Top website mistakes US businesses make when building

Your website is more than just a digital brochure, it’s your storefront, sales rep, and brand ambassador all rolled into one. Yet, many US businesses, from startups to established enterprises, fall into common traps when building their websites. These website mistakes can lead to poor usability, higher bounce rates, and lost revenue opportunities.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the most common website mistakes and how to avoid them, ensuring your site is build to impress, wow, work, and succeed.

For each of the website mistakes, we’ll talk about why it matters and how you can avoid it, giving you actionable advice.

The most common design website mistakes

Ignoring responsive web design

We’ve now moved into a time where most people will access websites from a mobile device not a desktop. So, it’s essential that websites adapt seamlessly to various screen sizes, including tablets, phones, laptops, and even smart watches. Unresponsive web design can alienate a significant portion of your audience, causing them to leave your site pretty much as soon as they land on it.

Why it matters:

• User experience: A site that’s not mobile-friendly frustrates users, leading to decreased engagement, higher bounce rates, and missed opportunities.
• SEO: Search engines like Google prioritize mobile-optimized, responsive design sites in their rankings.
• Accessibility: Ensuring your site is accessible across different screen sizes and different web browsers broadens your reach.

Best practices:

• Flexible layouts: Use relative units like percentages for widths.
• Media queries: Implement CSS media queries to adjust styles based on device characteristics.
• Touch-friendly elements: Ensure buttons and links are easily tappable on smaller screens.
• Optimize ground-up: Many businesses tag on mobile-optimization as an afterthought, just before going live. Really, it should be the first step. Because most people access from a mobile, you should design mobile-first, then optimize for desktop second.

A detailed look at responsive web design

Neglecting clear calls to action (CTAs)

CTAs guide users toward specific actions, such as making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or getting in touch. They might only be a tiny button, but they’re one of the most important parts of your whole site. If people don’t take the action you want them to, what’s the point of having a website at all?

Why it matters:

• User guidance: Clear CTAs help users navigate your site effectively.
• Conversions: Well-placed CTAs can significantly boost conversion rates.
• User experience: They provide direction, reducing confusion.

Best practices:

• Visibility: Ensure CTAs stand out using contrasting colors and strategic placement.
• Clarity: Use concise, action-oriented language. Avoid the dreaded ‘Get in touch’ or the even more ambiguous ‘Click here’. The CTA wording should tell people exactly what’s going to happen when they click that button.
• Consistency: Maintain uniformity in CTA design across the site, the style of your CTA shouldn’t change from page to page, otherwise people will get confused.

Read more tips for perfecting your CTA buttons here.

Confusing navigation menu

A confusing navigation menu can frustrate users and impact their ability to find the information they are looking for. The menu is one of most important parts of your site, but you’d be surprised how many businesses fall victim to this common website design mistake.

Think about grocery stores, 99% of the time sections are laid out in a similar order. Then, 1% of the time you might go to a store where everything is different. Suddenly, you’ll be completely lost with no idea how to find what you’re looking for. Frustrating, right? The same principal applies to your website navigation.

Why it matters:

• User experience: Intuitive navigation improves usability.
• SEO: Properly structured navigation helps search engine index your site.
• Engagement: Easy navigation keeps users on your site longer.
• Conversions: If they can find the thing they’re looking for, they’re more likely to convert.

Best practices:

• Logical hierarchy: Organize content in a clear, hierarchical manner.
• Descriptive labels: Use clear and descriptive menu labels.
• Search functionality: Implement a search bar for quick access to content.

Inconsistent branding and design elements

Inconsistencies in design can dilute brand identity and confuse users.

Think about how strange it would be if Coca-Cola changed its logo every few months. It’d feel off, maybe even untrustworthy. Or, imagine if McDonalds changed the shape of their golden arches from city to city, people would lose that sense of familiarity.

The same applies to your website, if your fonts, colors, or tone change from page to page, users might start to question your credibility. Consistent branding builds trust and helps users feel confident they’re in the right place, no matter where they are on your site.

Why it matters:

• Brand recognition: Consistent design reinforces brand identity.
• Professionalism: Uniformity conveys credibility and trustworthiness.
• User experience: Consistency aids in navigation and usability.

Best practices:

• Style guide: Develop a style guide covering colors, fonts, and imagery. This doesn’t have to be complicated, just a few rules about which are your brand colours, what font you use for headers, what you use for paragraphs, and whether you have style of imagery you want to follow.
• Uniform layouts: It can be hard to implement, but you should maintain consistent layouts across pages. It’s tempting to do something new on every page, but this is bad for your overall look and feel. You should aim for consistency not variety.
• Logo placement: Keep logo placement consistent, typically in the top-left corner.

Overcomplicating design with excessive elements

Overcomplicated design is just as big of a no no as inconsistent design. Cluttering your site with too many elements, buttons, pop-ups, colors, animations, or busy typography can overwhelm users and distract them from what actually matters.

Think of it like a room packed with furniture: you can’t move, you can’t think, and you definitely can’t relax. A clean, focused layout with plenty of white space helps guide attention and makes your content easier to digest.

Why it matters:

• User focus: Simplified designs help users focus on essential content.
• Load times: Excessive elements can slow down your site,
• Accessibility: Simpler designs are generally more accessible.

Best practices:

• White space: Use white space to separate elements and improve readability.
• Prioritize content: Highlight key information and CTAs.
• Limit colors and fonts: Stick to a cohesive color palette and font selection.Using low-quality imageryUsing poor-quality images is a common web design mistake that can seriously hurt how your business is perceived online.Too many companies overlook this opportunity to make a strong visual impression. Instead of investing in high-quality visuals, they rely on low-resolution phone photos or generic stock images that do nothing to represent their brand properly. This not only makes the site look unprofessional, but it also fails to showcase products or services in their best light.Why it matters:
  • First impressions: High-quality images enhance visual appeal.
  • Engagement: Compelling visuals can increase user engagement.
  • Brand perception: Professional imagery reflects positively on your brand.
  Best practices:
  • High-resolution images: Use clear, high-resolution images optimized for web, to complement your website’s design.
  • Consistent style: Maintain a consistent visual style across images.
  • Relevance: ensure images are relevant to the content.
  • Proper licensing: Use images with appropriate licenses to avoid legal issues.

The most common technical website mistakes

Overlooking website speed and performance

A sluggish website can deter visitors and negatively impact search engine rankings. People aren’t patient these days. If your site takes more than a couple of seconds to load, they’ll be leaving before you’ve had a chance to wow them.

Why it matters:

• User retention: Slow-loading pages increase bounce rates. When the loading time rises from 2 to 5 seconds, the average bounce rate climbs from 9% to 38% (Source: Reffine).
• SEO: Page speed is a ranking factor for search engines. You can analyze your page speed on Google’s pagespeed insights checker.
• Conversions: Faster sites lead to higher conversion rates.

Best practices:

• Optimize images: Compress images without compromising quality, this will ensure your site loads quicker.
• Minimize HTTP Requests: Reduce the number of elements on a page.
• Leverage browser caching: Store frequently accessed resources locally.

Failing to optimize for search engines (SEO)

If your website isn’t optimized for search engines like Google, people may never find it in the first place. Good SEO helps your web pages show up in search results when potential customers are looking for what you offer. Without it, you’re missing out on valuable traffic and opportunities to grow your business.

Why it matters:

• Visibility: SEO improves your site’s visibility on search engines.
• Traffic: Higher rankings lead to increased organic traffic. More traffic means more conversions. More conversions means more ROI.
• Credibility: Appearing on the first page of search results improves your website’s credibility.

Best practices:

• Keyword research: Identify and incorporate relevant keywords, using these on your site will help you move in the right direction on SERPs (search engine results pages).
• Meta tags: Optimize title tags and meta descriptions, using your keywords properly without keyword stuffing (overusing).
• Quality content: Produce valuable, original content regularly, a blog page is a great place to do this.

Neglecting accessibility criteria

An inaccessible website makes it difficult or even impossible for people with disabilities to use. This not only limits your audience but can also lead to legal issues. Making your site accessible ensures everyone can navigate, interact with, and benefit from your content.

Why it matters:

• Inclusivity: Accessibility ensures that all users, including those with visual, auditory, or motor impairments, can navigate and interact with your site comfortably and effectively.
• Legal compliance: Failing to meet accessibility standards can result in legal action, fines, or lawsuits, especially for businesses required to comply with laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). More about website guidance and compliance with ADA here.
• SEO benefits: Accessible websites are often better structured and easier for search engines to understand, which can lead to improved visibility and higher rankings in search results.

Best practices:

• Alt Text: Provide descriptive alt text for images.
• Keyboard navigation: Ensure the site is navigable via keyboard.
• Contrast ratios: Use sufficient color contrast for text readability.
• ARIA labels: Implement ARIA labels to assist screen readers. More about ARIA labels and how to use them here.

Overlooking analytics and user feedback

Without tracking performance or listening to user feedback, you’re basically guessing at what’s working on your site, and what’s not.

This is a common web design mistake that holds businesses back.

Analytics tools like Google Analytics give you real data on how people are using your site, what they’re clicking on, where they’re dropping off, how long they’re staying. On top of that, direct feedback from users can uncover pain points you might never notice on your own. Ignoring these insights means missing valuable opportunities to fine-tune your site and boost results over time.

If you’re not measuring, you’re not improving.

Why it matters:

• Performance tracking: Analytics provide insights into user behavior.
• Continuous improvement: Feedback highlights areas needing enhancement.
• Goal measurement: Track conversions and other key performance indicators.

Best practices:

• Implement analytics tools: Use tools like Google Analytics to monitor traffic and behavior.
• Regular reviews: Periodically review analytics to identify trends.
• User surveys: Collect user feedback to understand their needs and preferences.
• A/B testing: Test different versions of pages to optimize performance.

Final notes

Building a successful website takes more than just good looks, it requires thoughtful planning, strategic execution, and ongoing attention to detail. However, many US businesses fall into the trap of repeating the same website mistakes, from ignoring responsive design to neglecting SEO and user feedback.

In today’s digital world, your website is often the first interaction people have with your brand. That means avoiding these common website mistakes isn’t optional, it’s essential. With so much of the internet driven by usability, speed, and mobile-first experiences, users expect a seamless journey across devices, browsers, and content. And search engines like Google reward those who get it right.

As you review or rebuild your site, keep these common website mistakes to avoid at the top of your mind. Focus on clear CTAs, strong website design principles, consistent branding, accessibility, and data-driven improvements. Whether users find you through a Google search or by browsing the internet on mobile, your site should make the best possible impression.

Frequently asked questions

The 101 on website mistakes.

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What is the most common web design mistake businesses make?

One of the most common mistakes is ignoring responsive web design. With mobile traffic accounting for a significant portion of internet usage, failing to optimize your website for different screen sizes can alienate a large audience, leading to high bounce rates and missed opportunities.

How do I know if my website is optimized for search engines?

To check if your website is optimized for search engines, make sure you’ve implemented key SEO elements, such as using the right keywords in your content, having properly optimized meta tags, and ensuring that your site is easy to crawl. Tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console can also help track performance and identify areas for improvement.

Why is website speed so important?

Website speed directly affects user experience and conversion rates. Slow-loading pages increase bounce rates, meaning visitors leave before your content even loads. Additionally, search engines like Google prioritize fast sites in their rankings, so improving speed can help boost your visibility in search results.

How often should I update my website?

Whilst we didn’t really touch on this in the main article, it’s an important mistake to raise. Another point that’s often overlooked is failing to update your website regularly. It’s a good idea to review and update your website at least every 6 to 12 months. This helps ensure that your content is current, your design still aligns with best practices, and your technology remains secure and efficient.

Regular updates also improve usability, support better SEO performance, and reflect any changes in your products, services, or brand messaging.

Additionally, search engines tend to favor websites that are actively maintained and updated, which can help with rankings. Even small updates can make a big difference over time.

Website update checklist

• Review and refresh imagery: Swap out outdated visuals with high-quality, relevant images that better reflect your current brand or offerings.
• Update CTAs (calls to action): Make sure your CTAs are still aligned with your business goals, and test different copy or placement for better performance.
• Check and update content: Ensure all product descriptions, service details, pricing, and contact information are accurate and up to date.
• Refresh blog or news posts: Add new posts or update existing ones to keep content relevant and improve SEO.