When I started working on B&M General Contractors’ website, their own description of it was pretty simple: it “was a mess.” The good news is that most of what makes a website feel messy is fixable, and usually without starting over.
Why website design matters for small businesses
Your website is often the first impression people get of your business. If it looks messy, outdated or hard to get around, visitors may leave before they ever learn what you offer, and they’ll probably end up with a competitor instead.
You don’t need a huge budget to fix that. Most of these mistakes are easy to fix once you know what to look for, so here are the ones I see most often, along with a few real fixes from my own clients.
Common website design mistakes that drive visitors away
1. Slow loading times
We’ve all tapped on a site that took forever to load and given up. Your visitors will too. Google found that 53% of mobile visits are abandoned when a page takes longer than three seconds to load, and a slow site can also rank lower in search, which makes you harder to find.
The usual causes are big image files, too many plugins or hosting that can’t keep up. Quick fix: compress your images, remove plugins you don’t need and make sure your hosting can handle your traffic. I walk through exactly what was slowing my own site down in I fixed my own slow website.
2. Text that’s hard to read
People skim before they read. If your site is a wall of text, uses tiny fonts or puts light text on a light background, they’ll move on, and they may assume your business is unprofessional or out of date.
Quick fix: use clear fonts, keep paragraphs short and give everything plenty of white space. Make sure there’s strong contrast between your text and the background behind it, too.
Contrast was a big part of the work I did for Full Quilt Boogie. Their site is full of gorgeous quilt photos, but not all of it was easy for everyone to use. I wrote descriptions for more than 300 images so screen readers can describe them, strengthened the color contrast so the text is easier to read and labeled their forms so anyone can fill them out. The site looks just as pretty, and now more people can actually use it.
3. No clear call to action
Every page should point visitors to the next step. If it doesn’t, they’ll leave without doing anything. Vague buttons like “Learn more” don’t help much either, because people aren’t sure what happens when they click.
Quick fix: add clear buttons like “Request a Quote” or “Book a Call” in a few spots throughout your site. If people don’t know how to reach you, they won’t.
4. A site that doesn’t work on phones
Google notes that most people now start their search on a mobile device. If your site is hard to use on a phone, people won’t pinch and zoom to read it. They’ll just go find someone else.
Quick fix: use a responsive theme, or have a designer make sure your site adjusts to any screen size. That’s what I did for BCAT Hoops, the Basketball Coaches Association of Tennessee. Their site holds a lot, from membership info and events to rankings, awards and newsletters, and that much content can fall apart fast on a small screen. I reworked it so the menus and pages are easy to tap through on a phone, since that’s where plenty of coaches are checking it.
5. An outdated design
If your site looks like it hasn’t been touched in years, visitors may wonder whether you’re still in business. Old layouts, broken links and missing content all make it harder for people to trust you.
Quick fix: refresh things regularly with new photos, new blog posts and your latest services. Even small updates keep your site looking current without changing your whole brand. If you need new photos, your website photos are doing more work than you think covers what to shoot.
Sometimes it takes a bigger cleanup, though. On B&M’s site, I simplified the layout, cleaned up the structure and reorganized their service pages so people could find what they needed, like renaming “new construction” to “custom homes” to match what homeowners actually search for. Now the site shows off the quality of their work instead of hiding it.
Small fixes that make a big difference
Redesigning a website sounds expensive, but a lot of these problems can be fixed without starting over:
- Faster sites keep people around. Compressing images and upgrading hosting can often be done in an afternoon.
- Simple layouts are easier to read. Clear fonts and white space make your content more inviting.
- Stronger calls to action bring in more inquiries. A few well-placed buttons go a long way.
- Mobile-friendly sites reach more people. Everyone gets a good experience, whatever they’re using.
- Fresh content builds trust. New photos, blog posts and service details show you’re active.
It’s really about putting your time and budget into the changes that make your website work harder for you.
A polished site doesn’t have to cost a fortune
Your website should help your business grow, not send people to your competitors. Skipping the slow pages, cluttered layouts, missing calls to action and stale content goes a long way.
If you’d like help turning your site into something that brings in clients, take a look at my web design services, or my hosting and maintenance plans if you’d rather someone keep it up to date for you. I work with businesses all over Blount County, Knoxville and beyond, and I’d love to talk about what your site needs.
