Your website is often the first impression people have of your business. If it’s slow, outdated, or hard to use, visitors won’t stick around. Instead, they’ll move on to a competitor with a smoother experience.
The good news? A few simple tweaks can make a huge difference. Here are the most common website mistakes—and how to fix them.
Nobody likes waiting for a website to load. Studies show that if a page takes more than three seconds to appear, nearly half of visitors will leave. Worse yet, search engines factor in speed when ranking websites, so a slow site could mean lower traffic.
What’s slowing things down?
The fix is simple. Compress images before uploading them, enable caching, and reduce unnecessary plugins. If your hosting provider is sluggish, it might be time for an upgrade.
More than half of all web traffic now comes from mobile devices. If your site doesn’t adjust properly on smaller screens, you’re frustrating a huge portion of your audience.
A mobile-friendly site automatically resizes text, images, and buttons so they’re easy to read and tap. If users have to pinch and zoom just to navigate, they’ll leave.
Test your site on different screen sizes and make sure everything looks clean. A responsive website design ensures your site works smoothly on desktops, tablets, and smartphones.
Imagine walking into a store where the aisles are completely unorganized. You’d probably leave, right? The same applies to your website. If visitors can’t find what they need quickly, they won’t stick around.
Good website navigation should:
A well-organized website makes for a better user experience—and happier visitors are more likely to become customers.
A website without a clear call-to-action (CTA) is like a store without a checkout counter. What do you want visitors to do? Book an appointment? Request a quote? Sign up for a newsletter?
Make your CTAs:
When done right, a strong CTA can significantly increase conversions and lead more visitors to take action.
Having a beautiful website means nothing if nobody can find it. Search engine optimization (SEO) helps your site appear in search results when potential customers are looking for what you offer.
Quick SEO fixes:
If your website isn’t optimized for search engines, it’s like having a billboard in the middle of nowhere. A few tweaks can help boost your rankings and bring in more organic traffic.
Ever clicked on a link expecting useful information, only to land on an error page? Broken links frustrate visitors and make your site look outdated or untrustworthy.
Regularly check your website for broken links and fix them. If a page no longer exists, set up a redirect to guide visitors to relevant content.
When was the last time you updated your website? Old information, outdated prices, and irrelevant blog posts can make visitors question your credibility.
Keep your content fresh by:
Google also favors fresh content, so regular updates can improve your search rankings while keeping your site relevant.
A messy website makes it hard for visitors to focus on what matters. Too many colors, fonts, and animations create a chaotic experience that pushes people away.
A clean, well-structured layout makes content easier to read and keeps visitors engaged. Stick to a simple color palette, use consistent fonts, and leave enough white space to avoid visual clutter.
If your website isn’t secure, both visitors and search engines will take notice. An unsecured site can be vulnerable to hackers and data breaches, leading to serious consequences for both you and your customers.
Make sure your website:
Search engines prioritize secure websites, so making these updates not only protects you but also helps improve your rankings.
You’d be surprised how many websites make it difficult to find a phone number or email address. If a potential customer has to hunt for a way to reach you, they’ll likely give up.
Make sure your contact information is easy to find by:
The easier you make it for people to contact you, the more inquiries and conversions you’ll get.
You don’t need a complete website overhaul to see improvements. Fixing these common issues can lead to faster load times, better search rankings, and happier visitors who stick around longer.
If your website needs a health check, now’s the time to act. A few small changes today could mean more traffic, leads, and customers tomorrow.