A website often serves as the first impression of a business, organisation or individual. An effective website can engage visitors, build trust, and drive conversions. Now, according to Forbes, 71% of businesses have a website now, so it’s pretty much imperative you have one in order to compete with the market. However, bad website design can put people off almost instantly which got our team thinking. What are the worst websites on the internet? And, more importantly, what can we learn from bad website design?
A poorly designed website can drive potential customers away and damage your online reputation. In this article, we explore the common pitfalls that make a bad website design, present 37 of the worst websites we could find, and identify what’s making them so poor so that you can avoid these design choices.
There are several things that make a bad website design.
An outdated website design can make it look neglected and untrustworthy. Similarly, a cluttered layout with too many elements can overwhelm and confuse visitors. If things like navigation menus are too complex to understand, this can frustrate even the most tech savvy of users. Effective web design should be clean, modern and visually appealing.
When 61% of website users say that if they don’t find what they’re looking for in 5 seconds, they’ll head to another website (Forbes Advisor), why wouldn’t you prioritise this?
47% of users won’t wait longer than 2 seconds for a website to load (Sweor). So, yes, a slow loading website is incredibly bad website design. This could be due to poor website hosting, or large images and files that haven’t been compressed and optimised. Either way, it’s incredibly off putting for users and may result in your website ending up on a Worst Websites list like the one below!
Intrusive pop-ups, advertisements, convoluted forms, inconsistent colours, fonts, imagery, and buttons can all contribute to a terrible user experience on a website. Also, if a website isn’t adhering to accessibility standards, this can alienate a significant portion of its user base too. This includes not using alt text on images and not being screen reader compatible.
Irrelevant information, old content or poorly written blogs and content marketing can make a website look outdated and shady. The same goes if there’s spelling and grammatical errors across the website.
Nowadays, a website simply must be mobile device friendly. Google takes how responsively designed a website is into account when ranking a page too. So, ensuring this should be a no brainer. According to Small Business Trends, 74% of users will return to a website that’s mobile friendly too.
Related Read: How Implementing These 10 Responsive Design Essentials Can Maximise Your Online Presence
We asked our expert KIJO team to scour the internet and find the worst websites they could. We also asked them to analyse what makes each one a bad website design so you know what to avoid.
The team assessing the internet for bad website design include:
Here are their bad design examples:
Santa Pod Raceway is a motorsport event site based in Northants, UK.
Why this website isn’t working: The Santa Pod Raceway website for the Springspeed Nationals appears outdated and lacks modern design aesthetics. This makes it visually unappealing. Navigation can be confusing, with information not easily accessible, and some links may lead to dead ends or outdated content. The website also lacks accessibility features, making it difficult for users with disabilities to navigate. Additionally, slow loading times and poor mobile responsiveness can frustrate visitors, leading to a poor overall user experience. These factors combine to create an ineffective and uninviting online presence.
Ash End House Children’s Farm is a farm that hosts family day’s out in Warwickshire, UK.
Why this website isn’t working: The Ash End House Children’s Farm website suffers from an outdated design and a cluttered layout. This detracts from the overall user experience. The navigation isn’t intuitive, making it challenging for visitors to find essential information quickly. Additionally, the website lacks mobile responsiveness, leading to a poor browsing experience on smartphones and tablets. These issues, coupled with inconsistent use of fonts and colours, result in a visually unappealing and difficult-to-use website. It ultimately fails to effectively engage and inform its audience.
The Property Investors Network (PIN) is the UK’s biggest property training and networking organisation.
Why this website isn’t working: The Property Investors Network website presents a cluttered and dated design. This makes it visually overwhelming and difficult to navigate. The website lacks clear, organised navigation, which can hinder users from easily finding relevant information. Additionally, the website’s layout does not adapt well to mobile devices, leading to a subpar experience for users on smartphones and tablets. These factors, combined with inconsistent use of fonts and colour schemes, contribute to a less professional and user-friendly appearance. This is potentially deterring visitors from engaging further with the content, and thus why it’s made it on to our worst websites list.
Discount Beds Belfast is a bed retailer based in Northern Ireland, UK.
Why this website isn’t working: The Discount Beds Belfast website has a dated design that lacks visual appeal and professional polish. The layout is cluttered and disorganised, making it difficult for users to find information or navigate through the products. The site also lacks mobile responsiveness, resulting in a poor browsing experience on smartphones and tablets. Additionally, the inconsistent use of fonts and colours, along with the absence of clear calls to action, detracts from its usability and overall effectiveness in engaging visitors. These factors combine to create a subpar user experience that can deter potential customers. Overall, a bad website design.
Sutton Maddock Vehicle Rental is a vehicle hire company based in The Midlands, UK.
Why this website isn’t working: The Sutton Maddock Vehicle Rental website features an outdated design and lacks modern aesthetics, which can make it appear unprofessional. The site’s layout is cluttered and not intuitively organised, leading to difficulties in navigation and finding relevant information. Additionally, the website is not optimised for mobile devices, resulting in a poor experience for users accessing it from smartphones or tablets. The inconsistent use of fonts, colours, and images further detracts from its visual appeal and usability, creating a generally poor user experience that could deter potential customers.
Onyx Accountants is a business accountancy firm based in Birmingham and Wolverhampton in the UK.
Why this website isn’t working: The Onyx Accountants website, while professional in appearance, suffers from several issues that hinder its effectiveness. The homepage lacks engaging visuals and compelling calls to action, making it less inviting and less likely to capture the attention of visitors. The navigation, though relatively straightforward, could benefit from more intuitive organisation. Some key information may not be immediately accessible. Additionally, the content is somewhat sparse, lacking detailed explanations or case studies that could help potential clients better understand the services offered. These shortcomings can result in a less engaging and informative user experience, potentially leading to a loss of interest from visitors.
The Gotham Garage overhauls and upcycles an eclectic collection of cars and trucks for profit. It’s based in California, USA.
Why this website isn’t working: The Gotham Garage website has several issues that detract from its overall quality and user experience. Firstly, the design is outdated and lacks a cohesive aesthetic. This makes it appear less professional and visually appealing. The navigation is not intuitive, with a layout that can be confusing and difficult to follow, which may frustrate users trying to find specific information. The website also appears to lack mobile optimization, resulting in a poor experience for users accessing it from smartphones or tablets. Additionally, the content is limited and lacks depth, providing little insight into the services or projects offered. These factors combine to create a suboptimal user experience that does not effectively showcase the brand’s capabilities or appeal to potential customers.
Velden Engineering offers a range of precision engineering services for multiple industry sectors. The company is based in Lancashire, UK.
Why this website isn’t working: The Velden Engineering website suffers from several issues that negatively impact its effectiveness and user experience. The website design is outdated and is lacking in modern aesthetics. This can make the website appear unprofessional and unappealing. The layout is cluttered and poorly organised, making navigation difficult and causing users to struggle to find relevant information quickly. Additionally, the website does not appear to be fully optimised for mobile devices, leading to a subpar experience on smartphones and tablets. Its content is also sparse and does not provide enough detail about the company’s services or capabilities, which can fail to engage and inform potential clients. These issues combine to create a less effective online presence, potentially deterring visitors and clients.
Atlas Plastics is a professional plastics fabricator. The business is based just outside Bristol, UK.
Why this website isn’t working: The Atlas Plastics website has made our ‘worst websites’ list because of its outdated design and poor user experience. The layout is overwhelming and difficult to navigate, making it challenging for users to find relevant information quickly. The website lacks mobile optimization, leading to a frustrating experience on smartphones and tablets. Additionally, the content is minimal and does not effectively communicate the company’s products or services, which can result in a lack of engagement and interest from visitors. These issues collectively undermine the website’s effectiveness and professionalism.
The Ice Cream Farm is an award-winning ice cream maker based in Cheshire, UK.
Why this website isn’t working: The Ice Cream Farm website is convoluted due to its dates design and inconsistent UX. The layout is confused and visually unappealing, which can make navigation difficult and detract from the overall user experience. The website lacks modern mobile optimisation, resulting in poor performance on smartphones and tablets. Additionally, important information is not easily accessible, and the content does not effectively highlight key features or promotions, which can lead to a frustrating experience for visitors and potentially drive them away.
Christmas Tree Farm is a farm that hosts family day’s out and is based in Bromley, UK.
Why this website isn’t working: Christmas Tree Farm’s website ultimately lacks imagination. Navigation is difficult and the overall experience is nowhere near engaging. The website lacks modern aesthetics and mobile responsiveness, causing issues for users accessing it on smartphones or tablets. Important information is hard to find due to poor organisation and limited content, which can leave visitors frustrated and less likely to return. Fonts are inconsistent and different sizes too, resulting in an unprofessional feel. These factors contribute to a subpar user experience and can negatively impact the site’s effectiveness in attracting and retaining customers.
Brindleys are chartered accountants based in Birmingham, UK.
Why this website isn’t working: Number 12 on our ‘worst websites’ list is Brindleys. A more than dated design and uninspired layout makes navigation confusing and hinders the user experience. The site is not optimised for mobile devices, resulting in a poor viewing experience on smartphones and tablets. Additionally, the content is sparse and lacks depth, failing to provide comprehensive information about the company’s services and offerings. These issues combine to create a less engaging and professional online presence, potentially deterring visitors and reducing the site’s effectiveness.
Bromley Education Matters is an information and resource website aimed at education professionals based in Bromley, London, UK.
Why this website isn’t working: Another example of bad website design is the Bromley Education Matters website. Unfortunately it hosts a dated design and lacks any user-friendly features. The layout is cluttered and visually unappealing, which can make navigation difficult and detract from the user experience. The website is not well-optimised for mobile devices, leading to poor usability on smartphones and tablets. Additionally, the content is sparse and lacks clear, engaging information about the organisation, which can leave visitors confused and less likely to engage further. These factors contribute to a suboptimal online presence that does not effectively communicate the organisation’s mission or services.
The Birth Partnership is a birth equipment hire company based in Lincolnshire, UK.
Why this website isn’t working: The Birth Partnership is the 14th of our bad design examples. This is mainly because of its out-of-fashion design and disorganised layout. The website is visually cluttered, making it difficult to navigate and find key information efficiently. It lacks mobile optimisation. This results in a poor experience on smartphones and tablets. When this is what a typical user uses to access a website in the first instance, this really matters. Additionally, the content is presented in a way that feels unengaging and lacks depth, which can fail to effectively communicate the organisation’s services and mission to visitors. These issues collectively undermine the site’s effectiveness and user appeal.
Related Read: How Implementing These 10 Responsive Design Essentials Can Maximise Your Online Presence
Home Birth Supplies is a home birth equipment rental company also based in Lincolnshire, UK.
Why this website isn’t working: Home Birth Supplies’ website is poorly designed and has poor usability. The layout is too busy and lacks modern aesthetics, which can make navigation confusing and detract from the user experience. The website is not well-optimised for mobile devices, leading to a frustrating browsing experience on smartphones and tablets. Additionally, the content is sparse and not effectively organised, making it hard for users to find relevant information about products and services. These issues contribute to a pretty poor user experience and thus reduces the overall effectiveness of the website.
Simplify Structural Engineering is a structural engineering consultancy company. It’s based in Leicester, UK.
Why this website isn’t working: The Simplify Structural Engineering website is problematic due to its outdated design and unappealing visual layout. The website features a cluttered interface that makes navigation difficult and can overwhelm users with too much information at once. It lacks modern mobile optimisation, resulting in a subpar experience on smartphones and tablets. Additionally, the content is not well-organised or engaging, which can make it hard for visitors to quickly understand the company’s services and value proposition. Calls to action (CTAs) are also few and far between, and unclear. These issues contribute to a less effective and ultimately unprofessional online presence making it one of our worst websites.
The Yale School of Art is based in Connecticut, USA.
Why this website isn’t working: The Yale School of Art website poses several problems. Firstly, it’s incredibly difficult to read due to an unclear colour scheme that would be difficult for a screen reader to decipher. It also hosts a very complex navigation system. The website’s layout is cluttered with inconsistent visual elements, making it difficult for users to find information quickly. It lacks modern design aesthetics and responsive features, resulting in a poor user experience on mobile devices. Additionally, the content is not presented in a user-friendly manner, which can detract from the overall effectiveness of communicating the school’s programs and events. These issues collectively hinder the website’s usability and overall appeal.
MRA Ireland is the governing body responsible for the promotion of Motocross, Enduro, Sidecarcross, Quadcross and Supermoto events in Ulster, Northern Ireland, UK.
Why this website isn’t working: With a cluttered layout and poor usability, the MRA Ireland website is quite problematic to use. It’s visually unappealing and the lack of modern design elements can make navigation confusing. It is not well-optimised for mobile devices, leading to a frustrating experience on smartphones and tablets. Additionally, the content is sparse and not effectively organised. This can make it difficult for visitors to find relevant information about the company’s services. It’s ultimately underwhelming, lacking in any meaningful design features.
Haunted Happenings are a business offering overnight ghost hunts, haunted nights and weekend ghost hunts. They’re based in Nottingham, UK.
Why this website isn’t working: The Haunted Happenings website is very uninspired. The website is visually unappealing, and hosts an inconsistent use of fonts and colours that detract from its overall professionalism. It feels very “blocky” in its design and the copy is quite long and thus off-putting, which isn’t great for user retention or conversions.
Heights of Abraham is an award-winning estate you can visit, complete with cable car.
Why this website isn’t working: An arguably dated design and convoluted layout leads the Heights of Abraham website into our ‘worst websites’ list.. The website features a visually overwhelming interface with inconsistent styling, making navigation confusing and detracting from the user experience. It lacks modern mobile optimization, resulting in a poor viewing experience on smartphones and tablets too. Additionally, the content is not well-organised, which can make it difficult for visitors to quickly access important information about attractions and tickets. These issues collectively contribute to a less effective and engaging online presence.
The Cheese Shop Nottingham Ltd. is a cheesemonger based in Nottingham, UK.
Why this website isn’t working: The Cheese Shop Nottingham website primarily suffers with its outdated design. It tries hard with some animations, but it’s inconsistent fonts and colours, and inaccuracies in copy (some things are capitalised, others aren’t) make it offputting. Navigation is challenging due to poorly organised content and a lack of clear structure, which can frustrate users trying to find specific information. Additionally, (which seems to be a running theme with all of our ‘worst websites’) the website is not optimised for mobile devices. These issues collectively hinder the site’s effectiveness in engaging and informing visitors.
Sticking with cheesemongers, Monkland Cheese Dairy is based in Leominster, UK.
Why this website isn’t working: The Monkland Cheese Dairy website looks and feels very amateur in its design. It lacks many user-friendly features too. The website hosts inconsistent visuals and poor navigation, making it difficult for users to find key information quickly. The team at KIJO actually struggled to locate the address of the dairy on the website. It too, is not optimised for mobile devices. Additionally, the content is sparse and not well-organised and thus fails to effectively showcase the products and services. That’s what makes it an example of bad website design.
Lings Cars is a car leasing company based in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Why this website isn’t working: On the homepage, Lings Cars states that it’s “The UK’s craziest car leasing website!” and it isn’t lying. Unfortunately though, that’s not the point of the website so its chaotic design is simply visually jarring and confusing. The website features an excessive amount of text, bright colours, and busy graphics that can distract and frustrate users. It lacks a modern, cohesive design and is not fully optimised for mobile devices, resulting in a poor experience on smartphones and tablets. Additionally, the cluttered layout and inconsistent content organisation make it difficult for visitors to quickly find and understand important information about car leasing options. Crazy it may be, but confusing is undeniable.
PNWX provides X-Ray equipment. It’s based in Oregon, USA.
Why this website isn’t working: The PNWX website looks like a spam website which is its biggest issue. The website features a visually overwhelming layout with inconsistent fonts and colours. This makes navigation confusing and detracts from the user experience. It is (obviously) not optimised for mobile devices too. Additionally, the content is poorly organised and lacks clear, engaging information. This makes it difficult for visitors to quickly find and understand relevant details. But ultimately, the website feels completely untrustworthy which is a major issue for any company.
Liberty Games are games room specialists. The business is based in Epsom, Surrey, UK.
Why this website isn’t working: The Liberty Games website’s navigation is challenging and detracts from the overall user experience. The website features a visually busy interface with inconsistent use of fonts and colours which adds to the confusing and overwhelming browsing experience. The content is also not well-organised, making it difficult for visitors to find specific product information or promotions efficiently. Photography and images are also arguably poor. These factors contribute to an ineffective and engaging online presence.
Blinkee provides glow-in-the-dark party and event supplies. The business is based out of Texas, USA.
Why this website isn’t working: Blinkee’s website features an overwhelming amount of text and graphics, and is thus visually chaotic. It’s very difficult for users to focus on key information and hosts confusing navigation. The layout lacks coherence and consistency, making it challenging to find specific products or details quickly. These issues collectively hinder the website’s overall usability.
If you can tell us what Arngren.net does from their website, 10 points to you! We believe the business (?) is based in Norway.
Why this website isn’t working: The website Arngren.net is an example of very bad web design. It suffers from excessive clutter, with an overwhelming number of images, links, and text crammed into every page. This makes it difficult for users to navigate or find specific information. The layout lacks clear structure and hierarchy, leading to a messy visual experience that can easily frustrate visitors. Additionally, the outdated design elements and lack of modern web standards contribute to an overall unprofessional appearance. Effective websites should be user-friendly, visually appealing, and well-organised, all of which are areas where Arngren.net falls short.
Based in California, USA, SoA Marketing is a physical asset marketing company.
Why this website isn’t working: The SoA Marketing website has several issues impacting its usability. The layout is cluttered with an overload of images and poor use of negative space. This makes it difficult to navigate. Important information is buried under excessive promotional content, and the inconsistent design elements hinder readability. The site also lacks any clear calls-to-action (CTAs) and has slow loading times, detracting from the user experience. Improving the website’s design and organisation would enhance its effectiveness. It also would help improve their brand too. A marketing company needs to look at least good at marketing…
Related Read: What Does CTA Stand For? Here’s The CTA Meaning, Examples & Why They’re Important
Edial Kennels is a boarding kennels and cattery based on the outskirts of Birmingham, UK.
Why this website isn’t working: The inconsistent typeface and font sizes is the main glaring issue on the Edial Kennels website. It’s also notably not secure, meaning it doesn’t have an SSL certificate (a secure sockets layer). This means that the website isn’t guaranteeing its authenticity to users and indicates that it isn’t safe to visit. Whilst the menu and information is relatively clear, images are blurred and of low quality and overall the website design feels very unprofessional. It doesn’t inspire confidence in the user.
Related Read: 8 Tips to Keep Your WordPress Website Safe & Secure
The Egg Shed @ Little Verzons Farm is a specialist food production unit based in Herefordshire, UK.
Why this website isn’t working: The website for The Egg Shed @ Little Verzons Farm presents several issues. It has a cluttered layout with disorganised text blocks (some have grey backgrounds, some don’t) and images, making navigation difficult. Key information is hard to find due to poor design and lack of clear structure. Additionally, the excessive use of centred text and inconsistent formatting hampers readability. The website also fails to engage visitors with outdated visuals and minimal interactive elements. This diminishes the overall user experience. For a more user-friendly experience, the site needs a cleaner design and better organisation.
Woodfield Building Services (Staffs) Ltd. are a building services company based in Staffordshire, UK.
Why this website isn’t working: The Woodfield Building Services (Staffs) Ltd. website has a dated design that lacks visual appeal and makes it look unprofessional. The layout is cluttered with excessive text and small images. This hampers navigation and user experience. Important information about services and contact details is not prominently displayed and blends in with the body of text. The overall aesthetic fails to convey the company’s expertise and reliability effectively too. Enhancing the website with a modern, clean design, larger high-quality images, and better-organised content would significantly improve its usability and attractiveness.
La Cornue is a French kitchen design company and stockist.
Why this website isn’t working: The washed out images on La Cornue’s website page load doesn’t help them stand out at all. The inconsistent typography and colours, untidy layout, and unclear navigation labels make the website feel underwhelming and unreliable. The value proposition is not clear, too long and hard to digest, there are not enough animations and the CTA buttons are way too subtle.
Viking is a kitchen appliance company based in Mississippi, USA.
Why this website isn’t working: Joining us in the kitchen corner of our worst websites list is Viking. The Viking website hosts really inconsistent art direction which doesn’t evoke confidence in the user. It has ugly promotional banners, inconsistent fonts and colours. This is coupled with a cluttered, confusing layout. There is limited animation and motion which doesn’t inspire engagement and it doesn’t have a clear value proposition for the user. It notably also takes too many clicks to get to the actual product pages and there’s an overwhelming amount of navigation links. This needs to be simplified.
Bosch is a multinational engineering and technology company based in Germany.
Why this website isn’t working: The Bosch website has very basic art direction, layout and underwhelming colour scheme for such an impressive, well known company. It plays host to no animation, overly subtle hover effects and very stocky photography. The text box covers up a lot of the image in the banner and there is too much white space around the image. In addition, the navigation is arguably overwhelming and CTAs are easily lost in this design.
35. Chislehurst Caves
Chislehurst Caves are historic caves that were dug for chalk and limestone in order to build the city of London, as well as for flint for tinderboxes and flintlock guns. Now a showplace, the caves are based in Kent, UK.
Why this website isn’t working: The Chislehurst Caves website is visually outdated and cluttered, making it challenging for users to navigate and find information quickly. The homepage contains excessive text and redundant links which may overwhelm visitors. Important details about tours and facilities are buried within dense paragraphs instead of being highlighted for easy access. Additionally, the website lacks modern interactive elements and engaging visuals. This diminishes user engagement and the overall user experience. Enhancing the website design, improving the layout, and optimising the content could significantly improve the website’s usability and appeal.
TFM Superstore is an agricultural, farm and countryside equipment and construction supplier. A “bricks and mortar” business, it’s based in the West Midlands, UK.
Why this website isn’t working: The TFM Superstore website is well-organised but cluttered, making it difficult for users to navigate. The homepage is overloaded with numerous categories and subcategories, leading to an overwhelming user experience. The design is outdated and lacks visual appeal, which can detract from the professionalism and perceived reliability of the store. Additionally, the website can be slow to load due to the extensive content on each page. This can frustrate users who are looking for specific products quickly. Improving the website’s layout and design could significantly enhance user experience.
Prestige Midlands Ltd. is an external residential home improvement company. It’s based in Wolverhampton, UK.
Why this website isn’t working: The website for Prestige Midlands LTD is poorly designed due to its messy layout. This makes navigation difficult. The homepage is overloaded with text and links, lacking a clear visual hierarchy, which overwhelms visitors. The design is outdated, with low-quality images and inconsistent fonts that detract from the professionalism of the brand. The logo also doesn’t seem in line with what the brand does. Additionally, crucial information is buried within dense paragraphs which is less than ideal in terms of readability. The absence of engaging visuals or interactive elements results in a lacklustre user experience that fails to effectively capture or retain visitors’ attention.
Bad website design is undeniably bad for business. It’s a simple fact. If your website isn’t up to scratch, users are simply going to find a competitor’s that is.
We hope by sharing these bad design examples and our “worst websites” list, you can take away several key learnings:
If you think you could use some professional support in improving your website design, contact the expert team at KIJO today. We’d be happy to help.
