Most Common Website Mistakes & How to Fix Them?

Developing a successful website involves more than just coding and simply designing. Whether you’re creating a website for your business or identifying the common issues which arise or we have to take care of at the time of development or after the creation of a website. Even well functioning websites can also suffer from some of the common mistakes that can affect the users experience, hinder the conversions, and also negatively impact search engine rankings.

A website is a platform where you connect with your potential customers, show your brand and story, and most important generating leads.

So here we have talked about the top 10 most common website mistakes that developers and website owners can make, along with the practical advice on how to fix these mistakes easily.

Most Common Website Mistakes (during or after development):

1. Poor Website Navigation

Proper and easy website navigation plays an important role in better user experience. A confusing navigation menus or layouts of the website can lead to driving visitors away. So, always focus on a simple and intuitive website navigation structure, using clear headings and well-structured categories to the point. Ask for feedback about experience from real users to ensure it’s a user-friendly platform.

How to improve site navigation?

1. Prioritize simplicity: Keep your site design simple and clean.
2. Create a clear sitemap to ensure easy navigation between pages.
3. Optimize images and code to improve loading speed of the page.
4. Design your website which is responsive across all devices.
5. Consider adding a search bar for easy access to content.
6. Implement breadcrumb trails to help users understand their location.

2. Slow Loading Speed of the Pages

A faster Loading speed of a web page is a ranking factor for Google and most importantly it impacts user experience on our site. The Web Pages that load slowly often experience higher bounce rates because a user expects fast websites when they land on a page, especially on mobile devices. We know content is essential for a website, but too much of it on a single page can overwhelm users and distract the focus from your message.

How to optimize Page Speed?

1. Compress large files or images & minimize JavaScript and CSS files.
2. Minimize HTTP requests, reduce the number of files the browser needs to load.
3. Enable browser caching services (store website data locally on the user’s device).
4. Distribute website content across multiple servers (use CDN) for faster loading times.

3. Inadequate Calls to Action (CTAs)

A website with unclear calls to action (CTA), unattractive button designs and poor placement of CTAs can go unnoticed by the users and won’t effectively guide visitors towards their desired actions of making a purchase or getting a service.

Effective Solutions:

1. Use strong action verbs like “Shop Now,” “Get Started,” “Download Now” and be specific “Learn More About Our Services,” etc.
2. Use contrasting colors to make CTAs stand out from the other content.
3. Choose appropriate button styles & experiment with different aspects.
4. Integrate CTAs naturally within your website copy and visuals.
5. At the end include a relevant CTA to encourage further engagement.

4. Poor Quality Content

Websites with thin & outdated content, old posts, irrelevant information, and a lack of originality can be perceived as unreliable and affect your credibility, deter visitors, and this can lead to high bounce rate and negatively impact search engine rankings.

How to improve your content quality?

1. Update your content on a regular basis.
2. Your website content should be relevant.
3. Set a calendar to keep the site fresh.
4. Create high quality and valuable content tailored to your audience.
5. Solve problems and provide answers to their queries.

5. Lack of Trust & Credibility

One of the other big website mistakes that many businesses overlook is failing to establish trust and credibility with their targeted audience. If users don’t trust your website, they won’t stay, engage, or convert. This is due to:

Signs Your Website Lacks Trust & Credibility

• No SSL certificate (“Not Secure” website)
• Lack of real customer reviews, testimonials.
• Outdated information on the website.
• Poor website design or outdated UI/UX
• No contact information on the page.
• No privacy policy, terms of service, or refund policy
• Lack of social proof or presence.

How to build trust?

1. Secure your site with HTTPS to prevent browser security warnings.
2. Add verified customer testimonial and Google reviews.
3. Use a professional, modern design which can be easily navigated.
4. Include an email, phone number, and physical address for trust.
5. Display industry certifications, awards, or security badges.
6. Ensure visitors know how their data is used and protected.

6. Ignoring Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Neglecting search engine optimization (SEO) during the development phase is also a big mistake done during the website creation. A website with good UI/UX may look great but fails to rank in SERP because of poor SEO.

Mistakes:-

Keyword stuffing, broken links, slow page speed, ignoring mobile-first indexing, not responsive, and poor URLs, can affect the website search engine ranking, and makes it difficult to reach customers organically to the customers.

Effective SEO Solutions:

1. Always ensure your website follows best practices of SEO.
2. Use of proper heading to tell bots about the page.
3. Structure your URLs correctly.
4. Place keywords naturally throughout the website.
5. Focus on sharing valuable information to the users.
6. Improve loading time of the website.
7. Regularly check for broken links.
8. Submit sitemap and robots file to search engines for better crawlability.

7. Delaying Website Updates and Fixes

One of the most overlooked mistakes in website development and maintenance is delay of necessary updates, fixes, and optimizations.

Developers should make necessary changes on time because the delay in fixes can have serious negative effects on your website’s performance, user experience, and search engine rankings.

Mistakes:

• Content Management Systems (CMS) require regular updates. Delaying these updates can lead to security vulnerabilities, compatibility issues, and even website crashes.
• Websites have to suffer due to poor SEO practices such as missing meta descriptions, broken internal links, duplicate content, and unoptimized images.
• Failing to update stale, outdated, or irrelevant content can make your website look untrustworthy, leading to loss of engagement.
• Slow website speed, high bounce rates, or frequent downtime can cause major loss in traffic and conversions.
• Failing to backup your website can result in data loss in case of hacking, server failures, or deletions.

Fixes:

1. Enable automatic updates where possible and check for updates once a week.
2. Conduct regular SEO audits and address errors immediately.
3. Create a schedule for updates of the content, images, links and information.
4. Use Google PageSpeed Insights to analyze performance and fix issues related to speed.
5. You can use automatic backup solutions and ensure backups are stored in multiple file locations.

8. Ignoring Analytics and Tracking

Many website owners or developers can make the mistake of launching a site without setting up analytics and tracking tools. Without proper data, you have no insight into how users interact with your website.

This causes: lack of data driven decisions, missed optimization opportunities, issues with SEO performance, inefficient marketing efforts, etc.

How to fix it?

1. Setup google analytics (GA4) to track user behaviour data.
2. Use google search console to monitor search performance.
3. Set up goals in GA4 to track actions.
4. Add tracking parameters to marketing URLs to analyze traffic.

9. Poor Mobile Optimization

It’s important to optimize your website for mobile devices as more than 60% of internet traffic comes from mobile devices, so ensuring your site is mobile friendly is not optional, it’s essential because it can lead to lower conversions, as google gives priority to mobile first indexing.

Common Issues with Poor Mobile Optimization are

unresponsive designs, small texts and buttons, slow loading of the pages, not optimized images and videos, frustrating pop-ups, horizontal scrolling, etc. 

How to fix poor mobile optimization issues?

1. Use responsive design to ensure your site fits to all screen sizes.
2. Compress images, use a CDN to improve load time and optimize page speed.
3. Use large fonts, clear buttons and proper spacing in between to improve readability.
4. Use tools to ensure proper usability of the website overall.

10. Cluttered Website Design

A cluttered website design affects visitors’ experience, making it difficult for them to find the information they need on the website. Use of too many fonts, colors, images, elements, buttons or pop ups, can lead to a poor user experience. A single page is filled with irrelevant texts and data makes it hard to read, too many options in navigation menus, etc.

Their fixes:

1. Use spaces between the texts and elements.
2. Stick to the consistent colors on the website.
3. Do not use too many font styles.
4. Organize content with clear points for easy readings.
5. Remove unnecessary animations, styles, pop ups, that are not valuable.
6. Ask real users for the areas of improvement in the website during development.

Frequently Asked Questions: