Every business owner wants a website that works as hard as they do. Whether you're a startup in Franklin, TN looking to hit the ground running, or a legacy brand finally updating your 2011 homepage, it's tempting to think a beautiful design will solve it all. But good design isn't just about aesthetics. In fact, some of the most common website design mistakes aren’t about how things look but how they function, how they communicate, and how they serve your audience.
As someone who's helped dozens of businesses navigate this landscape—from local coffee shops struggling with online ordering to regional law firms aiming to boost their SEO—I've seen how seemingly minor errors can erode trust, limit conversions, and make marketing efforts feel like pushing a boulder uphill. The goal here is to help you avoid those traps. Not just from a technical angle, but from a strategic and psychological one too.
Let’s dive into the most common website design mistakes I’ve seen—ones that can quietly sabotage even the most promising digital presence.
One of the most fundamental errors I see is when websites are built for the business owner—not the customer. This often looks like sites filled with internal jargon, vague value propositions, and content that reflects how the company wants to be seen, not how the customer thinks or what they care about.
A realtor I worked with a few years back had a beautifully designed site—sleek whites, elegant typography, jaw-dropping listing photos. But it wasn’t converting. Why? Because the homepage didn’t answer a basic question potential buyers had: “What neighborhoods do you specialize in and why should I trust you over Zillow?” Adding a concise intro section that directly addressed this, alongside some social proof, dramatically improved engagement.
Understanding your audience isn’t a checklist item—it’s the lens through which every design decision should be made.
I get it. You’re proud of your services, your story, and that glowing client testimonial from 2017. But cramming all of it on the homepage is like walking into a hardware store and being handed every bolt, screw, and wrench at once. Users get overwhelmed, distracted, and disengaged.
This is especially true in industries where trust is key. Take a local therapist whose site I revamped earlier this year. Their homepage used to include: an inspirational quote slideshow, five service descriptions, a detailed “about me,” three CTAs, and a blog feed—all before the fold. We cut back to three key sections: “Who I help,” “What I offer,” and “Why people choose me.” Engagement time on page nearly doubled afterward, and conversions followed.
Minimalism doesn’t mean leaving out key info. It’s about guiding eyes and clicks where they matter most.
If I had a dollar for every fancy desktop layout that broke down into chaos on mobile... well, I’d probably use it to fix those websites. In 2025, more than 58% of web traffic comes from mobile devices. And yet plenty of businesses still design for desktops first and “make it responsive later.”
A local gym I consulted with last spring had a hero video that looked amazing on a 27-inch iMac. On iPhones? It overlapped the navigation and made the call-to-action button invisible. No one could book a session. By optimizing for vertical scrolling, redesigning CTA placement, and swapping video for static imagery where needed, we saw mobile conversions jump by over 40% in the first 60 days.
Mobile-first isn’t a slogan. It’s how the world browses now. If your site frustrates them on the go, you’ve already lost their trust.
If your site takes longer than 3 seconds to load, around 53% of mobile visitors will bounce, according to Google. But poor load time isn’t just a user experience issue—it also affects your SEO rankings and ad performance. Since 2021, Google’s Core Web Vitals have become a part of the ranking algorithm, making speed a necessary part of your digital presence.
One Nashville-based ecommerce brand I supported had a homepage carousel with ultra-high-res images and three JavaScript-based tracking tools loading in the background. Their load time? 9.2 seconds. After optimizing images, switching to local fonts, and lazy-loading non-critical scripts, we got it down to just under 3 seconds. Sales from mobile devices increased by 28% within a month.
A slow site tells your visitor: "This experience isn’t worth your time." Don’t let performance kill your first impression.
Accessibility isn’t just a box to check or a legal shield—it’s a design philosophy that benefits everyone. Surprisingly, many small businesses skip this entirely, thinking it's only required for government or enterprise sites. But the reality is that accessible websites have broader reach, better usability, and even stronger SEO.
One service-based business I worked with had a dark theme and script-style font. Cool looking? Yes. But unreadable for visually impaired users and nearly illegible on some lower-resolution screens. When we switched to accessible color contrast, implemented semantic HTML (headers, alt text, labels), and added keyboard navigation, we not only opened the door to more users but also saw an uptick in organic search impressions.
Accessibility isn’t just the right thing to do. It creates better, more inclusive user experiences for everyone—including users with temporary issues, poor lighting, or slow laptops.
Let’s say someone lands on your homepage. They read a bit, nod in agreement, start to trust you... and then what? If you don’t guide them to a next step, that moment of momentum fizzles. A confusing, hidden, or overly generic call to action (CTA) is a silent killer of conversions.
A client in personal coaching had a beautiful long-scroll homepage but used buttons like “Learn More” and “Get Started” without any clarity on what would happen next. Was it a form? A booking link? A payment page? By changing the CTA to “Book a Free 20-Minute Consultation” and placing it above the fold and in key sections, the site's booking rate went up 3x within weeks.
A website without a clear CTA is like a great sales pitch without a close. Don't leave your users wondering what to do next.
Platforms like Squarespace and Wix have simplified getting online. But the cookie-cutter templates come with a hidden tax—they often lack the flexibility (and authenticity) needed to connect with your audience and support long-term goals.
I once redesigned a site for a boutique skincare business that used a standard template from their builder. It looked fine but didn’t feel like them. Their products were premium and science-backed, yet the site felt generic and minimalist in a way that didn’t tell their story. Rebuilding the site in Webflow allowed us to create branded, rich layouts that told the founder’s story, highlighted scientific credentials, and showcased their unique value. That design change sparked a rebranding effort that helped them land retail deals with local shops in Nashville.
Templates can be a starting point. But they shouldn’t dictate your strategy. Your business isn’t generic. Your site shouldn’t be either.
This might be the most underrated mistake of all. The idea that a site gets launched… and then just sits there. What really sets thriving digital businesses apart is their willingness to iterate, to test, and to treat the website as a living part of their brand conversation—not just a digital storefront.
I’ve had clients redo a whole homepage layout just based on one heatmap report showing where users were getting stuck. Another started weekly blog updates and saw a steady rise in organic traffic that now drives half their new leads. Regular site reviews don’t need to be massive overhauls. Small tweaks often move the needle the most.
Websites aren’t brochures. They’re living business tools. When you treat them that way, they keep giving back.
No one gets everything perfect the first time. But most of the design mistakes above aren’t about software or coding ability—they’re about mindset. A website isn’t just a pretty digital billboard. It’s a user journey. A credibility builder. A conversion engine. A medium for dialogue.
By sidestepping these common pitfalls and approaching web design with empathy, clarity, and strategy, you're building more than a site. You're building trust, traction, and long-term success.
If it's been a while since you've revisited your site through the eyes of your user—or you're about to start building something new—take this as your chance to rethink not just "how things look" but what they communicate, express, and enable.
Copyright © Zach Sean Web Design
