Part ll - Web Design Mistakes Even Great Designers Make
- 12 hours ago
- 5 min read
Web Design Mistakes Continued...
A beautiful website can only succeed if people can use it. Speed, clarity, and accessibility help users take action and help brands be remembered for the right reasons.
The best websites don't just look good, they remove obstacles.
It's easy to focus on what visitors see, but some of the biggest wins happen behind the scenes. A page that loads quickly, a clear call to action, or thoughtful accessibility choices can make the difference between someone bouncing away and becoming a customer.
The good news? None of these improvements require a complete redesign. They're thoughtful refinements that make your existing work perform even better.
In Part 2 of our series, we're looking at three common mistakes that quietly hold websites back—and the practical fixes that help them reach their full potential.
Mistakes that quietly hurt your website's performance
A website doesn't have to be broken to underperform.
Sometimes it's simply asking visitors to wait a little too long, search a little too hard, or overcome barriers that shouldn't be there in the first place.
These next three mistakes focus on the experience after someone arrives. How quickly can they see your content? Is it obvious what you want them to do next? Can everyone use the site comfortably, regardless of how they browse?
When these details work together, visitors stop thinking about the website—and start engaging with your business.
Turn on your favorite “get things done” soundtrack. Let's squeeze!
Web Design Mistake #4:
Letting the site load at a snail’s pace
A slightly spicy truth: gorgeous doesn’t matter if nobody sticks around to see it.
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), the moment your page’s biggest element actually renders, should land at 2.5 seconds or less, measured at the 75th percentile of page loads. Concrete, measurable, and what Google’s own tools grade you on. The usual culprit? Enormous images living their best (heaviest) lives.
The website load time fix:
Compress images before they go anywhere near the site (TinyPNG and Squoosh are free and fabulous).
Serve modern formats like WebP.
Lazy-load what’s below the fold, but never your header image if it’s the LCP element. Google’s guidance there is unusually blunt: it always causes unnecessary resource load delay and hurts LCP.
Run PageSpeed Insights and check your real number.
Web Design Mistake #5:
Building a call-to-action that whispers when it should sing
Don’t bury the lead. Make it simple to get what you want.
You’ve hooked them, they love the vibe. They’re ready to take the next step and then… where’s the button? Is it that grey link at the bottom? Is it hiding? Far too many beautiful sites forget to ask for the thing they want, or bury the ask so politely that visitors wander off, unsure of what to do next.
The website call-to-action fix:
Make your primary CTA obvious, repeated, and specific. In our experience, “Book Your Free Consult” tends to outperform “Submit,” because it tells people exactly what they’re getting rather than what they’re doing.
Give it a color that contrasts with everything around it so it practically waves at you.
Don’t be shy about placing it more than once on a long page.
Web Design Mistake #6:
Forgetting that accessibility is for everyone
Make your website speak to as many people as possible
This one is close to our hearts, so lean in. Designing for accessibility isn’t a box you tick to avoid trouble, it’s how you make sure everyone can use the beautiful thing you built, including folks using screen readers, navigating by keyboard, or squinting at a phone in bright sunlight.
We are so passionate about designing for accessibility that we wrote an entire article on it. Read it here.
The website accessibility fix:
Run a contrast checker during design, not after build. WebAIM’s is free and takes two seconds. Shoot for 4.5:1 or better.
Write genuinely descriptive alt text.
Make sure everything works with just a keyboard.
Use real heading tags (H1, H2, H3) rather than just making text big and bold. Small effort, huge welcome mat
Put It In Action
Every item on this list is a sign you care about your craft enough to sweat the details. We don’t think great design is about never making mistakes. It’s about knowing where they like to hide, and seeking them out to destroy them.
Pull up whatever you’re working on right now and run these next 2 checks:
Measure your LCP. Run the page through PageSpeed Insights. Are you at 2.5 seconds or less?
Test one color pair. Drop your body text and background colors into WebAIM’s contrast checker. Are you at 4.5:1 or better?
Did you checkout part 1 of Web Design Mistakes Even Great Designers Make to grab the first two items in our web mistakes to avoid checklist?
Performance, clarity, and accessibility aren't separate disciplines. They come together to create a website people genuinely enjoy using.
By investing a little extra time in these details, you're creating a better experience for every visitor while delivering stronger results for your clients.
In Part 3, we'll finish the series with the final polish. Create breathing room, choose typography wisely, and build a testing process that catches the little things before anyone else does.
Credits
Editor: Jenn Hart (More About Me)
Associate Editor: Sarah Dawoud
Art: Sharon Bakas
Author: Hannah Heine
Hannah is a writer and digital marketer living in Northern California. For the past decade, she has partnered with brands across industries to help them show up online with authenticity and purpose. After living in Italy, Spain, and South Korea, she brings a global perspective to her storytelling. A Kentucky native at heart, Hannah enjoys traveling, hiking, and chasing her toddler with her newborn in tow.
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Everything we share here is meant to be helpful and inspiring. We’re speaking from experience and past proof of concept. We respect each other's works, cultures, and opinions. The trends, examples, and observations in this article are provided for educational and inspirational purposes only. Mentioned brands, businesses, and cultural references are not affiliated with or endorsing this content. Opinions on all subject matter, audience behavior, and strategies are general observations and may not apply to every audience or situation. Always consider your brand values, goals, and audience sensitivities before implementing changes or creating new visual content. Please consult a qualified professional when needed to help make decisions. You are responsible for how you choose to use this information, and we are not liable for any loss, damages, or issues that may arise. We can’t be responsible for how things play out, but we’re always rooting for your success!
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