23 Biggest Website Mistakes To Avoid All Costs
Nov 12, 2024
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23 Biggest Website Mistakes To Avoid All Costs

Avoid common website mistakes like slow loading, poor navigation, and weak SEO to improve user experience, boost traffic, and enhance engagement.

Brett Helling
Owner, Bloggingtips.com

Brett Helling is a digital marketing expert with over 10 years of experience building, managing, and scaling websites.

There are a lot of website mistakes that you can make with, but some are more costly than others.

In this post, we’ll take a look at some of the biggest website mistakes you can make and how to avoid them.

So, whether you’re just starting or have been running a website for years, be sure to read on!

  • Mobile-unfriendly and slow-loading sites lose traffic and harm user experience.
  • Poor navigation, outdated design, and broken links frustrate users and damage credibility.
  • Weak SEO, missing alt tags, and irrelevant keywords limit search visibility and traffic.
  • Overuse of ads, cluttered layout, and lack of calls-to-action reduce visitor engagement.

23 Biggest Website Mistakes To Avoid All Costs

Below is the list of the top 23 biggest mistakes that can harm your website in one way or the other.

So, make sure to avoid them at all costs.

1. Not Mobile-Friendly

In today’s day and age, your website must be mobile-friendly.

With over 60% of internet traffic coming from mobile devices, you simply cannot afford to ignore this demographic.

If your website is not mobile-friendly, you’re likely losing out on a lot of potential traffic and customers.

Most of the digital marketing is done through mobile phones.

When your website is user-friendly, it must be a responsive web design.

Tips to Make MOBILE-FRIENDLY:

You can follow the tips below to make your website mobile-friendly and ensure success in your digital marketing:

  • Use a responsive design
  • Use large font sizes
  • Use large buttons
  • Simplify your web page design
  • Minimize the use of pop-ups
  • Slow Loading Speed

Try to avoid web design mistakes and make your name in online marketing.

2. Slow Loading Speed

Another big mistake that can harm your website is having a slow loading speed.

In today’s digital world, people have very little patience and expect things to happen instantaneously.

If your website takes more than a couple of seconds to load, you’re likely going to lose a significant amount of traffic.

Tips to Improve Loading Speed:

There are several things you can do to improve your website’s loading speed, such as:

  • Optimize your images
  • Minimize HTTP requests
  • Enable browser caching
  • Use a content delivery network (CDN)

3. Bad Navigation

Another common mistake that websites make is poor navigation.

If people can’t find what they’re looking for on your website, they’re likely to leave and never come back.

Make sure your navigation is clear and easy to use if you want people to stick around.

Tips for Good Navigation:

When it comes to navigation, there are a few things you should keep in mind, such as:

  • Keep it simple
  • Use clear and concise labels
  • Use drop-down menus sparingly
  • Include a search bar

4. Outdated Design

Having an out-of-date design on your website is another mistake that may have a detrimental impact on it.

In today’s digital age, first impressions are everything and if your website looks like it’s from the 1990s, people are going to leave immediately.

Make sure your website is up-to-date with the latest trends and designs if you want people to take it seriously.

Tips for Updating Your Design:

If you’re looking to update your website’s design, there are a few things you can do, such as:

  • Choose a modern template
  • Include high-quality images
  • Use plenty of whitespaces

5. Incorrect Information

Providing incorrect information on your website is one of the most damaging things you can do.

This is something that will immediately lose your credibility and trust with your audience.

Always make sure the information on your website is accurate and up-to-date.

Try your maximum to provide the latest and most relevant information to your website visitors.

Tips for Managing Information:

If you want to make sure the information on your website is always accurate, there are a few things you can do, such as:

  • Regularly update your content
  • Check for broken links
  • Monitor your analytics

6. Broken Links

Broken links are another common blunder that websites commit.

This not only looks bad but can also frustrate users who are trying to navigate your site.

Always check your links regularly to ensure they’re working properly.

Tips for Checking Links:

There are a few things you can do to check your links and avoid broken ones, such as:

  • Check links manually
  • Use a link-checking tool
  • Monitor your website’s performance

7. Too Many Ads

While ads can be a great way to generate revenue for your website, too many of them can be a turn-off for users.

If your website is littered with ads, people are likely to leave and never come back.

Find a happy medium when it comes to advertising on your website.

Tips for Managing Ads:

There are a few things you can do to make sure your ads don’t take over your website, such as:

  • Limit the number of ads
  • Choose relevant and targeted ads
  • Implement an ad management system

8. Poor Quality Content

If you want people to stick around on your website, you need to make sure the content is of good quality.

This means that it should be well-written, informative, and engaging.

If your content is poor, people will quickly lose interest and leave.

Tips for Creating Good Quality Content:

There are a few things you can do to make sure your content is of good quality, such as:

  • Hire a professional writer
  • Edit and proofread your content
  • Include relevant keywords

9. Not SEO Friendly

Another big mistake that websites make is not being SEO friendly.

This means that they’re not using the right keywords, providing enough content, or using other optimization techniques.

As a result, their website is not able to rank well on search engines and they’re missing out on a lot of potential traffic.

Tips for Optimizing Your Website:

If you want to make sure your website is optimized for search engines, there are a few things you can do, such as:

  • Do your research on keywords
  • Include keyword-rich content
  • Use alt tags for images

10. Not Secure

In today’s digital age, security is more important than ever before.

If your website is not secure, you’re likely to lose a lot of trust with your users.

Always make sure your website is properly secured to avoid any potential issues.

Tips for Securing Your Website:

If you want to make sure your website is secure, there are a few things you can do, such as:

11. Not User-Friendly

Another common mistake that websites make is not being user-friendly.

This means that they’re difficult to navigate, have a poor design, or are just generally not easy to use.

If your website is not user-friendly, people are likely to leave and never come back.

Tips for Creating a User-Friendly Website:

There are a few things you can do to make sure your website is user-friendly, such as:

  • Make sure your website is easy to navigate
  • Have a clean and simple design
  • Test your website on different devices

12. Not Social Media Friendly

This means that they’re not using social media to their advantage, whether it’s to generate traffic or engage with their audience.

If you’re not using social media, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to reach more people.

Tips for Using Social Media:

There are a few things you can do to make sure you’re using social media effectively, such as:

  • Create shareable content
  • post regularly
  • use hashtags

13. Not Regularly Updated

If you want people to keep coming back to your website, you need to make sure it’s regularly updated with new content.

If your website is stagnant, people will quickly lose interest and move on.

Always add new and fresh content to keep people coming back for more.

Tips for Updating Your Website:

There are a few things you can do to make sure your website is regularly updated, such as:

  • Add new blog posts
  • Update your product pages
  • Add new images and videos

14. Wrong Keywords:

One of the most important aspects of SEO is using the right keywords.

If you use the wrong keywords, people will be able to find your website, but they won’t be interested in what you have to offer.

Make sure you spend time researching the right keywords for your business.

Tips for Using Keywords:

There are a few things you can do to make sure you’re using keywords effectively, such as:

  • Use keyword-rich titles
  • Include keywords in your content
  • Use keyword-rich alt tags for images

15. Boring Content:

If your content is boring, people will quickly lose interest and click away.

Always make sure your content is interesting and engaging.

The more engaging your content is, the more likely people are to stick around and read it.

Tips for Creating Engaging Content:

There are a few things you can do to make sure your content is engaging, such as:

  • Make sure your content is well-written
  • Include images and videos
  • Use interesting topics and titles

16. Too Much Text:

People have short attention spans, so if you have too much text on your website, they’re not going to read it.

Keep your text concise and to the point.

Tips for Writing Concise Text:

There are a few things you can do to make sure your text is concise, such as:

  • Use short paragraphs
  • Use bullet points
  • Avoid long, drawn-out sentences

17. Irrelevant Title Tags:

Your title tags are one of the most important aspects of SEO, so make sure they’re relevant to your website.

If your title tags are irrelevant, people will be less likely to find your website in the search engines.

Tips for Creating Relevant Title Tags:

There are a few things you can do to make sure your title tags are relevant, such as:

  • Use keywords in your title tags
  • Make sure your title tags are descriptive
  • Keep your title tags short and to the point

18. No Call To Action:

Your website should always have a call to action, otherwise, people won’t know what to do next.

Always tell people what you want them to do, whether it’s signing up for your newsletter or buying your product.

Tips for Creating a Call to Action:

There are a few things you can do to make sure your call to action is effective, such as:

  • Make your call to action clear and concise
  • Use persuasive language
  • Use a strong call to action button

19. Not Optimized For Mobile:

More and more people are using their smartphones and tablets to browse the web, so it’s important to make sure your website is optimized for mobile.

If it’s not, you’re going to lose a lot of potential customers.

Tips for Optimizing Your Website for Mobile:

There are a few things you can do to make sure your website is optimized for mobile, such as:

  • Use a responsive design
  • Use large font sizes
  • Use clear and concise text

20. Pop-Ups:

Nobody likes pop-ups, so don’t use them on your website.

Pop-ups are intrusive and annoying, and they’ll only serve to irritate your visitors.

Tips for Avoiding Pop-Ups:

There are a few things you can do to make sure you don’t use pop-ups on your website, such as:

  • Don’t use pop-ups
  • If you must use pop-ups, make sure they’re not intrusive
  • Make sure they’re relevant to your website

21. Cluttered Sidebar:

Your sidebar should be clean and organized, otherwise, people will get overwhelmed and click away.

Only put the most important things in your sidebar, and make sure they’re organized in a way that makes sense.

Tips for Creating a Clean Sidebar:

There are a few things you can do to make sure your sidebar is clean and organized, such as:

  • Only use essential widgets
  • Use a simple design
  • Arrange your widgets in an organized manner

22. Duplicate Content:

If you have duplicate content on your website, it’s going to hurt your SEO.

Make sure all of your content is unique, otherwise, you could be penalized by the search engines.

Tips for Creating Unique Content:

There are a few things you can do to make sure your content is unique, such as:

  • Use your voice
  • Write original content
  • Don’t copy other people’s work

23. Missing Alt Tags:

Alt tags are important for SEO, so if you’re missing them on your images, you’re missing out on a valuable opportunity to improve your ranking.

Always add alt tags to your images, and make sure they’re relevant to the image.

Tips for Creating Relevant Alt Tags:

There are a few things you can do to make sure your alt tags are relevant, such as:

  • Use keywords in your alt tags
  • Make sure your alt tags are descriptive
  • Only use one target keyword per alt tag

Wrapping Up

In conclusion, web design mistakes can cost you time, money, and visitors.

So take the time to learn from these mistakes and avoid them at all costs.