Every week, I talk to business owners who feel frustrated with their websites. They say things like, “Our site looks okay, but it doesn’t bring in leads,” or “We rebuilt it last year and it already feels outdated.” They’re not alone. In fact, as someone who has built sites for years across platforms like Webflow, WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace, I’ve seen the same design mistakes surface again and again. The pattern is so consistent that I can usually spot issues within minutes of landing on a homepage. Still, fixing them isn’t about slapping on a new theme. It takes a deeper look at how users think, feel, and act online. That’s where empathy and systems thinking come in—two things I try to bring to every project at Zach Sean Web Design here in Franklin, TN. In this article, we’ll unpack several of the most common website design mistakes that businesses make, and more importantly, how to avoid them.
My goal isn’t to point fingers. Every design decision happens for a reason, often with good intentions. But as any builder will tell you, even solid foundations can crack if the wrong materials or assumptions are used. By understanding these pitfalls and learning how to prevent them, you can create a digital home that feels as authentic and functional as your business itself.
Let’s start with the most fundamental mistake: designing a site from the inside out instead of the outside in. Many businesses begin their website projects by listing what they want to say rather than asking what users are trying to accomplish. It’s like designing a retail store where the aisles are arranged for the employees, not the shoppers. The result is a confusing layout, disjointed messaging, and a frustrated visitor who leaves before exploring deeper.
One of my clients, a family-owned bakery, had a beautiful site. Stunning photography, handcrafted illustrations, and elegant colors. But when we looked at analytics, almost no one was clicking through to the ordering page. After interviewing some of their customers, we realized that visitors weren’t sure whether the bakery sold wholesale, custom cakes, or just walk-in pastries. We restructured the homepage to immediately answer that question and added an easy-to-access “Order Now” button visible at every scroll depth. Within three months, their online orders increased by 45%. The design didn’t change much aesthetically, but the user journey did—and that’s what mattered.
Good design begins with empathy. Once you see your website through your users’ eyes, patterns start to emerge—and your strategy becomes much clearer.
Another frequent issue I see involves overdesign. Business owners want to impress, so they add animations, sliders, gradients, and fancy typefaces. Yet more often than not, this approach distracts rather than delights. Remember, clarity beats cleverness every time. Your website is not a gallery for digital art; it’s a communication tool. A design that feels sophisticated and minimal leaves space for your message to breathe.
I worked with a local tech startup whose original site featured parallax scrolling, auto-playing background videos, and text overlays that changed on hover. It looked futuristic, but users found it disorienting. The site also loaded slowly, especially on mobile. After simplifying their layout, shortening load times, and using subtle motion sparingly, engagement metrics improved dramatically. Visitors spent longer on key pages, and the bounce rate dropped by over 30%.
Research from Google’s UX team demonstrated that users judge a website’s aesthetic within 50 milliseconds. Sites perceived as visually complex are rated as less attractive (source). That’s because our brains prefer patterns we can process quickly. When the visual structure of a website feels predictable, visitors feel more in control and are likelier to explore.
There’s an art to balancing minimal design with personality. Think of brands like Apple or Airbnb: their websites are uncluttered but distinct. Use accent colors, authentic photography, and spacing to build emotional resonance. A restrained palette communicates confidence—it shows you know who you are without shouting.
More than half of web traffic now comes from mobile devices (Statista). Yet many small businesses still design primarily for desktop, treating mobile as an afterthought. It’s like opening a beautiful storefront but forgetting that most customers walk by on foot instead of driving. Responsive design is well-known, but responsive *strategy* is rarer. Mobile users behave differently: they skim, they tap with thumbs, and they want answers fast.
A landscaping company I consulted had a WordPress site that looked solid on desktop but was nearly unusable on a phone. The “Request a Quote” button sat at the bottom of long text blocks, and forms weren’t optimized for smaller screens. After moving those calls to action higher, streamlining the content, and using sticky navigation, mobile inquiries increased 60% over two months. Nothing in their SEO strategy changed—just the responsiveness of the experience.
A mobile-first mindset forces clarity. It pressures you to strip your design down to what matters, and that often leads to a better desktop experience too.
Design draws attention, but copy directs it. Many websites look beautiful yet fail to connect because their words are vague, jargon-heavy, or buried beneath visuals. This happens when businesses design before defining their message. A strong homepage headline should communicate what you do, for whom, and why it matters—within the first few seconds.
One coach I worked with described her services using buzzwords like “transformative leadership realization frameworks.” It sounded impressive but said little about her actual process or benefits. We reframed the copy in plain language: “Helping managers become confident, empathetic leaders through personalized coaching.” That change, paired with testimonials that used real client language, doubled her inquiry rate within a month.
Words have weight. Even minimalist design can feel hollow without clear communication. Remember: clarity builds credibility.
SEO and accessibility aren’t seasoning to sprinkle on after launch; they’re foundational ingredients. I’ve seen countless sites with beautiful layouts but poor heading structure, no alt text, and missing metadata. Search engines and screen readers both rely on structure to interpret meaning. If your code hierarchy is messy, you’re effectively whispering to Google instead of speaking clearly.
A boutique e-commerce client came to me struggling with low organic traffic. After a quick audit, we discovered that product descriptions were images of text—a big accessibility issue—and none of the pages used structured headings. Once we rebuilt the site properly and wrote descriptive tags, organic visits grew steadily over six months. They didn’t need more backlinks or ads; they just needed a site search engines could understand.
Accessibility overlaps naturally with good SEO. Both aim to make your content easier to find and understand. If your website serves more people, search engines reward that effort.
Another trap I see often is the “set it and forget it” mentality. Businesses treat website launches like grand openings, then stop iterating. But unlike a store, a website is never finished—it’s alive. Trends evolve, user behavior shifts, and algorithms update. Regular optimization isn’t optional anymore; it’s maintenance, just like oil in an engine.
A real estate agency I worked with hadn’t touched their site in three years. Their branding felt frozen in time. We started small—updating listings automation, rewriting outdated copy, and implementing basic schema markup. Within a few weeks, lead quality improved. They realized an “update” didn’t mean losing brand identity; it meant keeping pace with their environment.
Consistency builds credibility. Even subtle improvements accumulate over time, signaling to users that your brand is dynamic and engaged.
Finally, a mistake that hits closer to the emotional core of design: forgetting to inject genuine brand voice and identity. Too many businesses choose safe, generic templates that strip away uniqueness. When that happens, every site begins to blur together—sterile, interchangeable, and forgettable. Authentic branding doesn’t require expensive photography or witty taglines; it requires intention.
A small gym I advised had a stock-photo-heavy site using a widely downloaded theme. It looked professional but lacked soul. We replaced generic images with real photos of members, streamlined their logo, and rewrote copy to reflect the gym’s community-driven vibe. Suddenly, the site felt like *them*. Attendance at trial classes doubled in the following quarter. People connected not just with the services but with the story behind them.
When I say I act as a “marketing therapist,” this is what I mean. Branding isn’t an external exercise—it’s self-understanding translated into design form. Once you know who you are and who you serve, the creative direction becomes self-evident.
Humans are wired for stories, not statistics. Yet most websites rely solely on bullet points of features and services. Storytelling bridges logic and emotion, making your brand memorable. A well-crafted story doesn’t need to be cinematic; it can be a simple narrative of problem, process, and outcome.
One of my favorite projects was a women’s boutique in Nashville that struggled despite having stylish products. Their original About page was a single paragraph about “high-quality fashion.” We replaced it with their founding story—how the owner left a corporate job to create a local shopping experience focused on self-expression. The story wasn’t exaggerated; it was sincere. That authenticity not only improved engagement but also aligned them with the kind of customer they wanted to attract.
When done right, storytelling becomes your competitive advantage. It invites connection before persuasion, drawing people into your brand rather than pushing them toward conversion.
Ultimately, every common website design mistake stems from the same root issue: forgetting that websites exist for people, not just for companies. Whether it’s unclear navigation, over-the-top visuals, neglected mobile layouts, weak messaging, or outdated maintenance, each flaw disconnects a brand from its audience. The solution lies in slowing down, listening deeply, and designing with intention. You can’t fake empathy in pixels; it reveals itself in every color, button, and line of copy.
The best websites feel effortless, not because they were easy to build but because every decision serves a purpose. They’re reflections of teams who take time to understand—who start with conversation before configuration. As a designer and consultant, I’ve learned that success online rarely comes from chasing the latest trend. It comes from committing to clarity, consistency, and curiosity about your users. That’s the mindset worth optimizing, not just for algorithms but for real human connection.
Copyright © Zach Sean Web Design
