anything that needs aligning.
Some common questions we ask are:
Who are we trying to reach?
What actions do we want them to take?
What objections are they likely to have?
What builds trust with this audience?
The design is born from the strategy. We never take a design preference and try to cram the strategy into it. That just doesn’t work.
Many web designers don’t have an understanding of marketing, conversion optimization, and buyer psychology. They start with what they think looks good, or they try too hard to satisfy the client’s aesthetic preferences and hope it works.
We start with what drives business growth and make it look great, but in relation to that goal. We design to appeal to your audience. Not ego, not so we have a cool new portfolio piece. Your ROI is at the forefront of the entire process. Because at the end of the day, who cares if a site is pretty if no one ever visits, and if the ones that do leave to find another company?
Our design philosophy is rooted in communicating competence and authenticity to build trust.
We believe in substance over flash. Clarity over manipulation. And professionalism without pretension.
Let’s get to the numbers. Every dollar invested in UX returns $100. Sounds crazy, right? But it is true. So where do these returns come from?
Over the years of testing and seeing the data myself. I am still amazed at just how much seemingly minor things can affect conversion rates. Let’s revisit the story I previously shared. While we changed a lot on the website, a few things in particular had the most profound effects on conversions that led to the yearly revenue increase of 440%. We led with a strong, value proposition-rich hero section. We reimagined the product categories and sorting to make it infinitely easier for a user to find exactly what they want. We revamped the product pages to include the most important value points. And we fixed the confusion around the shipping costs and options.
Design elements that drive conversions:
Not every conversion action needs to be a call, purchase, or form submission. There are many touch points in between. Of course, we want those macro conversions. But micro conversions, like a newsletter signup or a free download, are a vital part of the buyer journey and an integral part of any good funnel.
The use of micro conversions also gives the user a way to perform a conversion action that has a lower risk and lower commitment level. These types of conversions create a touchpoint and enter the user into the funnel.
Designing for both micro and macro conversion actions is the best way to optimize revenue to the fullest.
Even small improvements in conversion rates can yield substantial revenue increases. Remember, these compounds when it comes to ads and organic traffic.
As an example, a B2B company whose service has an average deal of $50,000 increases its conversion rate from 2% to 3%. Depending on their website traffic numbers, this could lead to millions in new revenue every year.
Confident buyers spend more. When a user lands on a website that ticks all the boxes, providing clarity, building trust, social proof, etc., they tend to spend more per purchase. A new user to a website that sells what they need but doesn’t provide these psychological assurances might just buy the minimum they need. Whereas a user looking for the same thing and landing on a site that has solid CRO will likely spend more per purchase.
Trust leads to higher-order values. When a design creates trust, users are more likely to spend more for premium options, purchase more add-ons, purchase bundles, or just place a higher order.
This is all the more imperative when it comes to e-commerce websites. CRO is the service E-commerce brands will live or die by. There are many things that affect the conversion rates for an e-commerce website. Having clean and informative product pages is key. High-quality images of the product are crucial. The use of easy comparison tools, value points for each product, and clear informational architecture all increase the Average Order Value.
When it comes to service businesses, design influences the perceived value. Paying for a $15,000 service from a website that looks like it costs $1,000 inherently feels risky. The same service sold through a premium $20,000 website feels like it matches the price point.
A higher conversion rate means lower Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC). If you improve your conversion rate from 2% to 3%, you will see a 33% reduction in CAC. And this isn’t just a one-time savings. Lowering your CAC expands to your entire marketing ROI. Your organic search traffic, your ads, your social media, and your email marketing will all benefit from a lower cost to acquire customers.
While most businesses focus on just getting more traffic, conversion optimization, and UX design works on optimizing marketing efficiency across all channels for higher profit.
Good design is an SEO factor. I know it can sound like an odd statement. But there are a lot of ranking factors that are tied to performance and UX. Some of these include: page load speed, mobile-responsiveness, Core Web Vitals, and bounce rates.
When a site is well-designed, and useful users spend more time on it. Google sees this and knows that your website is relevant and high quality. A low bounce rate illustrates that your website is delivering what the users are looking for. This improves rankings, which drives more traffic, and the cycle keeps going.
On the inverse side. You can have a greatly informative website. But let’s say it takes 4 seconds to load. User bounce at a high rate. Google sees this and stops showing you in the SERPs, and your traffic drops.
Google indexes mobile versions first. 90% of websites are responsive because it’s a necessity now. But responsive isn’t really enough. Having a great mobile UX is what really wins. Designing mobile-first is key. Mobile-first design puts the mobile experience 1st, as opposed to responsive design, which often sees the mobile version as an afterthought. Sites with a great mobile UX tend to rank higher.
Core Web Vitals are another important ranking factor. LCP (Largest Contentful Paint), FID (First Input Delay), and CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) are design-based performance metrics that Google uses as ranking factors. Good design addresses these throughout the web design process. Cheap designers don’t put the effort into these kinds of signals. Why? Because they require time and thought.
SEO is the gift that keeps giving. Better design has a better UX. A better UX means better rankings. Better rankings lead to more traffic. And more traffic leads to more conversions. This all compounds over time. When done right, in a few years, the organic traffic from a good website design can dwarf paid traffic in both volume and ROI.
The thing with cheap websites is that they don’t tend to last long. It could be issues with plugins, the theme itself, or just following trends that go out of fashion and date your website. A heap website might last 2-3 years. A well-built website will last 5+ years. And even then, a well built site might not need a complete overhaul after 5+ years, some tweaks and modernization could be all it needs to get back on top.
So if you have to spend $2,000 every 2 years, that’s $10,000 in 10 years. That’s not counting the lost revenue that occurs in the in between when your website is subpar.
A professional website might cost you $15,000-$20,000, but it is built to last. A good web designer uses the best plugins that are reliable, so there are fewer issues. Cheap sites incur technical debt. These are issues that compound over time, that lead to broken functions that require expensive fixes or complete rebuilds. Professional websites are built with maintainability and stability in mind. Cheap sites are built to meet your price point with no thoughts on the sustainability of web design.
These days, the other option that can seem appealing to business owners needing a website is the DIY or template-based platforms. I’m a smart guy, but I wouldn’t attempt to replace my transmission. I’d much rather hire the person who has been fixing cars for a living.
Professional web design doesn’t just mean it looks nice or even custom-coded. It means that it is built with many things in mind and implements a custom, strategic approach that prioritizes the users’ needs and business goals.
DIYers fall into their own “good enough” trap. They might find a pretty looking SquareSpace theme and think they’re saving money by not hiring a professional.
But what separates a professionally designed website from what a business owner can do themselves is critical.
A professional web designer knows:
Good design starts with research, not mockups. You don’t want to guess what will work; you want to use data and user understanding to know what will work. Every company is different. Every market segment is different. What a user expects to see, the information they want, and the objections they might have can vary wildly, even in the same niche. And businesses that don’t understand their ideal customers are at a severe disadvantage.
So what does a good design process entail?
DIY fails because templates skip all of this. That cute Squarespace site. Well, how many other businesses in your niche are using it? Probably thousands. Templated solutions don’t consider whether the template structure really appeals to the audience. It’s decoration without strategy.
Radiant Elephant starts every project with a discovery phase. We learn about your specific business, your audience, and your goals before we design anything. This is why the sites we build have a high ROI. Design is informed by strategy, not trends or generic templates.
There’s responsive design, and then there’s mobile-first design. And these 2 are very different.
The mobile-first philosophy begins with the smallest breakpoint to design the core of the experience there. This is the most challenging because the screen sizes are small. And from there we build upwards. Adding more elements and animations as the screens get larger. This is so that mobile users get a well-thought-out experience. And even more important, it’s done so that any user on any device gets a thought-out experience.
The responsive design philosophy is about making it work on mobile. It’s not about the experience; it’s an afterthought. Many “responsive” websites are desktop sites that are manipulated to be readable on mobile, no matter how awkward it might be. Often, this only involves making the navigation a hamburger menu and calling it a day.
Why does this matter?
Mobile users have very different behaviors, different levels of patience, and different conversion patterns.
Mobile users need larger tap targets, simplified navigation, mobile-friendly forms, and faster load times because mobile connections can be slower than desktop.
Website load speed isn’t just a technical concern; it’s a design decision. Every second a site takes to load, the more users you lose, the higher your bounce rate is, and the worse your rankings get. And in time, your traffic will drop, and so will your leads.
A fast website isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity. And good design builds with performance in mind.
Design choices that affect speed:
This is why templates fail. They are often riddled with poorly written code. Often, for features you don’t even need. And when dealing with site builders like GoDaddy, Squarespace, and Wix, even if you knew how to optimize for speed, you can’t. These are closed systems and often self-hosted, so you have very few options to improve. This is also a problem with most WordPress themes and frameworks.
Good design and professional web designers create custom designs that only integrate the features you need and work hard to write clean code that will improve your user experience.
15% of the population has a disability. Accessible design isn’t just ethically sound; it makes for good inclusive business and is legally required in some cases.
Professional websites and good design follow Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). When a website is not WCAG compliant, it could be excluding users. Many accessibility improvements and inclusive design benefit all users. It’s also just a smart move as ADA compliance is becoming more and more important.
ADA-compliant design includes:
Cheap web design won’t take the time to ensure your site is WCAG compliant. And one ADA website accessibility lawsuit could cost you the money you “saved” on a cheaper website.
Good design creates a cohesive digital framework that reinforces your brand and brand positioning. Brand consistency builds trust and recognition. Your visual identity should lend itself to a cohesive design. Inconsistent design reduces credibility and makes your business appear amateurish.
Brand consistency includes:
There are times when investing in a professional website makes a lot of sense, and times when it doesn’t. We like to be upfront about this.
Who is a good candidate for a professional website?
Who might not be ready for this investment:
Not every business needs a 5-digit website. For uncertain businesses just starting out, that Squarespace site might be the best option. Take time, learn your audience, maybe hire an SEO company, and invest in a better website when it makes sense. We don’t try to sell businesses on things they don’t need. If you reach out to us and we determine this kind of website isn’t the right fit, we’ll tell you. We will also provide the roadmap of fundamentals to work on to get you to the point where it is a viable option.
The bottom line is that if a website isn’t making you more money, it’s a failure. Our goal with every website we build is for the site to pay for itself in a year from new revenue from higher conversions and new traffic. Every project starts with understanding your business goals, not just your design preferences. We want to know what you are trying to achieve with the website. Do you just need more leads? Are you looking to increase the average order value? Do you want to appeal to better quality clients? These goals will guide the design and strategy.
Before starting, we establish your current metrics: conversion rates, bounce rates, time on site, leads per month, organic traffic, etc. This baseline is what we use to measure improvement.
Our clients have the choice of several monthly maintenance options. From simple updates to CRO testing of CTAs, headlines, etc. Clients can also choose to get monthly reporting showing how good design impacts metrics like conversion rates, organic traffic, and lead quality improvements.
Owner-led. Our founder, Gabriel, handles all strategy, client communications, and key design decisions.
13+ years of experience. We’ve seen so many trends come and go. We don’t follow trends, we follow data.
Business-first mindset. We’re all about delivering you a revenue-generating machine, not a “pretty” website.
Boutique quality. But less expensive than the big dogs. You get personal attention. No interns and no junior staff. You get a small team of experienced experts.
Good design is a capital expenditure that generates revenue. Not an operating expense that consumes a budget. Good design compounds ROI.
At the end of the day, good design is one of the best investments a business can make. After doing this for so many years, I often find myself on websites thinking about how much money they are missing out on. Generally speaking, it is a safe assumption that most websites built without UX and conversion principles could see a 30-40% revenue lift by implementing good design.
If you’re curious what a new conversion-focused website could do for you, feel free to schedule a free strategy call with our founder.
