9 Common Website Mistakes and How to Fix Them
Several factors, elements, and style choices in web design can make things difficult for the user. Web design mistakes can make it harder to navigate, harder to attach, and harder to trust the website. Read our take on how to avoid those mistakes.
5 min read
Common website mistakes make a site harder to navigate, harder to understand and harder to trust. Many of them come from good intentions: adding one more feature, one more banner or one more colour. Together, they push visitors away.
If your site looks cluttered, traffic has never met expectations or visitors drop off quickly, you may be making one of the traps below. This guide covers nine mistakes, why each one hurts and how to fix it. For a second list with a different set of examples, see our guide to web design mistakes to avoid.
9 common website mistakes and how to fix them
1. Cluttering the page
Without a solid plan, it is easy to add elements just because they are available. Modern tools offer pop-ups, animated logos, embedded video and sliders, and beginners can quickly get carried away.
The fix: give every element a job. If you cannot explain what something on the page is for, remove it. Start with the basic principles of web design, then build a simple, focused structure.
2. Skipping research and planning
Designers often assume what users want instead of asking them. Jumping straight into design software without sketching layouts or talking to the audience is one of the most common reasons sites fail.
The fix: use a design-thinking approach. Understand the customer’s needs and problems, define the goals and scope, then plan the sitemap and wireframes before any visual work. Our web design process guide shows the stages in order.
3. Ignoring grids and alignment
Once planning is done, you build a template for the pages. Even the simplest site builders have tools for guides and columns, and the grid is still the main structure behind any well-designed page. Even if it is never visible, it sets the proportions and alignment between elements.
The fix: choose a column grid and stick to it. Learn how to use a grid-based layout to divide pages horizontally and vertically.
4. No clear call to action
A website works like a funnel. A visitor moves from interested to converted along a path, and the call to action marks each step. If the next step is missing or unclear, warm prospects leave. Too many calls to action can be just as bad, because they compete with each other.
The fix: give each page one main action, such as “Book a call” or “Get a quote”, and make the button stand out. Put it where the visitor is ready to act, usually near the top and again after the key content.
5. Weak visual hierarchy
A visual hierarchy arranges elements by importance. Without one, every item competes for attention and visitors are not guided towards your call to action, so there are fewer conversions.
The fix: think about why people visit and decide what they need to see first, second and third. Use size, contrast, spacing and position to show it. Our guide to visual hierarchy explains how.
6. Slow loading
The faster a site loads, the better the experience. Slow pages frustrate visitors and can hurt search visibility. The most common causes are huge images and heavy plugins or scripts.
The fix: compress images, especially on the homepage, use modern formats such as WebP, and remove plugins you do not need. Keep themes and plugins updated. Test with PageSpeed Insights and read Google’s guide to optimising Largest Contentful Paint.
7. A poor mobile experience
Many visitors arrive on a phone. Text that is too small, buttons that are too close together and layouts that need sideways scrolling make people leave.
The fix: design for small screens first, then expand for larger ones. Use readable text sizes, large tap targets and a layout that stacks cleanly. Test on real devices, not just a resized browser window.
8. Confusing navigation
If visitors cannot quickly find what they came for, they will not hunt for it. Long menus, vague labels and hidden links are common causes.
The fix: keep the main menu short, use plain labels such as “Services” and “Contact”, and make sure every important page is reachable in a couple of clicks. See our tips on website navigation.
9. Ignoring accessibility
Low contrast text, missing image descriptions and controls that only work with a mouse shut out many people, and they often make the site worse for everyone.
The fix: check colour contrast with a tool such as the WebAIM contrast checker, add descriptive alt text to images, label form fields and make sure the whole site works from the keyboard.
Which mistakes to fix first
You may not have time to fix everything at once. A sensible order is to start with problems that stop people completing a task, then move to things that slow them down, then to polish.
- First: broken pages, unreadable text, a missing call to action and a layout that fails on mobile.
- Second: slow loading, confusing menus and weak hierarchy on your top pages.
- Third: grid tidying, spacing and accessibility improvements across the rest of the site.
Fix your busiest pages first, since that is where each improvement reaches the most visitors.
A quick pre-launch check
- Can a new visitor say what the site offers within a few seconds?
- Is there one clear action on each page?
- Does the homepage load quickly on a mobile connection?
- Do the menu and layout work on a phone?
- Is the text easy to read, with enough contrast?
- Are page titles and descriptions filled in? See web design tips for SEO.
Selling online? Many of these mistakes are worse in a shop, and we list extra ones in ecommerce web design mistakes.
Conclusion
A website is one of the most important assets a business has, and it deserves a careful first impression. The good news is that these mistakes are easy to avoid once you know them. Spotting them is the hardest step. After that, the fixes are mostly about simplicity, clear structure and testing with real people.
Frequently asked questions
What are the most common website mistakes?
Cluttered pages, no clear call to action, weak visual hierarchy, slow loading, poor mobile layouts, confusing navigation and low accessibility are the ones we see most often.
How do I find mistakes on my own website?
Ask a few people who have never seen it to complete a simple task, such as finding your phone number. Watch where they hesitate. Also check your analytics for pages where visitors leave quickly, and run a page speed test.
Can design mistakes affect conversions?
Yes. If visitors cannot see what to do next, cannot read the text or wait too long for a page to load, fewer of them will contact you or buy.
Should I fix my site or rebuild it?
If the structure is sound and the problems are limited to a few pages, fix them. If the layout, navigation and mobile experience all need work, a redesign is usually better value.
Need a website built without these mistakes?
Inkyy is a white label design and development team for agencies. Our in-house designers and developers build fast, responsive, accessible websites that you deliver under your own brand. See our design services and development services, or book a 15-minute call.
