Common Website Design Mistakes to Avoid – A Technical Perspective by Think To Share IT Solutions

A good website can supercharge your brand. But a poorly designed one? It can drive customers away before they even see what you offer. At Think To Share IT Solutions, we’ve audited, rebuilt, and optimized countless websites—and we’ve seen the same critical design mistakes over and over again.

If you're planning a redesign or launching a new site, here are the most common website design mistakes to avoid—and how we prevent them with smart, scalable solutions.

1. Ignoring Mobile Optimization

Mistake: Designing for desktop only or failing to test layouts on various screen sizes.

Impact: Mobile users bounce due to broken layouts, misaligned elements, or unusable navigation.

How We Fix It:

· Build mobile-first responsive layouts using CSS grid/flexbox

· Use viewport meta tags and media queries

· Optimize tap targets and mobile form usability

2. Slow Page Load Speed

Mistake: Using oversized images, bloated scripts, or unoptimized assets that drag down performance.

Impact: Poor Core Web Vitals → lower rankings, high bounce rates, and lost conversions.

Our Tech Approach:

· Implement lazy loading and image compression (WebP, AVIF)

· Use Next.js or Gatsby for static generation

· Host assets via CDNs and implement HTTP/2

3. Lack of Clear CTAs (Call-to-Actions)

Mistake: Visitors don’t know what to do next—no buttons, confusing text, or poor placement.

Impact: Lost leads, abandoned visits, reduced ROI.

Our Fix:

· Strategically placed actionable buttons using color contrast and whitespace

· Use scroll-based triggers and A/B testing to optimize placement

· Guide users with predictable, frictionless flows

4. Overcomplicated Navigation

Mistake: Cluttered menus, dropdown overloads, or poor link hierarchy confuse users and crawlers.

Impact: Bad user experience and lower SEO performance due to poor crawlability.

Our Strategy:

· Clean header architecture with no more than 6–7 top-level links

· Logical breadcrumbs and internal linking

· Mobile hamburger menus with ARIA accessibility roles

5. No SEO Foundation in the Design

Mistake: Visual design is prioritized while ignoring HTML semantics, metadata, or indexability.

Impact: Google can’t understand or rank your content properly.

Our SEO-by-Design Approach:

· Use semantic HTML5, schema markup, and heading hierarchy

· Optimize image alt tags, meta titles/descriptions, and URL structure

· Pre-build for SEO using tools like Yoast, RankMath, or custom metadata injectors in React/Vue

6. Inaccessible Design

Mistake: Poor contrast, missing alt text, or non-keyboard-friendly elements exclude users and violate WCAG guidelines.

Impact: Alienates users with disabilities and risks legal issues (ADA compliance).

Think To Share Solution:

· Enforce WCAG 2.1 compliance

· Implement high-contrast modes, ARIA labels, and skip navigation links

· Test accessibility with Lighthouse, WAVE, and screen readers

7. Cluttered or Inconsistent Visual Design

Mistake: Too many fonts, mismatched colors, inconsistent spacing, and no visual hierarchy.

Impact: Distracts users and dilutes brand credibility.

Our UX/UI Process:

· Create design systems and component libraries using Figma

· Maintain consistency with Tailwind CSS or design tokens

· Implement visual rhythm with a modular scale and grid layout

8. No Analytics or Tracking

Mistake: Not tracking user behavior, conversion paths, or traffic sources.

Impact: Decisions are made on assumptions, not data.

What We Add:

· Google Analytics 4 (GA4) with custom events

· Hotjar or Microsoft Clarity for heatmaps

· Conversion goal tracking via Tag Manager

Final Thoughts: Avoiding Design Mistakes is a Strategic Move

At Think To Share IT Solutions, we believe your website should be more than just functional—it should be intelligent. That starts by avoiding common design pitfalls and building with a technical, user-first mindset.

If your website suffers from any of these issues, it’s time for a rethink—not just a redesign.