A guide published on DEV Community lays out the difference between UI and UX design for people who are new to the field. It is a teaching piece aimed at students and career changers, not news, but it names something that costs small businesses real money.
Here is the short version. UI, or user interface, is the visual layer: buttons, colours, fonts, icons, layout. It is what your site looks like. UX, or user experience, is whether the thing actually works for the person using it: can they find what they came for, does the navigation make sense, do they finish what they started. The article uses the phrase "UI is the outfit a product wears," which is a fair way to put it.
Why this matters for you. Most complaints we hear about websites are described in UI terms ("it looks dated," "I don't like the blue") when the actual problem is UX. A site can be beautifully designed and still lose you a booking because the contact form is three screens down, or the phone number is not tappable on a phone, or the service you make most of your money from is buried under a menu called "Solutions." Repainting that site does not fix it.
The reverse also happens. A site can work perfectly well and still put people off because it looks like nobody has touched it since 2014. Both matter, but they are different problems with different fixes and different costs.
It also matters when you hire. Someone who describes themselves as a UI designer may be excellent at making screens look good and have no interest in whether your enquiry process makes sense. That is not a flaw, it is a different specialism. Ask which one you are buying.
What to do
Before you spend money on a redesign, write down what is actually wrong. "I have visitors but no enquiries" is a UX problem. "People say it looks unprofessional" is a UI problem. Bring that note to whoever you hire. It will save you a round of expensive guessing.
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