Did you know that there are currently 1.2 billion websites in the world? However, only 17% of these are active. Moreover, 175 new sites are created every single minute!

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As a business owner who is just starting out, these numbers can seem daunting. In a landscape where three websites are added every minute, how do you stand out, and more importantly, what kind of common website errors should you avoid?

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll cover 10 website mistakes to avoid, with plenty of real-life examples and expert tips to inspire you.

Why Is Website Optimisation Important?

Aside from contributing to your bottom line, an optimised website plays a central role in:

  • Creating a Positive First Impression: Reportedly, a user takes just 0.5 seconds to form an opinion about your site. A positive impression can translate to higher customer engagement and greater sales.
  • Delivering a Seamless Customer Experience: Customers love a shopping experience that feels convenient, intuitive, and without friction.
  • Cutting Traffic Acquisition Costs: Every visitor you gain through pay-per-click (PPC) ads, social campaigns, or SEO comes at a price. But if your site isn’t converting those visits into action, you’re wasting money. Smart tweaks—like swapping generic CTAs (“Learn More”) for action-driven ones (“Get Your Free Trial Today”) or simplifying navigation so key pages are just one click away—can boost conversions without hiking ad spend. Even small shifts, like speeding up page loads by optimising images, can reduce SEO mistakes and mean more leads for the same budget.
  • Boosting Your Lead-Generation Efforts: A site that’s optimised for performance can drastically reduce the number of steps to conversion. You can use bold headlines that clarify benefits, keep forms short (only ask for essentials like email and first name), and make CTAs impossible to miss. You must also add trust signals such as testimonials and badges to reassure visitors they’re making a smart choice.
  • Building a Stronger Brand Reputation: People judge your brand instantly. A site that’s slow, messy, and hard to navigate signals carelessness on your part. On the flip side, a sleek, cohesive design builds trust and credibility. Consequently, you must stick to consistent colour schemes, readable fonts, and sharp visuals. You should also ensure key information such as contact details and service descriptions are easy to find.
  • Maximising Your Site’s Sales’ Potential: Your website should make buying effortless. Confusing menus and hidden pricing details are a no-no. Our advice? Keep things simple: showcase top products on the homepage. Offer guest checkout to avoid friction with account creation. Be upfront about costs. Include real customer reviews, clear product photos, and concise benefit-focused descriptions. The goal is to reduce second-guessing and make the purchase path as smooth as possible!

10 Website Mistakes to Avoid and Supercharge Your Performance (& Conversions)

Building a website is an exciting prospect for every business owner, but even the best designs fall short if certain mistakes aren’t avoided. Here are 10 common website mistakes that can hold you back—and how to fix them:

Mistake #1: You Did Not Optimise Your Call-to-Action (CTA) Buttons on the Site

Think: Are you facing these challenges?

  • Visitors browse but don’t engage
  • Traffic is high, but conversions stay low
  • CTAs blend into the background or are too generic in wording

When visitors land on your site but don’t know what to do next, they will leave. It’s that simple. Many businesses spend time and money driving traffic but overlook guiding visitors to take action.

A vague or worse, hidden CTA leaves people confused and disengaged—this can cost your business, whether you’re an e-commerce owner, service provider, or blogger, as your CTA is essentially your conversion lifeline!

What Works:

  • Be clear about what action you want users to take—whether it’s buying a product, following your brand on Instagram, commenting on your latest blog post, subscribing to a mailing list, or reading more.
  • Use bold, action-driven text. Swap words like “Learn More” to “Shop Now” or “Get Your Free Guide.” Lululemon does this right with a prominent CTA on its homepage banner:

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  • Place CTAs in high-visibility spots like the top of the page or after important content.
  • Test button colours, sizes, and wording to see what drives more clicks.

Pro Tip: If you want to convert users, you need a bold CTA that’s placed strategically.

Mistake #2: Your Site Is Loading Slowly and You Aren’t Fixing It

Think: Are you facing these challenges?

  • High bounce rates, maybe due to slow-loading pages
  • Mobile users end up abandoning sessions before pages even appear
  • Low engagement on key pages such as product pages, sale page, and so on

A slow-loading website doesn’t just frustrate visitors; it also kills sales. Data claims Gen Z wastes about 31.5 days waiting for a site to load, a number which increases to 37.5 days for millennials:

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As per Google, if your page takes more than two seconds to load, your potential customers will leave:

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This is especially true for e-commerce stores and service-based websites. And if your site takes more than 10 seconds to load, you can say goodbye to your customers for good.

What Works:

  • Upgrade to a faster hosting solution—switch from shared to dedicated or cloud hosting.
  • Compress large images without compromising quality.
  • Reduce unnecessary plug-ins and remove bloated scripts.
  • Use tools such as Google PageSpeed Insights to identify speed bottlenecks:

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Mistake #3: You’re Using Low-Quality Stock Images for Site Aesthetics

Think: Are you facing these challenges?

  • Photos that look fake and irrelevant to your brand
  • Visuals don’t connect with your audience
  • Customers are questioning the credibility of your brand

Generic stock photos can make your website look inauthentic, leaving a bad aftertaste. Customers want originality, which applies to product photography, videos, and so on. If your images feel staged and overused, they undermine trust. So, keep your product pages, service descriptions, and even blog visuals as original and fresh as possible.

What Works:

  • Use original photos wherever possible. Candid shots of your team and products always perform better, as Saison showcases below:

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  • If you do end up using stock images, choose high-quality and less common ones. As a pro tip, remember to edit them to fit your brand’s intrinsic style.
  • Showcase real customer images and product use cases to add a layer of authenticity.
  • Consistently audit and update visuals to keep your site fresh.

Mistake #4: Your Customers Feel Overwhelmed with a Confusing Navigation

Think: Are you facing these challenges?

  • Visitors struggle to find your products
  • Bounce rates are high on landing pages
  • Customers abandon shopping carts because they can’t find what they need

Visitors don’t have the time or bandwidth to guess where to click next. Complex menus and cluttered layouts make users bounce. Simple navigation can be the difference between a sale and an exit for online stores.

Freedom’s navigation is neatly categorised into sensible subcategories and guides customers at every step of the way:

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What Works:

  • Keep main navigation categories between three to five items. This will ensure it is readable and organised.
  • Label sections clearly—”Shop Accessories” is better than “Products.”
  • Keep testing your links and remove broken ones immediately.
  • Use breadcrumbs to help visitors track their journey.
  • Test your navigation regularly to spot confusing elements.

Mistake #5: Your Website Is Overdoing It with Multiple Elements

Think: Are you facing these challenges?

  • Important site information is getting lost
  • Visitors feel too much is happening on your site
  • Your calls-to-action are getting ignored

Too much content, flashing graphics, and autoplay videos irritate and overwhelm visitors. If users feel bombarded, they will leave. So, if your site includes creative portfolios, blogs, or mandates showcasing multiple offerings, you must be extra careful.

Say you want to buy a video game and end up clicking a link from the first page of Google results. Instantly, you are greeted with the following pop-up:

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Do you think customers will come back to this site? The pop-up is unsightly and covers the whole homepage.

What Works:

  • Simplify the layout and remove non-essential elements such as on-loop animations, headache-inducing colours, intrusive ad pop-ups, and so on.
  • Don’t use autoplay videos and background music, they no longer feel palatable.
  • Use white space to guide the user’s eyes on critical content you want them to consume.
  • Prioritise the most important action you want visitors to take at strategic sections on the site.

Mistake #6: Your Site Is Unresponsive on Multiple Devices

Think: Are you facing these challenges?

  • Users can’t click buttons and read text on smaller devices
  • Pages take longer to load on mobile
  • Drop-offs in conversions from mobile users

Trust us when we tell you that a website that looks great on desktop but fails on mobile is a lost opportunity. With over half of global web traffic coming from mobile devices, your site needs to look (and work) great on every screen:

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Plus, research further suggests that 3 in 5 users will not come back to a site if the page is unresponsive. In terms of usage, about 71% of Gen Z shoppers leverage the mighty mobile when shopping online.

What Works:

  • Design pages that automatically adjust to fit any screen size. The idea is to ensure that your text and images are easy to read on mobile, tablet, and desktop.
  • Increase the size of clickable buttons to at least 44×44 pixels. This way, customers will be able to easily tap them without zooming in on mobile devices.
  • Simplify mobile navigation by using collapsible menus. You want to reduce the number of clicks needed to reach the most important pages on your site.
  • A/B test your website on devices, including older smartphones, to ensure consistent performance and user experience.

Mistake #7: Your Website Suffers from a Convoluted Checkout Process

Think: Are you facing these challenges?

  • High cart abandonment rates on the checkout page
  • Confusing payment options and lack of integration of common payment methods
  • Higher number of customers dropping off at the account creation step

Even interested customers abandon carts if the checkout is endless and frustrating. Long forms with too many fields, unnecessary steps, and forced account creation can push buyers away.

You want to drive a one-click checkout process—the gold standard of eCommerce sites today.

What Works:

  • Enable guest checkout to let first-time buyers complete their purchase without creating an account. This reduces friction and speeds up the process, especially for one-time purchases.
  • Offer one-click purchase options for returning customers by securely storing payment and shipping details. This encourages repeat business and reduces the chance of cart abandonment.
  • Minimise form fields to only collect essential information such as name, email, shipping address, and payment details. Skip unnecessary fields like ‘company name’ unless absolutely necessary.
  • Clearly display total costs, including taxes and shipping fees, on the product page or early in the checkout process. Avoid surprises at the final step, which can lead to abandoned carts. Include multiple shipping options with estimated delivery dates to build trust and transparency.

Mistake #8: Your Site Is Screaming AI-Generated Content

Think: Are you facing these challenges?

  • Your site content reads bland and disconnected from your product/brand
  • Low engagement on your blogs and product pages, leaving you wondering why visitors aren’t sticking around
  • You might be facing SEO penalties as a result of AI-driven quality content

Get this: Around 52% of Americans feel concerned (not happy) about artificial intelligence:

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Clearly, AI is not a hail mary as it presents to be. AI tools can be incredibly helpful, but they often produce generic content without proper fine-tuning and strategic prompts. And here’s the thing: both readers and search engines can tell when content is artificial.

Your site needs authentic, relatable content that reflects your unique voice and values to stand out and build trust.

What Works:

  • Don’t just publish AI-generated content as-is. Always review and personalise it to align with your brand’s tone, personality, and goals.
  • Add personal experiences and unique insights that resonate with your audience. This will make your content more engaging and relatable.
  • Use AI to help brainstorm and create drafts, but polish the final version with your expertise to maintain a sense of authenticity.
  • Laser-focus on delivering practical content that directly addresses your audience’s pain points.

Mistake #9: Your Branding Elements Are Disjointed, Inconsistent

Think: Are you facing these challenges?

  • Your brand identity feels unclear, ill-conceived, or an after-thought
  • Visitors feel disconnected from the brand, be it your brand’s values, characteristics, aesthetics, or even product at large

When your colours, fonts, and design styles don’t align, it confuses visitors. You want your brand to be instantly recognisable and memorable. The secret sauce to this is consistency. Consistency in branding elements builds trust and helps you create a lasting impression.

What Works:

  • Stick to a single colour palette and font style across your site. This creates harmony and reinforces your brand’s identity.
  • Set up a brand guide for yourself or your team to follow. Make sure your design elements are always in sync.
  • Regularly check your site for any inconsistencies or mismatched elements.
  • Ensure your visuals and copy speak the same language. The tone, style, and message should always match.

 Mistake #10: Not Showcasing Customer Reviews

Think: Are you facing these challenges?

  • People aren’t trusting your brand
  • You don’t have authentic reviews on your site

Does this sound familiar? In the end, remember that reviews are a powerful tool that works wonders when used right. Amazon’s product reviews are the biggest case in point. They help customers feel more confident in their decision to buy. Without them, you risk losing out on sales because people want proof that your product delivers.

What Works:

  • Put reviews front and centre on your product and landing pages.
  • Ask for feedback after each purchase. Take this one step ahead and make it easy for customers to leave a review.
  • Highlight reviews that address common questions and concerns—this strategy always works.
  • Include customer photos within their testimonials to add credibility and make them feel more real.

Bonus: Questions to Ask When Redesigning Your Site

  • Who is my ideal customer? Understand their demographics, preferences, and online habits to shape your website’s design and content.
  • What problems do they need to be solved, and how can I make their lives easier? Focus on how your website directly addresses the specific challenges your audience is looking for.
  • What action do I want visitors to take? Define clear goals like product purchases, sign-ups, and downloads to guide your design and content strategy.
  • How will I consistently bring in the right visitors? Plan your strategy for organic traffic, paid ads, social media, and partnerships to attract quality visitors over time.
  • Who will manage and maintain the website long-term? Decide if it’s you or a team member, and set expectations for regular updates, content additions, and security checks.
  • What emotions do I want my visitors to feel when they land on my site? Design your website to evoke the right emotions—trust, excitement, or urgency—that align with your brand and goals.
  • How will I track and measure my website’s success? Set up analytics tools to monitor traffic, conversions, and user engagement and determine which metrics matter most for success.
  • What unique value can my website offer that my competitors don’t? Identify what differentiates your website from competitors—unique features, content, and user experiences that make your site stand out.

Roll Out a Website That Your Customers Love with Crazy Domains

Optimising your website for conversions isn’t optional anymore—it’s essential. Each tweak, from streamlining checkout to adding reviews, removes friction and can delight your customers, encouraging them to return.

Plus, it can remove common SEO mistakes owners might make, eliminate website performance issues, and make it easier for visitors to take the right action. So, if you want more leads, better sales, and a site that truly works for your business, get in touch with Crazy Domains.

Our team can help you set up a site that stays true to your brand’s vision. Visit our site for more info!

FAQs

Why does website speed matter?

A slow website frustrates visitors and can lead to higher bounce rates. If your pages load slowly, people are likely to leave before exploring your offerings. To speed things up, optimise images, streamline code, and choose a reliable hosting provider.

How does poor mobile optimisation affect my business?

If your site doesn’t display well on mobile devices, you’re losing out on a significant portion of potential customers. Ensure your site is fully responsive, adapting to different screen sizes, and testing the user experience across all devices to avoid performance issues.

Why does poor navigation hurt my sales?

If customers can’t easily find what they need, they’ll leave. Organise your site’s layout logically, prioritise important pages such as products, contact info, etc., and ensure visitors can navigate your site with minimal clicks.

How do broken links affect my site’s performance?

Broken links create a poor user experience and can hurt your SEO. Regularly check for broken links using tools like Google Search Console, and fix or replace dead links quickly to keep everything running smoothly.

Why is outdated content bad for my website?

Outdated content makes your site look neglected and can confuse visitors. Regularly refresh your content—whether it’s blog posts, product descriptions, or promotions—so customers always see up-to-date information.

How does not having a clear Call-to-Action (CTA) hurt my website?

Without a clear CTA, visitors may leave without taking action. Make sure every page has a prominent, easy-to-understand CTA that guides users toward the next step, whether it’s making a purchase, signing up, or contacting you.

Why is poor SEO hurting my site?

If your website isn’t optimised for search engines, it won’t show up in relevant search results. To increase your search engine visibility, focus on using the right keywords, improving page load speed, and regularly updating your content.

How does a lack of social proof impact my website?

Potential customers may hesitate to trust your brand without social proof, like reviews or testimonials. Add customer reviews, ratings, and case studies to your site to build trust and show that your products deliver real value.

Why should I avoid cluttered design on my website?

A cluttered design overwhelms visitors and distracts them from your main message. Keep your design clean and simple. Use white space effectively, and make sure key information stands out to guide visitors’ attention where it matters most.

How does not tracking website data affect my business?

Without tracking key data like user behaviour, bounce rates, and conversions, it’s difficult to understand what’s working and what isn’t. Use tools like Google Analytics to track and analyse your site’s performance, so you can make data-driven improvements.