Uncovering Hidden Website Issues That Hurt Your Business
It’s frustrating. You’ve got a professionally designed website, it looks absolutely fine to you, but visitors just aren’t sticking around. You see the numbers – people clicking away almost as soon as they arrive. And you’re left scratching your head, wondering what’s going wrong. It’s like there’s an invisible barrier between you and prospective customers. You can’t put your finger on it, but something is clearly putting people off. What though?
At Outsource Your Marketing, our web design team has helped a lot of businesses to deal with exactly this kind of problem, so we know from experience what the usual suspects are likely to be. In this blog we look at 8 web design flaws that are losing you leads and offer potential solutions to the problem.
First Off-Putting Thing – A Poorly Designed Homepage
Your homepage is your website’s front door. A bad one creates a terrible first impression and sends visitors running. Here’s what makes a homepage off-putting:
• Cluttered Layout – Too much text, too many images, and a lack of white space overwhelm visitors. They don’t know where to look, so they look elsewhere.
• Confusing Navigation – If your menu is unclear or difficult to use. There’s no search function so people can’t find what they need. They get frustrated and leave.
• Poor Visuals – Poor quality or obviously stock images make your site look unprofessional and untrustworthy.
• Lack of Clarity About What You Offer – Visitors want to understand immediately what you offer. If your homepage doesn’t tell them, they’ll assume you’re not relevant to what they need.
Tip: It’s unlikely that any homepage would tick all the above boxes. If you think there’s a design problem, isolate what it is and work with a web designer on fixing it.
Second Off-Putting Thing – A Snail’s Pace Website
So, you click the link to your website and … tumbleweed. The page hangs, the loading bar crawls, and you’re left in limbo. We’ve all been there and, what do we do? We simply click away, heading to a competitor’s site that loads instantly. A slow website offers a terrible user experience and directly impacts your bounce rate.
Tip: Want to check your website loading speed? Use free online tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix. You’ll get an accurate reading of your speed, and recommendations on how to improve loading times, such as optimising images, enabling compression, and using browser caching.
Third Off-Putting Thing – Doesn’t Look Good on Mobile
Think about how you search for local businesses. Chances are, you grab your phone, search and get directions via Google. If your website isn’t optimised for mobile, your web design will be less than useless on a phone. Visitors will be trying to read tiny text, pinching and zooming to navigate, or waiting ages for images to load on your phone.
It’s frustrating and makes your business look unprofessional. People will quickly head to a competitor with a better mobile experience. This is especially damaging for local businesses where mobile search is so important for attracting nearby customers.
Tip: Check out your website on your phone. If it’s not responsive, you’ll need to work with a web designer to solve the problem. It’s usually fairly easily to fix.
Fourth Off-Putting Thing – Missing Reviews
Social proof is one of the things that keeps us safe online. Before buying on e-commerce sites, you check the reviews, same for eBay, or any site that’s selling you a product or service.
If your site lacks reviews or testimonials, it raises a red flag. People naturally wonder, “Why haven’t others shared their experiences?” A lack of social proof will damage your credibility and make potential customers hesitant to do business with you.
Tip: If you think this may be the problem, start collecting reviews from satisfied customers. Make it easy for them by sending follow-up emails with direct links to review platforms like Google Business Profile, Trustpilot, or industry-specific review sites. Reviews should be prominently displayed, on your homepage.
Fifth Off-Putting Thing – Non-Scannable Content
What’s the first thing you do on a new site? You scan the content to check it’s relevant to what you’re searching for. If it is, you stay on the site. If the content is difficult to scan – few headings, large blocks of text, no clear structure – you leave.
Tip: Structure your content for easy scanning.
- Use clear headings (H2s, H3s, etc.)
- Short paragraphs
- Bullet points
- Numbered lists
- Visuals to break up text.
- Highlight key phrases in bold or italics.
All the above make your content more accessible and engaging, encouraging visitors to stick around and learn more.
Sixth Off-Putting Thing – Misleading Content
Ever searched for something specific online, clicked a link, and landed on a page that had nothing to do with what you were looking for? This happens when website content doesn’t match up with the search terms (keywords) used to attract visitors.
Mismatches between search intent and the content provided creates a terrible user experience and puts people off your website and your brand – like you’re tricking them. Search engines dislike it too and penalise this practice.
Tip: Make sure that your content reflects the keywords you’re targeting by using the keyword to search before committing to writing content around it.
Seventh Off-Putting Thing – Broken Links
Broken Links: Dead Ends That Frustrate Visitors
Clicking a link and getting a “404 Not Found” error page is off-putting. It’s like hitting a dead end. Broken links disrupt the user journey and make your website look neglected and unprofessional.
Tip: Regularly check your website for broken links. There are free online tools like Broken Link Checker and Dead Link Checker that can scan your site and identify any 404 errors.
Eighth Off-Putting Thing – Outdated Design
Website design dates faster than you would think, and yes – users notice it immediately.
People associate modern design with trustworthiness and professionalism. An outdated design suggests you’re not keeping up with current trends, which visitors read as a sign of stagnancy or lack of investment.
Tip: Review your website’s design every few years to ensure it reflects current trends. A full redesign isn’t usually necessary to bring your design up to date, a design refresh is usually enough to keep it looking modern and professional.
