Outdated and Overlooked

A lot of local business websites are hanging on by a thread. Some haven’t been touched in years. Others never made it past launch day. And in too many cases, there’s no website at all; just a Facebook page and a prayer.

The problem isn’t just that these sites look old. It’s that they don’t work the way people expect them to, especially on a phone. Pages load slowly. Menus break. Text overlaps or vanishes. Forms are impossible to fill out without a magnifying glass. And when that happens, potential customers don’t stick around. They click away and move on to someone else who looks like they have it together.

If your site feels a little behind, or if you’ve been relying entirely on social media, this post is for you. We’ll dig into why so many websites fall behind, what’s changed on the web in the last few years, and what you can actually do about it. No scare tactics. No tech jargon. Just useful, real-world insight. Let’s get into it.

First Impressions in a Mobile World

Here’s what a lot of people miss: most of your website visitors are seeing your site on a phone, not a laptop. And they’re probably clicking over from Instagram, Facebook, or Google Maps while standing in line somewhere. You get a few seconds, maybe less, to show them you’re worth their time.

According to Statista, mobile devices accounted for over 58% of global web traffic in 2023. In a 2023 report from Pew Research Center, 76% of U.S. adults say they use smartphones to access the internet, and that number climbs even higher for adults under 50 [source]. Pair that with findings from HubSpot, which show that mobile visitors are 5 times more likely to leave a site that isn’t mobile-friendly, and it becomes pretty clear: If your site doesn’t work on a phone, it’s not working. Add in broken layouts or unreadable text, and you’ve lost them before you had a chance.

The truth is, people expect websites to feel just as polished and fast on mobile as they do on desktop. That means pages load quickly, buttons are easy to tap, and the layout actually makes sense on a smaller screen. If your site doesn’t deliver, it creates friction. And friction makes people bounce.

Modern customers (especially tourists) don’t lower their expectations just because your business is local. In fact, showing up well on mobile is one of the fastest ways to earn credibility. It signals that you care, that your business is active, and that you’re paying attention. That’s the baseline now.

The Web Doesn't Sit Still

Websites age faster than most business owners realize. A site that looked solid in 2019 might be clunky today. Not because it suddenly got worse, but because everything else got better.

Browsers are constantly improving. HTML and CSS standards evolve. New features roll out quietly, but they change what’s possible behind the scenes. One example is the :has() selector in CSS. It lets developers style elements based on what’s inside them, something that used to require JavaScript. Another is native lazy loading, which helps pages load faster by only loading images when they come into view. Then there are container queries, which allow layouts to respond to the size of individual components instead of the whole screen. It’s all geared toward speed, flexibility, and a better user experience.

You don’t have to be on the cutting edge to benefit from this progress. But if your site hasn’t been touched in years, chances are it’s missing out on improvements that make the web faster and smoother for everyone. Keeping things current isn’t about chasing trends. It’s about making sure your site still works like it should.

A Smarter Way Forward

If your website still looks and works like it did ten years ago, it’s probably time to take another look to see if your site reflects how people actually browse now. That doesn’t mean you’ve done anything wrong. It just means the web moved on, and your site deserves to catch up.

Start by getting curious. Pull up your site on your phone. Click around like a customer might. Ask a friend to do the same. If things feel clunky, slow, or unclear, there’s room for improvement, and it doesn’t have to be overwhelming.

A website audit is a great first step. It’s affordable and low-pressure, and it gives you real feedback about what’s working and what could use a tune-up. I offer audits that are practical, easy to understand, and filled with suggestions you can either tackle yourself or hand off to someone else. No fluff, no scare tactics, and definitely no pushy sales pitch for a full redesign.

If you want your site to pull its weight: to build trust, answer questions, and show people you’re the real deal, an audit is a smart place to start. Let’s make sure your site is doing the job you hired it for.

Fill out our contact form to see how a $250 website audit could help your business.