{"id":18356,"date":"2025-02-26T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-26T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crazyeggblog.wpengine.com\/?p=18356"},"modified":"2025-02-26T14:53:40","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T19:53:40","slug":"ugly-website-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crazyegg.com\/blog\/ugly-website-design\/","title":{"rendered":"Ugly Websites That Are Actually Superbly Designed to Make $"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What makes a website beautiful? No, wait. A better question. Why does it matter if it is? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like dating, too many people are caught up on looks and not enough of us are worried about quality. And in the website world, by quality I mean function. Does the website do what it\u2019s supposed to do and give visitors exactly what they\u2019re looking for? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are the websites that are designed to make money. Let me give you some examples. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

TractorData.com <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Screenshot<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tractordata.com<\/a> is exactly what it says it is: a website dedicated to tractor data. They have data on over 17,000 farm, lawn, and industrial tractors, and the site\u2019s been up for 20 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As soon as you get to the homepage, you realize they could care less about visual appeal. This isn\u2019t to say things aren\u2019t organized. The design is just old and basic like it was designed when the internet started. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s mostly words on every page and links to loads of data. And the images they do you use seem like they\u2019re a little out of focus and really only used for thumbnails. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re hoping for color, just go to another website. The gray, black, and white color scheme goes perfectly with the old and basic design. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, if you\u2019re hoping for something pretty to look at, you\u2019re going to be severely underwhelmed. But if you\u2019re looking for all things tractor data, you\u2019re in the right place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why it\u2019s superbly designed to make $:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019re probably expecting me to say specialized content. Yes, that\u2019s part of the reason why I think this site is designed well to make money. People know what they\u2019re coming to this site for, clear, detailed tractor information, and they like it. The consistent traffic proves this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also think this site makes a lot of money because it doesn\u2019t sell anything. Hear me out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would be pretty easy to make the transition to an eCommerce store. After getting information about a part they need, it would be convenient for people to buy it right on the site. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But they\u2019ve chosen a specific revenue model, monetizing its traffic through display ads. And I think the ads not competing with an eCommerce store is a good thing. They\u2019ve opted to keep what they provide simple, and it\u2019s working in their favor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reddit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Reddit<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Reddit<\/a> is a hugely popular social media platform that\u2019s essentially a collection of online forums organized by topic. Users get to share all kinds of content and vote other users\u2019 content up or down, which pushes the most relevant content to the top of feeds.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love Reddit for its mastery of bringing people from all walks of life together. But its design, not so much. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You log on and are met with an endless feed of random stuff. The posts, comments, discussions, usernames, and topics hit you in the face and it can be visually overwhelming. It lacks the visual polish of other social media platforms, like say Instagram or Facebook. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The color scheme isn\u2019t necessarily ugly, it\u2019s just very basic (black and white with small pops of that red\/orange). Also, Reddit\u2019s overall look hasn\u2019t changed much since the platform launched. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Circling back to the \u201cendless feed of random stuff,\u201d the site\u2019s navigation can be super confusing. You\u2019ve got your main feed, but then there are subreddits, community threads, and you can click on individual profiles and see their threads. It\u2019s a lot for newcomers or people who are accustomed to simple navigation structures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those who prefer cleaner and more organized layouts that embrace vibrant colors and graphic elements, Reddit isn\u2019t going to fulfill those needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why it\u2019s superbly designed to make $:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reddit gets millions of views from organic traffic every month. Why? It\u2019s people-centric. It really feels like users run the site, \u201cfor the people, by the people.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, as much as people say you should niche down, this site broke that mold. They found a way to cater to a lot of people by allowing them to lead the content aspect of it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can get so sucked into the content that you don\u2019t mind the ads, and they\u2019re making a ton of money from them. Nearly any business can advertise on the platform, further securing the money-making part of the site. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Craigslist<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Craigslist<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Craigslist<\/a> is a site that allows people to post and browse classified ads, community information, job listings, rental listings, and other forums. The site is amazing from a functionality standpoint. However, the design doesn\u2019t give much and has remained relatively unchanged since the site started.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s got such an old-fashioned look compared to modern websites. You\u2019re not going to find images unless they\u2019re in the listings. The site relies heavily on plain text. Its blue and purple color scheme is nearly famous. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are no banners, no fancy logo, nothing. Compared to websites that are rich with multimedia content, Craigslist is visually plain with a minimal layout and listings presented in a simple, list-style format. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, the site looks even worse on a mobile device. It\u2019s like a scaled-down desktop version of the site and almost impossible to navigate on a small screen. For such a big site, I\u2019m always wondering why a responsive web design isn\u2019t a priority. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why it\u2019s superbly designed to make $:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Craiglist\u2019s categories are so intuitive and straightforward. They\u2019ve organized their content to make sense for the user, despite there being so many different categories that don\u2019t go together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It only takes a few seconds to find what you want, and you don\u2019t have to subscribe to the site or fill out a questionnaire to get it. The site just works without a whole bunch of unnecessary steps or attempts to sell you something. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The design can be as ugly as it wants to be, as long as I can get in and get out with what I need. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disk Prices<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Disk<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Disk Prices<\/a> might be the worst website to look at on this list. Its purpose is simple and practical: give people a list of hard drive deals.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apparently, the owner of the site was working on building a Network Attached Storage (NAS) system and needed to find multiple affordable hard drives quickly, and decided to turn his efforts to find them into a website for others who might be doing the same.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s no homepage introducing anything. There aren’t any other pages. This is a black and white, one-page website that will confuse the heck out of you if you don\u2019t know why you\u2019re there. It\u2019s all text and links, kind of like Craigslist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you first get on the site, you\u2019ll probably blink a few times and shield your eyes because it just completely disregards graphic design and visual appeal. But it\u2019s so niched down and fills a real need for the niche, hence why it\u2019s getting thousands of visitors a month despite being an eye sore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why it\u2019s superbly designed to make $:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

People come to this site because they\u2019re monitoring disk deals. Nothing more, nothing less. It\u2019s laser-focused on meeting the user\u2019s need in this small niche, and it does a really good job at it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aside from offering this constantly updated data, it gives you the link to purchase these different hard drives. And the owner did something incredibly smart, he made those links affiliate links. So, he\u2019s raking in a whole lot of passive income without doing a whole lot of work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The filtering functionality also makes this website superbly designed to make money. He\u2019s put all the filters in plain view on the left hand side, and you can easily find exactly what you\u2019re looking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Berkshire Hathaway<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Berkshire<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Berkshire Hathaway<\/a> site is solely for the company’s shareholders as it provides information and updates to them about the company. People only come to this site because they\u2019re familiar with the company or are a part of it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has one of those designs that make you say, \u201cThat\u2019s it?\u201d It\u2019s like a directory, all hyperlinks and no images, just an all-around poor look. Even the logo is plain text in Times New Roman font. And when you click on a link, get ready for nothing but more plain text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It doesn\u2019t feel like a proper web presence in today\u2019s digital landscape. The frills and thrills don\u2019t exist here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why it\u2019s superbly designed to make $:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clearly, this site isn\u2019t a marketing site trying to gather leads. Still, it generates hundreds of thousands of visitors in organic traffic. And it doesn\u2019t make any money directly from the website. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of Berkshire Hathaway\u2019s money comes from manufacturing, insurance, and wholesale distribution. And this site does a good job of subtly pointing people in the direction of their sources of income. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, they\u2019ve got a link for \u201cA Message From Warren E. Buffet\u201d where he talks about how he doesn\u2019t share stock recommendations but will tell you how to save real money in your personal expenditures with the services of two subsidiaries of Berkshire: GEICO and Borsheim’s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also have a page dedicated to sharing links to all of Berkshire\u2019s operating companies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of the day, Berkshire Hathaway\u2019s site is designed to make money because it\u2019s subtle about the money-making part and instead focuses on sharing the information they need to with stakeholders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ugly Websites? What About Ugly Domain Names?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As ugly as the websites above are, their domain names aren\u2019t bad. You kind of know what you\u2019re getting into (tractor data, some sort of list from Craig, something to do with cars with Ling, information about Berkshire Hathaway, Reddit maybe not so much but the brand is big and people usually know). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, ugly domain names do exist, and they definitely mess up the user experience as much as an ugly design. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some of the worst domain names I\u2019ve seen: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n