10 Common Website Building Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

I've been helping people build websites for a few years now, and the same problems keep coming up. It's honestly a bit painful to watch because most of these mistakes are so easy to avoid once you know what to look for.

The thing that gets me is how much time people waste. They'll spend weeks tweaking colors and fonts, then launch a site that drives visitors away because of some basic issue they never considered. So here's what I keep seeing, and more importantly, how to not screw it up.

Picking Templates That Look Good But Don't Work

This is probably the biggest one. You see a template and think "wow, that's beautiful" without considering whether it actually makes sense for what you're doing. A template designed for a photography portfolio isn't going to work well for a restaurant that needs to display menus, hours, and location prominently.

I get it though - when you're staring at dozens of template options, it's easy to just pick the prettiest one. But your website needs to actually function for your business, not win design awards. If people can't figure out what you do or how to contact you within a few seconds, that gorgeous design is worthless.

The Mobile Problem

Most people are browsing on their phones, but I still see sites built like it's 2010. Everything looks perfect on a laptop, then you check it on mobile and it's a disaster. Buttons are impossible to tap, text is microscopic, and the navigation doesn't work.

Google basically ignores your desktop site now anyway. If your mobile experience sucks, you're not ranking well, period. And good luck converting visitors when they have to pinch and zoom just to read your content.

Information Overload

Some websites feel like they're trying to tell you everything at once. The homepage has their entire company history, every service they offer, testimonials, blog posts, and probably what the founder had for breakfast. It's overwhelming.

Your visitors have the attention span of a goldfish. When everything is competing for their attention, nothing gets it. Pick the most important thing you want people to know and lead with that. Everything else can go on other pages.

Terrible Photos

Nothing kills credibility faster than bad photos. Pixelated images, random stock photos that don't relate to your business, or that same generic "diverse people pointing at laptop" photo that everyone uses.

Professional photos don't have to cost a fortune, and they make a huge difference. Even just making sure all your images are high quality and consistent in style will put you ahead of most of your competition.

Slow Loading Times

If your site takes more than a few seconds to load, people are gone. They're not going to sit there waiting while your massive uncompressed images slowly appear. This is especially brutal on mobile where people might be on slower connections.

The main culprits are usually huge image files and too many plugins or widgets. Most website builders are pretty fast by default, but it's easy to bog things down if you're not careful.

Confusing Navigation

Your menu shouldn't be a puzzle. I see sites with mysterious labels like "Solutions" or "Synergies" that tell you nothing about what's actually on those pages. Or navigation that's so complex you need a roadmap to find the contact information.

Keep it simple and use words that normal humans actually say. If you offer web design services, call it "Web Design," not "Digital Solutions Architecture" or whatever.

Forgetting About SEO

You can build the most beautiful website in the world, but if Google can't find it, it might as well not exist. This doesn't mean you need to become an SEO expert, but there are some basic things that take five minutes and make a huge difference.

Write decent page titles that describe what's actually on the page. Add descriptions to your images. Use keywords naturally in your content. Set up Google Analytics so you can see what's working and what isn't.

Hard to Contact

Some websites make it harder to contact the business than getting Leafs playoff tickets. The contact information is buried somewhere, or there's just a generic contact form with no other options.

Make it dead simple for people to reach you. Put your contact info in obvious places, create a proper contact page, and if you're a local business, make sure your address and hours are easy to find.

No Consistency

When every page looks like it was designed by a different person, it's confusing and unprofessional. Different fonts, colors, and layouts make your business look disorganized.

Pick your colors and fonts before you start building and stick with them. Use the same header and footer on every page. Keep your writing style consistent too - don't sound super formal on one page and casual on the next.

Launching Without Testing

This one drives me crazy. People spend weeks building their site, then launch it without checking if anything actually works. Forms that don't submit, links that go nowhere, pages that look broken on different browsers.

Test everything before you go live. Fill out your contact forms. Click every link. Check it on your phone and on different browsers. Get someone else to poke around and see if they can break anything.

The Bottom Line

None of this is rocket science, but it's easy to miss when you're focused on building your site. The key is thinking about your visitors first. What do they need to know? How are they browsing? What action do you want them to take?

A simple website that works well is infinitely better than a fancy one that confuses people. Your site is often someone's first impression of your business, so make sure it's a good one.

Last updated: March 9, 2025