Your website should work like your best salesperson – available 24/7, answering questions, building trust and guiding visitors to take action. But if your website makes the wrong first impression or frustrates visitors, they’ll click away and never return. Whether you’re running a small business or a large company, avoid the following common website mistakes to help you drive stronger engagement and, better yet, higher conversions.
1. Slow load times
The mistake: Your site takes more than a few seconds to load.
The fix: Optimize website images by using alternative file types such as WebP and SVG, streamline code and use a reliable hosting service. Regular performance audits keep your site running fast.
People are impatient. A slow site signals poor user experience (UX), frustrates users and can also negatively impact your search engine rankings. Ultimately, this causes users to bounce or abandon your site and look for alternative answers or solutions elsewhere.
2. Confusing navigation and content architecture
The mistake: Visitors can’t find what they’re looking for.
The fix: Keep menus simple, use clear labels and limit the number of clicks to reach important pages.
A well-organized website is crucial for keeping users engaged. When navigation is intuitive and information easily accessible, users are more likely to explore your website further. By streamlining your website’s information and content hierarchy, you can reduce bounce rates and increase user engagement.
3. Weak or missing Calls-to-Action (CTAs)
The mistake: Visitors don’t know what to do next.
The fix: Use strong, visible CTAs that guide visitors, whether it’s booking a free consultation or filling out a form. Consider using contrasting colors and placing CTAs in strategic locations to draw attention.
Without clear or prominent CTAs, visitors may not know what to do next, leading to missed opportunities. Your website becomes a dead end rather than a conversion tool. Think about an action-oriented approach and make CTAs prominent throughout your site to encourage users to take the next step.
4. Not mobile-friendly
The mistake: Your website looks great on desktop but breaks down on a phone or tablet.
The fix: Use responsive design so your site adapts to any screen size. Test across devices regularly to ensure a positive user experience.
A mobile-friendly design is a necessity. With most web traffic now coming from mobile devices, a poor mobile experience is a deal-breaker for almost all visitors.
5. Lacking ADA-compliance and accessibility
The mistake: Designing without considering accessibility features like alt text, keyboard navigation, color contrast, and screen reader compatibility.
The fix: Follow Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to make your site accessible. Use tools to test compliance, add alt tags for images, ensure proper color contracts, and make all interactive elements usable by keyboard.
Your website should be usable by everyone, including people with disabilities. If it’s not ADA-compliant, you risk alienating a significant portion of your audience and potentially facing legal issues. Accessibility isn’t just about checking boxes; it’s about creating a welcoming and inclusive experience for all visitors.
6. Neglecting SEO best practices
The mistake: Your site can’t be found in search engines.
The fix: Implement SEO best practices like keyword research, meta descriptions, alt text, and internal linking.
SEO isn’t just a box to check at the end of your content process. It should guide how you create and organize your content from the beginning. That includes knowing what your audience is searching for, making sure your content answers those questions clearly and structuring it in a way that’s easy for both humans and search engines to understand. The more relevant your content is, the more likely it is to be seen.
7. Irrelevant or poor-quality content
The mistake: Content that’s irrelevant to your audience or unclear about your value.
The fix: Create keyword-driven content that clearly shows who you are, what you do and why it matters, right from the start. Speak to your audience’s needs and search intent so both visitors and search engines see your relevance.
If visitors can’t quickly understand what you do, why you’re the best choice and how your content helps them, they won’t stick around. Content works best when it’s planned, purposeful and aligned with your customers’ needs. It’s how your brand builds authority, educates your audience and nurtures leads. Content that misses the mark not only drives users away but also can hurt your SEO rankings—especially if it lacks keyword alignment with what your audience is actually searching for.
8. Broken links and technical errors
The mistake: Visitors hit 404 pages or encounter broken functionality.
The fix: Schedule regular website maintenance to update plugins, fix broken links and test forms to ensure everything works smoothly. Consider creating a custom 404 error page that not only reflects your brand but also helps visitors find the information they were originally seeking.
Technical SEO issues, such as broken links, outdated plugins, duplicate content, or poor meta tags can harm your website’s visibility. It can also signal neglect and makes your business look unreliable. Consider using tools like Google Search Console or SEMrush to identify issues and make data-driven decisions to improve your website’s performance.
9. Unsecure website
The mistake: No SSL certificate or outdated security features.
The fix: Install and maintain an SSL certificate, update your content management system (CMS) and use security tools to protect your website.
Phishing scams are becoming more common and advanced, which is causing users to question what’s real and secure versus not. A “not secure” warning will send customers away instantly, especially if they need to share sensitive information or payment details.
10. Overlooking personalization and analytics
The mistake: Treating all visitors the same and failing to use data to improve their experience.
The fix: Use tools like Google Analytics, surveys or custom Looker Studio reports (available through Flying Orange) to understand audience segments, then tailor content, recommendations and CTAs to each group.
A truly effective website doesn’t treat every visitor the same—it adapts based on user behavior, preferences and needs. Without personalization, your site can feel generic and uninviting, missing opportunities to guide users toward conversion. And without analyzing your data, you won’t know what’s resonating, what’s falling flat or where people are dropping off.
Bottom line – your website isn’t just a marketing asset – it’s the foundation of your online presence. By avoiding these common website mistakes and investing in thoughtful design, smooth functionality and ongoing maintenance, you’ll give visitors a reason to stay, engage and become loyal customers.
Flying Orange has been a trusted development resource since 2007, meaning we’ve seen our fair share of design trends. Feel free to reach out for a free quote. We’re here to help with both ongoing, monthly website maintenance, or full website redesigns. We would love to learn more about your needs.