10 Website Design Mistakes That Are Killing Your Conversions

After auditing hundreds of websites, the same 10 mistakes show up again and again — quietly costing businesses tens of thousands a year. Here they are, ranked by how often they bleed revenue.

Why design eats traffic for breakfast

You can pour money into ads and SEO, but if visitors land on a page that confuses them, you've lit that money on fire. Design is conversion strategy.

1. Vague hero headlines

"Welcome to our website" or "Innovating the future" tells visitors nothing. Replace with a specific outcome you deliver to a specific audience.

2. Carousels nobody reads

Studies show only ~1% of users click past the first slide. Replace carousels with a single, focused hero or a static 3-card layout.

3. Burying the CTA

If your "Contact" button is a small grey link in the footer, you've made buying hard. Repeat your primary CTA every 1–2 screens.

4. Stock photo overload

Generic smiling teams in headsets kill credibility. Use real photos of your team, work, and customers — even imperfect ones outperform stock.

5. Tiny mobile tap targets

Buttons under 44×44px frustrate thumbs. Audit your site at 375px width and tap every CTA — if you misfire, fix it.

6. No visual hierarchy

When everything is bold, nothing is. Use one dominant element per section so the eye knows where to go.

7. Auto-playing video with sound

Instant bounce. Always muted, always with a poster image, always under 3MB.

8. Walls of text

Break content into chunks of 2–3 sentences, with subheads, bullets, and breathing room. Mobile readers scan first.

9. Hidden contact info

Phone, email, and a chat option should be reachable in one tap from any page. Don't hide them inside a contact form.

10. Dated trust signals

"As seen in 2017" hurts more than it helps. Refresh testimonials, badges, and case studies every 12 months.

Fix these first

Start with mistakes 1, 3, and 5 — they're the cheapest to fix and recover the most revenue. We'll happily audit yours for free.